Edo

Discover the Hatayama Family Residence in Miyoshi, Hiroshima — a mid-18th century thatched-roof farmhouse designated as an Important Cultural Property of Japan, featuring archaic construction techniques and a dramatic relocation story.

Explore the Iroha Maru Exhibition Hall in Tomonoura, Fukuyama. Housed in a Registered Tangible Cultural Property warehouse from the Edo period, this museum showcases artifacts from Sakamoto Ryoma's famous 1867 maritime incident and his secret hideout.

Shorinbo's 1744 bell tower packs base blocks, tapered columns, two-stepped brackets and kaerumata struts into sixteen square metres. No walls, so the frame is on show.

Built in 1752 to keep sutras from burning, Shorinbo's Kyozo is a plastered box 3.8 metres square, yet brackets rise from its wall head and a coffered ceiling tops it.

Discover Tobigasako Sunadome, a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in Fukuyama City, Hiroshima. This massive Edo-period granite dam showcases Japan's pioneering sand control engineering amid seasonal fireflies and spider lilies.

The Nanzenbo Sanmon Gate in Tomonoura, Fukuyama City, Hiroshima Prefecture, is a unique bell tower gate registered as a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2014. Built atop a traditional four-legged gate, its Chinese-inspired upper story features bengara-painted woodwork, flame-shaped windows, and dramatically curved eaves. Throughout the Edo period, the temple served as lodging for Joseon Tongsinsa (Korean diplomatic envoys), and the bell tower was added around 1810 in preparation for the 12th envoy mission. The temple also holds ancestral graves of renowned koto composer Miyagi Michio.

Discover Nanzenbo Main Hall, a nationally registered tangible cultural property in the historic port town of Tomonoura, Fukuyama. Rebuilt in 1860 with lavish late-Edo carvings, this Jodo Shinshu temple once hosted Korean diplomatic missions and holds the ancestral graves of koto master Miyagi Michio.

The Hida family's main house on Ōsakishimojima in Kure is the oldest of five registered buildings, a late-Edo tsushi-nikai farmhouse finished with a townhouse's care.

The ceremonial gate of the Hino Residence in Aki-Takata, Hiroshima. A late-Edo copper-roofed gate 1.7 metres wide, it divided the guest-room garden from the forecourt.

The main gate and attendant's room of the Hino Residence in Aki-Takata, Hiroshima. The 3.6-metre gate is said to have come from a Yoshida domain jinya.

The main house of the Hino Residence in Aki-Takata, Hiroshima, rebuilt around 1779. Its timber frame pairs an early-modern farmhouse core with modern openness.

The sake storehouse of the Hino Residence in Aki-Takata, Hiroshima, built in 1733. A 22-metre plaster kura with just two internal posts, it housed the family's brewing.

The storehouse and detached room of the Hino Residence in Aki-Takata, Hiroshima. The kura of about 1702 is the oldest building here and survived a great fire in 1770.

Explore Kannon-ji Kondo, an Important Cultural Property in Kagawa Prefecture. This Edo-period main hall preserves Muromachi-era craftsmanship on Shikoku's 88 Temple Pilgrimage at the unique two-temple-in-one precinct.

An 18th-century farmhouse from southern Ehime, now at Shikoku Mura near Yashima. The whole raised floor is split bamboo, and a paper-mulberry kettle survives inside.

Discover the Awaya Okada Residence Gate Longhouse and Storage Building, a nationally registered tangible cultural property in Sakate, Shodoshima. This Edo-period merchant estate offers a glimpse into the maritime trade heritage of the Seto Inland Sea.

Discover the former main gate of Zentsuji Daiichi High School in Kagawa Prefecture, a registered tangible cultural property built in 1922 to commemorate the Imperial Army Special Grand Maneuvers. This brick gate with granite details stands as a remarkable testament to Taisho-era craftsmanship and local history.

The Red Gate at Kamebishi in Hikita, Kagawa is a hipped-and-gabled gate abutting the No. 13 store; painted red ochre, it was remade from an 1843 row gate.

Kamebishi's former main house in Hikita, Kagawa, built in 1780, is now its office, shop and exhibition, and the largest of the brewery's 18 registered buildings.

The No. 11 warehouse at Kamebishi in Hikita, Kagawa is a late-Edo soy store recorded in the family's records as raised in 1807, from the founding era.