National Treasure

Written 13 days before his death in exile, Emperor Gotoba's handprint-sealed will is a National Treasure and the founding document of Minase Jingu, Osaka.

Excavated in 1848 beside Emperor Ojin's tomb, these dragon-patterned gilt bronze saddle fittings count among Japan's oldest horse trappings, shown Saturdays.

Discover the Shitennoji Engi, a National Treasure preserved at Shitennoji Temple in Osaka. This guide introduces the history, cultural value, highlights, and visiting information for the two-scroll set bearing the legendary handprints of Prince Shotoku and Emperor Go-Daigo.

Kongo-ji's National Treasure screens set a gold sun over spring hills and a silver moon over snowy pines. Explore this Muromachi masterpiece and its rare openings.

An unbroken 8.3-meter scroll of 101 classical poems in flowing 11th-century kana on cloud-patterned paper, held as a National Treasure at Osaka's Fujita Museum.

The National Treasure celadon vase 'Bansei', fired at Southern Song China's Longquan kilns, passed from an empress to a Kyoto temple before reaching Izumi, Osaka.

A ninth-century Tang manuscript of China's first dictionary survives in Osaka as a National Treasure. See its seal-script columns at the Kyou Shooku library.

Osaka's Kyou Shooku library holds eleven Song-printed volumes of the Shiji jijie, the oldest Shiji commentary, a National Treasure once owned by Naito Konan.

Printed in Southern Song China in 1139, these 17 National Treasure volumes of the Maoshi zhengyi rest at Kyo-U Library in Osaka with Kanazawa Bunko seals.

Cursive scrolls brushed by Shuho Myocho, founder of Daitokuji, transcribe verses by Chan master Xutang Zhiyu. A National Treasure at Osaka's Masaki Art Museum.

Copied around 770 and once kept at Nara's Yakushiji, 387 National Treasure sutra scrolls survive at Osaka's Fujita Museum. Seals, mountings, visiting tips.

A Kamakura-period National Treasure tachi by Bizen master Nagamitsu, inscribed to the three Kumano deities and once owned by Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and the shoguns.

A National Treasure mikoshi at Konda Hachimangu in Osaka, said to be a gift from Minamoto no Yoritomo, uniting lacquer, shell inlay and rare Kamakura brocade.

The Tobiseiji Hanaike at the Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, is a National Treasure regarded as the finest surviving example of Chinese Yuan-dynasty Longquan celadon with iron-spot decoration. Standing 27.3 cm tall in the elegant yuhuchun form, twenty-one iron spots dance across its jade-green glaze. Discover this masterpiece treasured in Japan for centuries through the Konoike merchants and the famed Ataka Collection.

At Osaka's Dōmyōji Tenmangū, the National Treasure Hakuga Dankin Kyō is a 14.5 cm bronze mirror of the qin master Bo Ya, one of six relics of Michizane.

Brushed by Fujiwara no Yukinari and once owned by Retired Emperor Go-Saga, this National Treasure scroll of Bai Juyi's poems awaits visitors in Tadaoka, Osaka.

This Heian-period National Treasure at Osaka's Fujita Museum depicts Lotus Sutra merit scenes in gold and silver maki-e, with phoenixes and instruments on its lid.

The Heishi Shorin-ken, a 7th-century straight sword of Osaka's Shitennoji temple, bears a gold-inlaid inscription still debated today and a Prince Shotoku legend.

A Heian copy of the Chinese Classic of Poetry at Osaka's Dainenbutsu-ji, this National Treasure shows an archaic Nara-style hand once tied to Sugawara no Michizane.

Enshrined in the main hall of Domyoji Temple in Fujiidera City, Osaka, the National Treasure Wooden Standing Eleven-Headed Kannon is a ninth-century masterpiece of the early Heian period. Carved from a single block of kaya wood and standing approximately 98 centimeters tall, it is celebrated as the pinnacle of Japanese danzo sculpture and traditionally attributed to Sugawara no Michizane. This guide covers the statue's artistic significance, viewing schedule (the 18th and 25th of each month), nearby World Heritage kofun tombs, and essential travel information.