National Treasure

Fujiwara no Teika's own 1226 copy of the Kokinshu, the original Karoku manuscript, kept by the Reizei family in Kyoto and a National Treasure since 1983.

The National Treasure Kokin Wakashū (Manshuin-bon), preserved at Manshuin Temple in Kyoto, is an 11th-century handscroll featuring exquisite kana calligraphy on color-shifting dyed paper. Attributed to Fujiwara no Yukinari, this masterwork embodies the pinnacle of Heian-period aesthetic refinement.

Go-Saga's 1246 letter to a Ninna-ji abbot, thanking him for Buddhist rites, is the only verified autograph of the emperor and a Kamakura-period National Treasure.

Teika copied the Gosen Wakashu into one volume in 1234, aged 73. This Tenpuku-bon original, full of his own notes, is a National Treasure of Kyoto's Reizei family.

A National Treasure at Kyoto's Daitoku-ji: an autograph decree Emperor Go-Daigo wrote in 1333, fixing that only the founder's lineage could ever lead the temple.

A Daigo-ji National Treasure: a Shingon transmission scroll Emperor Go-Daigo copied by hand in 1339, two months before his death, on gold-decorated burnished paper.

The diary of Heian regent Fujiwara no Moromichi, kept until days before his death in 1099. One autograph scroll and 29 twelfth-century copies survive at Yomei Bunko.

Kyoto's Reizei family keeps the only Korai Futeisho in Fujiwara no Shunzei's own hand: the 1197 first version of his poetic treatise, written at eighty-four.

Discover the Diamond Sutra (Kongō-kyō) by Zhang Jizhi, a National Treasure of Japan housed at Chishaku-in Temple in Kyoto. This 1253 masterpiece of Southern Song calligraphy represents one of the finest examples of Chinese brushwork preserved in Japan.

A Heian gilt bronze chime cast with lotus scrolls at Zenrinji (Eikando), Kyoto, a National Treasure since 1953, a full expression of refined Heian taste.

Discover the Sanjūrokunin Kashū, a 12th-century National Treasure housed at Nishi Hongan-ji in Kyoto. This illuminated anthology of Japan's Thirty-Six Immortal Poets features the world's oldest known paper collage techniques, exquisite calligraphy by 20 court scribes, and lavish gold-and-silver decorated papers that represent the pinnacle of Heian-period aristocratic culture.

Ryogen wrote this testament in 972 while ill, naming the Mount Hiei halls and estates left to his disciple Jinzen. A National Treasure at the Tokyo National Museum.

Two silk scrolls in the hand of Jikusen Bonsen, a Chan monk who left Yuan China in 1329, written for a Zen abbot's installation. Held at closed Ryoko-in in Kyoto.

At Kyoto's Tō-ji, this Heian-period palanquin carried the Buddha's relics in procession. Its lacquer imitates rosewood, inlaid with mother-of-pearl and gilt bronze.

The Kamakura portrait of Myoe meditating in a pine tree at Kozanji, Kyoto, attributed to his attendant Jonin, a National Treasure since 1952.

Discover the Shūi Gusō, the only known autograph self-compiled poetry anthology from medieval Japan, handwritten by the legendary poet Fujiwara no Teika. This National Treasure is preserved by the Reizei family in Kyoto.

Discover the Chunqiu Jingzhuan Jijie Volume 2 Fragment, a rare Tang dynasty manuscript and National Treasure housed at the Yūrinkan Museum in Kyoto. Learn about its history, significance, and how to visit.

The oldest surviving biography of Prince Shotoku, copied before 1078, held by Chion-in, Kyoto, a National Treasure since 1955.

Held at Ninnaji Temple in Kyoto, these five National Treasure scrolls preserve the Xinxiu Bencao — the world's first state-compiled pharmacopoeia, ordered by Emperor Gaozong of Tang China in 659 CE. Copied in early-Kamakura-period Japan, they are among the oldest surviving witnesses to this foundational text, whose original Chinese manuscripts have long since been lost.

This National Treasure at the Kyoto National Museum is the oldest surviving copy of the Chinese classic Shishuo Xinyu, in seventh-century Tang regular script.