Edo

Discover Daikokuya Ryokan in Hosokute-juku, a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan. This 1859 inn once served as the Owari Domain's designated honjin on the historic Nakasendo highway, and still welcomes guests today.

Discover the Nagaya Seizaemon Residence in Seki, Gifu — a registered tangible cultural property dating back to the 17th century. This grand shoya dwelling reveals Edo-period rural life in the mountains of northern Mino.

The Hanada-Imai Main House in Mimayano, Gero, began in 1829. Its earthen-floor side became a Western clinic and its upper floor is thought to have raised silkworms.

Gifu's Nagataki Hakusan Shrine holds 27 wooden masks from late Kamakura to late Edo — Okina, Sanbasō, kishin and rare hanataka faces of Hakusan worship.

Takachiho Shrine's 1778 main hall in highland Miyazaki is a grand five-bay nagare-zukuri in plain zelkova, carved with dragons, a phoenix, and a local hero's legend.

Shiiba's Nasu Family Residence, an 1823 Important Cultural Property, is 25 meters long yet one room deep, and known as Tsurutomi Yashiki after a Genpei-era legend.

Dated to 1787 by a carved post inscription, this is Miyazaki's oldest documented farmhouse: no doma, just two board-floored rooms in an archaic mountain plan.

Nestled deep in the mountains of Misato Town, Miyazaki Prefecture, the main hall of Mikado Shrine is a nationally designated Important Cultural Property built in 1661 in the rare seven-bay nagare-zukuri style. Enshrining Prince Jeongga of the ancient Korean kingdom of Baekje, the shrine preserves bronze mirrors identical to those in the Nara Shōsōin Repository. Together with the adjacent Nishi no Shōsōin and Hall of Baekje, it offers a unique window into ancient Japan-Korea cultural exchange.

Aitai Bridge in Ebino City, Miyazaki Prefecture, is a stone single-arch bridge built in 1729. Serving as both a road bridge on the Hitoyoshi Highway and an irrigation aqueduct, it features double-layered voussoirs and cut stone paving, and is registered as a national Tangible Cultural Property.

Discover the Former Sato Family Residence in Kakuda, Miyagi Prefecture — a nationally designated Important Cultural Property showcasing a mid-18th century Tohoku farmhouse with thatched roof, torii-date pillars, and authentic Edo-period rural living.

Perched on Ichimoriyama overlooking Matsushima Bay in Miyagi Prefecture, Shiogama Shrine has been revered as the first-ranked shrine of ancient Mutsu Province for over a thousand years. Begun in 1695 by the fourth Sendai lord Date Tsunamura and completed in 1704 under his successor Date Yoshimura, fourteen halls and a stone torii were designated Important Cultural Properties in 2002. The shrine is celebrated for its rare layout enshrining three deities in three sanctuaries and for the masterful contrast between its restrained main halls and ornate gates—an outstanding example of mid-Edo shrine architecture.

Enunkan Garden, named a national Place of Scenic Beauty in 2018, is a 17th-century stroll garden above Kesennuma Bay kept by the Ayukai family of the Sendai Domain.

The Ebiki Miso and Soy Sauce Brewing Storehouse in Toyoma, Tome City, Miyagi, is part of the historic compound of Ebiki Shoten, founded in 1833 and registered as a national Tangible Cultural Property in 2018. Located in the heart of "Miyagi's Meiji Village," the complex preserves eight buildings spanning the late Edo to Taisho eras, where traditional miso and soy sauce fermentation continues to this day.

Discover the Enmei-ji Temple Sanmon Gate in Shiroishi, Miyagi — a Registered Tangible Cultural Property originally built as the Umayaguchi-mon of Shiroishi Castle during the late Edo period. Explore its samurai heritage and unique turret-gate architecture.

The Main Hall of Tōshinji Temple in Shiroishi, Miyagi Prefecture, is a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property built in 1831. This Pure Land Buddhist hall features a characteristic Jōdo-shū layout with a dragon ceiling painting by Sendai domain artist Sakuma Rokusho. The temple grounds hold the graves of Sanada Yukimura's daughter Aume and son Daihachi, along with a gate relocated from Shiroishi Castle.

A two-story earthen-walled storehouse on the Matsuya property in Furukawa, Ōsaki. Late Edo in date, it is the site's oldest building, noted for its plasterwork.

Iwashimizu Hachimangu, one of Japan's three great Hachiman shrines, sits atop Mount Otoko in Yawata, Kyoto Prefecture. Founded in 860 CE, it has served as a guardian of the imperial capital for over a millennium. Its ten-building sanctuary complex, designated a National Treasure in 2016, is the oldest and largest surviving example of Hachiman-zukuri architecture. Highlights include vivid polychrome carvings, Oda Nobunaga's Golden Rain Gutters, and the Iwashimizu Festival—one of Japan's Three Great Imperial Festivals.

Kamigamo Shrine (Kamo Wake Ikazuchi Jinja), founded in 677 CE in northern Kyoto, is one of the city's most ancient sanctuaries. Home to two National Treasure halls and 41 Important Cultural Properties, its entire precinct is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Discover its iconic nagare-zukuri architecture, mystical sand cones, and the legendary Aoi Matsuri — over a millennium of living spiritual heritage.

Kajūji's shoin in Yamashina, Kyoto, an Important Cultural Property, was rebuilt from a late-17th-century imperial residence and is noted for its Kajūji-dana shelves.

At 54.8 meters, Kyoto's Tō-ji pagoda is Japan's tallest wooden tower. Rebuilt in 1644 after four fires, its first story holds a cosmos of Diamond-World Buddhas.