Edo

Discover Myokaji Temple Main Hall, an 1857 Edo-period Jodo Shinshu Takada-ha temple registered as a national tangible cultural property in Hisai, Tsu City, Mie Prefecture. Explore its distinctive shikoro-buki roof, ornate worship canopy, and samurai-era heritage.

Discover the Main Hall of Honzan Jionji Temple in Sagae, Yamagata — an Important Cultural Property built in 1618 with a grand thatched roof, secret Buddhist statues, and over 1,300 years of spiritual heritage in the Tohoku region.

A Registered Tangible Cultural Property at Zenpoji in Yamagata, built in 1855 by northern-trade merchants, its tiered altars holding over five hundred rakan figures.

A Registered Tangible Cultural Property at Zenpoji in Yamagata, a late-Edo two-story gate holding Bishamonten and Idaten as guardians rather than the usual temple kings.

A Registered Tangible Cultural Property at Zenpoji in Yamagata, a compact four-legged gate covered in deep carvings of waves, animals, and the twelve zodiac signs.

A Registered Tangible Cultural Property at the innermost point of Zenpoji in Yamagata, its wave-shaped roof modeled on the undersea dragon palace of the sea deity.

Discover the Daisenji-bo Nagayamon, a nationally registered tangible cultural property in Yuza, Yamagata. This 1834 Edo-period gate once welcomed pilgrims to Mount Chokai's Shugendo lodging community.

The Chikaoka Family Residence Main House, a nationally registered Tangible Cultural Property since 2022, is a grand late Edo-period chumon-zukuri farmhouse in Kaneyama Town, Yamagata Prefecture. With 311 square meters of floor space, seven rooms, a horse-stable wing, formal entrance platform, and rare triple-groove lintels, it stands as an invaluable example of traditional Tohoku farmhouse architecture.

Built in 1844 below Mt. Chokai, this registered hall once headed Warabioka's mountain ascetics, joining a worship hall and priests' quarters under one copper roof.

The Uesugi Family Documents, 2,018 papers from the lords of Yonezawa, survive in their original folded, sealed form as Japan's first samurai National Treasure.

Discover Kikuya Family Residence in Hagi, Yamaguchi — one of Japan's oldest surviving merchant houses with five Important Cultural Property buildings, Edo-period gardens, and 500+ historical artifacts in a UNESCO World Heritage castle town.

The Kokubunji Kondo in Hofu, Yamaguchi Prefecture, is an Important Cultural Property Buddhist hall rebuilt in 1779 by Mori Shigetaka, lord of the Choshu Domain. As the Golden Hall of the only provincial temple in Japan that preserves its original Tenpyo-era temple grounds, it has stood on the same site for over 1,250 years, inheriting its original Nara-period foundation stones. Inside, approximately 50 Buddhist statues including Important Cultural Property-designated images are enshrined.

Daishōin in Hagi, Yamaguchi Prefecture, is one of two mausoleum temples of the Mōri lords of the Hagi domain. Its Main Hall, Kuri, Shoin, Bell Tower Gate, and Sutra Repository — rebuilt in the mid-eighteenth century after a fire — are all Important Cultural Properties of Japan. The adjoining Historic Site cemetery is lined with more than six hundred stone lanterns that are lit by candlelight each year on August 13 for the Hagi Mantōe festival.

The Kuniyasu Family Residence in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, is a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property built around 1850 as the headquarters of Matsukane-ya, a prosperous pomade oil merchant. This impressive two-story plastered townhouse features rare lattice insect-cage windows and grand exposed-beam interiors. Now open free as the Honke Matsugane tourism center, visitors can explore Edo-period architecture, sample local sake, and try on samurai armor — all just a 3-minute walk from the iconic Kintai Bridge.

The Somon of Kozanji Temple in the historic castle town of Chofu, Shimonoseki, is a Zen-style four-legged gate preserving mid-Muromachi period structural elements. Registered as a Nationally Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2004, it stands as the formal entrance to a temple compound housing a National Treasure and bearing witness to centuries of dramatic history.

The kuri at Unpoji in Koshu, Yamanashi, held the kitchen and living quarters: a long thatched, gable-entry building of the early Edo period, the widest of the four halls.

Unpoji's shoin in Koshu, Yamanashi, is a mid-Edo Important Cultural Property of 1716: a hipped, thatched residential hall behind the garden, the newest of its four.

On Mt. Yumura in Kōfu, Entaku-ji's hipped-roof Jizō-dō shelters a stone Jizō. An Important Cultural Property since 1949, its soot-black interior rewards a visit.

Discover the Sanmon Gate of Kai Zenkoji Temple in Kofu, Yamanashi — an Important Cultural Property of Japan built in 1767. Explore the samurai history of Takeda Shingen, experience the Roaring Dragon and underground pilgrimage, and visit one of eastern Japan's largest wooden temple complexes.

Discover the Main Hall of Kai Zenkoji Temple in Kofu, Yamanashi — an Important Cultural Property founded by warlord Takeda Shingen in 1558. Experience the legendary Roaring Dragon ceiling, the pitch-dark Kaidan Meguri passage, and one of the largest wooden structures in eastern Japan.