National Treasure

Rising 22 meters above a forested mountain valley in Obama City, Fukui, the Three-Storied Pagoda of Myōtsū-ji was completed in 1270 during the mid-Kamakura period. As one of only two structures designated National Treasures in all of Fukui Prefecture, this hinoki-bark-roofed pagoda is celebrated as the earliest example of a Japanese pagoda incorporating the 'kobushi-bana' ornamentation of the imported daibutsuyō style — a transitional masterpiece set in primeval mountain stillness.

Hidden in a deep mountain valley in Obama City, Fukui Prefecture, the Myotsuji Main Hall is a thirteenth-century cypress-bark-roofed Buddhist hall and the only National Treasure architecture in Fukui Prefecture. Reconstructed in 1258, it elegantly fuses traditional Japanese styling with newer continental building techniques, and enshrines four Important Cultural Property statues including a serene Heian-period Medicine Buddha. Together with the equally celebrated three-story pagoda, it preserves a sublime atmosphere of medieval esoteric Buddhism deep in the forests of Wakasa.

At Eiheiji lies Dōgen's own 1233 manuscript of the Fukan Zazengi, his founding guide to Zen sitting and the only surviving autograph of this National Treasure.

A 14th-century National Treasure katana named for a killing: Oda Nobunaga reputedly pressed it through a serving shelf to fell a fleeing attendant. Now in Fukuoka.

Preserved at Seiganji Temple in Imazu, Fukuoka, this National Treasure scroll was brushed by Myōan Eisai — the monk who would go on to introduce Rinzai Zen and green tea culture to Japan — on the fifteenth day of the seventh month in 1178. Dedicated to the temple's Urabon (Obon) ceremony, the scroll records Eisai's sponsorship of a copy of the Lotus Sutra and survives as one of the earliest autograph works of this pivotal figure. Executed in bold Song-influenced calligraphy on sheets of red, white, and indigo paper decorated with mica-printed clouds and birds, the scroll was designated a National Treasure in 1953 and is entrusted to the Kyushu National Museum.

Encounter the Nikko Ichimonji, a 13th-century Bizen Fukuoka Ichimonji masterpiece and National Treasure at Fukuoka City Museum, once treasured by the Hōjō clan and Kuroda family.

Made in 1142, this gilt-bronze casket held 33 copper plates engraved with the Lotus Sutra and was buried on Mount Kubote. Its four faces carry fine Buddhist figures.

Nestled in Iwaki City, Fukushima, the Shiramizu Amidado is a late Heian-period Amida Hall built in 1160 by Tokuhime—daughter of Fujiwara no Kiyohira—to pray for her late husband's soul. It is the only National Treasure building in Fukushima Prefecture and one of only three surviving Heian-era structures in the entire Tōhoku region. Its graceful pyramidal tochibuki roof, three-bay-square plan, and surrounding Pure Land–style garden form an exquisite embodiment of Heian Buddhist culture.

At Ryukoji in Aizumisato, Fukushima, each character of the Lotus Sutra sits on a painted lotus, a late-Heian National Treasure surviving in nine of its ten scrolls.

The Ichijoji Temple Three-Storey Pagoda in Kasai, Hyogo, dated 1171 and a National Treasure since 1952, is Hyogo's oldest pagoda and the only dated late Heian one.

The Taishi Hall at Kakurinji in Kakogawa, built in 1112, is a National Treasure with a cypress-bark roof sweeping over its porch and Heian murals found by infrared.

Kakurinji Main Hall in Kakogawa, dated 1397, is a National Treasure that blends Wayo with Zen and Daibutsuyo details. What to look for under its eaves and inside it.

Jodoji's Jodo-do Hall in Ono, built by Chogen in 1192, is the purest Daibutsu-style hall. Western light through its shutters lights Kaikei's 5.3 m Amida triad.

The Main Hall of Rokuyasan Chōkō-ji in Kato City, Hyogo Prefecture, is an early Muromachi-period esoteric Buddhist hall built in 1413. Designated a National Treasure in 1954, this dignified seven-bay-square structure exemplifies the eclectic Setchūyō style and stands amid forested grounds beside the Tsukubane Falls.

Himeji Castle Inui Small Keep, a National Treasure since 1951 and the largest small keep: four floors, west-facing gable and windows, and the Old Woman's Stone.

Himeji Castle Main Keep, a five-roofed keep built 1608-09, a National Treasure since 1951: 31.5 m tall on a 14.85 m base, two 24.6 m pillars, and entry rules.

Himeji Castle West Small Keep, a National Treasure since 1951: the only small keep with two basement levels, with a kara gable and lacquered windows facing south.

Himeji Castle East Small Keep, a National Treasure since 1951: a plain three-roofed keep north of the main keep with no gables or cusped windows, and how to see it.

At Kobe's Hakutsuru Museum, the National Treasure Daishomu is two Nara-period scrolls of the Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish, brushed in unusually large script.

A National Treasure at Kobe's Hakutsuru Museum: seventy-one scrolls of Nirvana Sutra commentary, fifty-four copied in Tang China, the rest later Japanese additions.