National Treasure

At Kyoto's To-ji, the seated image of Hachiman as a Buddhist monk is among Japan's oldest surviving Shinto deity sculptures, a record of how the two faiths merged.

A Heian National Treasure, the wooden canopy of Tō-ji hangs above a secret Fudō Myōō in the Mieidō. Unseen by the public, it is one of few ranked as sculpture.

Over the gilded Amida in Byodo-in's Phoenix Hall hangs a 1053 National Treasure: a shell-inlaid black-lacquer square canopy holding an openwork floral round canopy.

Tobatsu Bishamonten at Kyoto's To-ji, a Tang-dynasty National Treasure that once guarded Rashomon gate. The 189.4 cm figure stands on the palms of the earth goddess.

At Kyoto's Sanjusangen-do stand the Twenty-Eight Attendants, National Treasure guardians of the Thousand-Armed Kannon: lifelike Kamakura figures carved in cypress.

At Kurama-dera above Kyoto stands Japan's oldest Bishamonten triad, a National Treasure whose central guardian lifts a hand to his brow and gazes toward the capital.

The National Treasure Wind and Thunder Gods at Kyoto's Sanjusangendo are Japan's oldest such sculptures: Kamakura cypress figures with crystal eyes and bold realism.

A 313.6 cm Fukūkenjaku Kannon at Kōryū-ji, Kyoto's oldest temple. Three eyes, eight arms, carved from one block, it survived the 818 fire and stands in the Reihōden.

A ninth-century National Treasure no one is allowed to see: the secret Fudō Myōō hidden in Tō-ji's Mieidō, held by tradition to be Kūkai's own devotional image.

At Hōbodai-in Gantoku-ji in Kyoto's western hills stands an 88-cm Heian bodhisattva in half-lotus, a National Treasure of kaya wood whose identity scholars debate.

Two of the twenty-one statues in Tōji's three-dimensional mandala, the four-faced Bonten and the elephant-riding Taishakuten are ninth-century National Treasures.

At Kōryū-ji in Kyoto sits the Crowned Maitreya, a red-pine bodhisattva ranked as Japan's first National Treasure in sculpture and famed for its faint archaic smile.

Beside Koryu-ji's celebrated National Treasure No.1 sits a quieter second Maitreya, an Asuka camphor figure whose sorrowful face earns the name Weeping Maitreya.

Daigo-ji's National Treasure Yakushi triad: a 177cm tenth-century Medicine Buddha with a gourd jar and seven-Buddha halo, now displayed at the Reihōkan museum.

Carved in 33 days in 1103 for a prince-monk of Ninna-ji, this 11-cm sandalwood Yakushi is the sole surviving work of Ensei and Choen, founders of the Enpa school.

At Jingo-ji in Takao, Kyoto, this National Treasure Yakushi Nyorai stands about 170.6 cm, carved from a single block of kaya wood, with a stern early-Heian face.

At Kyoto's Senbon Shakado stand six unpainted wooden Kannon carved in 1224 by Jokei, Japan's only complete Kamakura set of six and now National Treasures.

Discover the National Treasure "Mongaku's Forty-Five Article Oath," a 1185 scroll at Jingo-ji Temple in Kyoto. Written by the eminent courtier Fujiwara no Tadachika and bearing Emperor Go-Shirakawa's personal seal, this document reveals the passionate vision of the warrior-monk Mongaku for restoring one of Japan's most historic temples.

The National Treasure 'Rigen Daishi Handwritten Disposition' preserved at Daigo-ji Temple in Kyoto is an official document written in 907 CE by the temple's founder, the monk Shōbō (Rigen Daishi). Recording the transfer of temple management to a senior disciple in his final years, this single handscroll is an exceptionally rare example of early Heian-period calligraphy and a vital primary source for the history of Japanese Buddhism. It is periodically displayed at Daigo-ji's Reihōkan Museum and in special exhibitions at major museums across Japan.

Discover the Rimōhitsu Hōken Hyō, a National Treasure document attributed to Kūkai (Kōbō Daishi) at Daigo-ji Temple in Kyoto. This 9th-century calligraphy masterpiece records the presentation of tanuki-hair brushes to Emperor Saga, revealing the origins of Japanese brush-making culture.