Edo

Discover the exquisite Nakanobō Inari Shrine, a Registered Tangible Cultural Property dating from the Edo period. This miniature architectural masterpiece features elaborate cypress bark roofing and vibrant decorations, enshrining the ancient deity Toyouke Ōkami once worshipped by the powerful Katsuragi clan.

Discover Zuiryuji Temple, a magnificent 17th-century Zen Buddhist temple in Takaoka, featuring three National Treasure buildings and perfect symmetrical architecture that embodies the wealth and power of the Kaga Domain.

Explore Hamba Family Residence, an Important Cultural Property preserving the earliest form of gasshō-zukuri architecture near the UNESCO World Heritage Gokayama region. Discover its 300+ year history, unique architectural features, and authentic rural Japan experience.

Discover the Kaei Bridge at Nishinomiya Shrine, a registered cultural property built in 1848 by sake brewers leading to Matsuo Shrine. Explore this elegant granite bridge in Nada Gogō, Japan's most renowned sake-producing region.

Discover the Kyu Nate Honjin Imose Family Residence in Wakayama, a designated Important Cultural Property that served as a feudal lord's rest stop and was the birthplace of the wife of pioneering surgeon Hanaoka Seishu.

Held in a private collection in Aichi Prefecture, this Important Cultural Property is a hexagonal plate made by the potter Ogata Kenzan with painting by his elder brother, the Rinpa master Ogata Korin. Dated 1710 on its base, it is the only known collaborative ceramic by the two brothers bearing a specific year, and its rare hexagonal form, Korin's crane and pine painting, and Kenzan's own poetic inscription make it a cornerstone reference work in the study of Rinpa ceramics.

Discover the National Treasure 'Portrait of a Court Lady' (Kyūjo-zu), a Yuan Dynasty masterpiece depicting a woman in male court attire with a flute at her sash. Explore its storied provenance from the Ashikaga Shogunal collection to the legendary collector Ohara Magosaburō, its connection to the ancient flute virtuoso Huan Yi, and how to view this enigmatic painting at the Kyoto National Museum and the 2026 special exhibition at the Ohara Museum of Art in Kurashiki.

Discover Kano Sansetsu's Snowy Shore with Waterfowl, an Important Cultural Property of Japan held on deposit at the Kyoto National Museum. This pair of six-panel folding screens by the second-generation head of the Kyo Kano school depicts a moonlit winter coast where silver-leaf waves and countless waterfowl create one of the most haunting visions of early Edo painting.

Discover the Cloud Dragon Ink Painting (Unryūzu) by Edo-period master Maruyama Ōkyo, an Important Cultural Property of Japan. Learn about its powerful sumi-ink technique and how to view it at the Kyoto National Museum.

Discover the Persian Manuscript in Japan, a remarkable 13th-century document brought from Song-dynasty Quanzhou by the monk Keisei. This Important Cultural Property contains Persian poetry and reveals the vibrant maritime Silk Road connections between medieval Japan, China, and Persia.

The Fukui Family Kyōmasu-za Related Materials, an Important Cultural Property of Kyoto Prefecture, comprise 2,139 items including documents, maps, actual reference measuring boxes, and a branding iron passed down in the Fukui family, who held the exclusive shogunate authority to manufacture, sell, and inspect official measures for the 33 provinces of western Japan. Designated in 1990, it is the sole surviving archive of a shogunate-authorized measuring guild, offering irreplaceable insight into Edo-period weights and measures administration.

An Important Cultural Property of Japan held privately in Kyoto Prefecture. This hanging scroll is a Zen ink-trace (bokuseki) brushed in 1268 by the Southern Song Chan master Wu'er Kexuan (also known as Shiqiao Kexuan), giving a verse-poem to his disciple Ming, who served as the temple's head of guests. As a precisely dated late-Southern-Song original, it is a primary document of Sino-Japanese Zen exchange and an exemplar of the calligraphy that came to be revered as the highest form of hanging scroll in the Japanese tea ceremony.

This Important Cultural Property is an ink calligraphy (bokuseki) by Lingshi Ruzhi, a Yuan-dynasty Chan monk and direct disciple of the celebrated master Xutang Zhiyu. Written in 1330 as a gatha for the monk Zhèngtáng, this work connects the spiritual lineage of Rinzai Zen with Japan's tea ceremony culture and is privately held in Kyoto Prefecture.

Discover Yosa Buson's masterpiece "Yashoku Rōdai-zu" (Night Scene of Towers and Pavilions), a National Treasure of Japan. This late 18th-century ink painting captures a snowy Kyoto night with breathtaking subtlety. Learn about its artistic significance, viewing opportunities, and Buson-related sites in Kyoto.

A silk portrait of the ink master Sesshu by Unkoku Toeki, who claimed to be his fourth-generation heir, bearing a verse by a Daitoku-ji abbot. Designated in 2023.

This 16-meter handscroll at Hōfu's Mōri Museum is Unkoku Tōeki's copy of Sesshū's National Treasure landscape, designated an Important Cultural Property in 2023.

The Takasu Family Documents are a collection of 127 historical documents spanning from 1351 to 1643, along with a rare Ming dynasty trade ship flag. Designated as an Important Cultural Property, this archive reveals the activities of the Takasu clan as deputy governors of Akama-ga-seki (Shimonoseki) under the Mōri, managing international trade between Japan and Ming China.

An iron sword guard carved with shore pines and plovers by Tsuchiya Yasuchika, a leading master of Edo metalwork. Designated an Important Cultural Property in 1955.

Nine documents by Kawachiya Kashō, a wealthy farmer and brewer, and his heirs reveal how an educated villager in Edo Japan weighed family, learning, and survival.

Discover the 953-item Important Cultural Property collection documenting the achievements of Kunitomo Ikkansai (1778–1840), the 'Edison of the Edo Period.' From Japan's first reflecting telescope and sunspot observation records to the country's first practical air gun, explore the extraordinary scientific legacy born in a small gunsmith village in Shiga Prefecture.