Muromachi
Okayama · 室町Browse Okayama’s cultural heritage from the Muromachi period (1336 – 1573). Filter by type and keyword, with concise stories, maps, and travel tips.
The halls of Kibitsu Shrine in Okayama were rebuilt in 1425 by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. Two hip-and-gable roofs joined front and back form a shape found nowhere else.
A fourteenth-century Yuan painting of a palace lady with a flute in a private collection, a National Treasure since 1952.
A late landscape by Sesshu in a private collection, a National Treasure since 1953, with two pines on a rock and layered lake and pavilions.
Pagoda at Fukushoji in Bizen, rebuilt in 1441 by the shogun Ashikaga Yoshinori. Of its 19.72 metres, 6.12 are a cast-iron finial; deep eaves mark the Muromachi age.
Rebuilt in 1543, the North Zuijinmon at Kibitsu Shrine mirrors its tiled southern twin but wears a cypress-bark roof. It became an Important Cultural Property in 1913.
Built in 1357, the South Zuijinmon is the oldest building at Kibitsu Shrine, a tile-roofed eight-legged gate listed as an Important Cultural Property in 1911.
The main hall of Kumano Shrine in Kurashiki, Okayama, built in the late Muromachi period, is a one-bay kasuga-zukuri hall with corner rafters and a bark roof.
Granite shrine in Shimoashimori, Okayama City, dated 1338 by its porch-pillar inscription and built for Oji Gongen. Kasuga-style front, hipped back; 2.0 metres tall.
Mid-Muromachi pagoda at Shinkoji in Bizen, moved from Ushimado in 1601. It is 18.24 metres tall, with seed syllables carved on its first-storey struts.
Main hall of Shinkoji in Bizen, a three-bay hall enlarged to five bays in 1516. Its tie beams keep Muromachi carving and its shrine cabinet Momoyama colour.
The Stone Pagoda of Tsuzumi Shrine in Okayama City was carved in 1346 and stands 4.15 metres in granite, the largest of its kind in the prefecture. Entry is free.
The main hall of Nakayama Shrine in Tsuyama, Okayama, built in 1559, gave its name to the nakayama style, a model for many shrine halls in the Mimasaka region.
The Hachiman Shrine Torii in Okayama is a granite ryobu-style gate carved by the mason Myoa and dated 1361. Learn about its inscription, braced pillars, and visits.
Henjoin Three-Storied Pagoda in Kurashiki was dated to 1416 by an ink note found in a 1966-67 repair. See its wayo brackets, carved kaerumata and how to visit.
A vermilion pagoda of 1376 behind the Buddha Hall at Hofukuji in Soja, Okayama, the prefecture's second-oldest. An Important Cultural Property, designated in 1927.
A granite stone pagoda at Honzan-ji in Okayama, dated 1335. About 184 cm tall, it stands beside the temple's three-story pagoda and is the grounds' oldest structure.
Built in 1350 on Iwama-san in Misaki, Okayama, this Tendai hall mixes Japanese and Zen-style carpentry under a cypress-bark hip roof, an Important Cultural Property.
A granite torii at Honjo Hachimangu in Kurashiki, dated by inscription to 1421. This Important Cultural Property is a benchmark for early Muromachi stone gates.
Honren-ji's middle gate in Ushimado, Okayama, is a rare two-pillar munamon, valued for its unusual joinery and named an Important Cultural Property in 1970.
Honrenji Temple Banjindo in Setouchi City, Okayama, shelters three late Muromachi shrines under a single covering hall. Their dates, roof forms and how to visit.