Edo

The archive of the Katori family, hereditary priests of Katori Jingu in Chiba: 381 documents, late Heian to Edo, on how a great medieval shrine ran its estates.

Held by the Chiba City Museum of Art, this National Important Cultural Property by Tanomura Chikuden — painted in Osaka in 1829 when he was 53 — is a luminous example of late Edo-period literati painting. Its poetic contrast between a storm-tossed boat and a calm interior, together with the artist's own dated inscription, make it one of the finest benchmark works of Japanese bunjinga.

An Important Cultural Property of Japan, this Edo-period sword guard (tsuba) by Nara Toshinaga (1667–1737) is among the supreme achievements of Japanese metalwork. Its high-relief carving and luxurious mixed-metal inlay depict the warrior Omori Hikoshichi carrying a demon woman — the vengeful spirit of Kusunoki Masashige — in a wraparound composition drawn from the Taiheiki chronicle. This guide introduces the work, its master craftsman, and where to encounter comparable tsuba masterpieces in Japan.

Called the Masamune of Osaka for his steel's clarity, Inoue Shinkai forged this Important Cultural Property in 1676, its tang bearing the imperial chrysanthemum.

Discover the Important Cultural Property katana inscribed 'Yamashiro Daijō Fujiwara Kunikane / An Auspicious Day in the Eighth Month of Kan'ei 5' (1628), held privately in Osaka. Forged by the first-generation Sendai Kunikane—official swordsmith of Date Masamune—just one year after he received his court title, this masterpiece revived the ancient Yamato Hōshō tradition of straight-grain forging.

Designated as an Important Art Object, this katana was forged in 1614 by the first-generation Echizen Yasutsugu, official swordsmith to the Tokugawa shogunate, using imported nanban iron in Edo. A pioneering example of foreign iron in Japanese swordsmithing and a historically significant blade created in the year of the Siege of Osaka Castle.

Seventy-six fusuma panels by Kano school artists from the early 17th century adorn four rooms of Daian-ji Temple's Main Hall in Sakai City, Osaka. Designated as an Important Cultural Property, these gold-ground polychrome and ink paintings are the sole surviving barrier paintings from Sakai — once one of Japan's wealthiest trading cities. The collection includes the legendary 'Pine with Added Branch' featured in prewar Japanese textbooks.

The Miura Baien Manuscripts, designated as an Important Cultural Property of Japan, comprise 30 categories of autograph manuscripts (212 volumes) and four personal artifacts belonging to the Edo-period philosopher Miura Baien (1723–1789). Preserved in Kunisaki City, Oita Prefecture, these documents record his original philosophical system known as Jōrigaku (Study of Natural Order), which anticipated Western dialectical philosophy. The collection is displayed at the Miura Baien Museum alongside his former residence, a National Historic Site.

Discover the Essel Telegraaf, the only surviving domestically-made telegraph from Japan's Edo period. Housed at Isahaya Museum of Art & History in Nagasaki Prefecture, this Important Cultural Property reveals how late-Edo innovators adapted Dutch technology.

Taken in 1854 by Eliphalet Brown Jr. during Commodore Perry's expedition, this daguerreotype portrait of Tanaka Mitsuyoshi — a samurai official who negotiated with the American squadron — is one of the oldest surviving photographs of a Japanese person taken on Japanese soil. Designated a national Important Cultural Property in 2006, this quarter-plate daguerreotype is entrusted to the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum in Yebisu Garden Place, Meguro, Tokyo.

A collection of autograph manuscript drafts by the Edo-period Buddhist monk and scholar Keichū (1640–1701), designated as an Important Cultural Property of Japan. The collection includes working drafts of groundbreaking works such as the Man'yō Daishōki and Waji Shōran-shō that laid the foundations of Japanese classical studies and linguistics.

Held at the Tokyo National Museum, this Important Cultural Property is a rare dated hanging scroll painted in 1792 by literati master Uragami Gyokudō at age forty-eight, just two years before he abandoned his samurai life. Discover its bright indigo-and-ochre palette and the seeds of his later masterworks.

A Southern Song-period silk painting of a quail bearing the "Zakkashitsu-in" connoisseurship seal of Shogun Ashikaga Yoshinori, this Important Cultural Property descends from the celebrated Higashiyama lineage of Chinese paintings cherished by the Ashikaga shogunal house, and is privately preserved in Tokyo as a quiet witness to Japan's medieval engagement with classical Chinese art.

A 1641 portrait of tea master Sakuma Shogen by Kano Tanyu, made a year before his death, with inscriptions by Zen abbot Kogetsu Sogan and scholar Hayashi Razan.

Twelve silk leaves of insects and fish, paired with Chinese poems, painted by Watanabe Kazan in 1841 and sent to his pupil weeks before his death. A coded farewell.

Discover the Pigeon on a Peach Branch (Momohato-zu), a Japanese National Treasure attributed to Emperor Huizong of the Northern Song Dynasty. This exquisite silk painting from 1107 showcases the boneless (mokkotsu) technique, Slender Gold calligraphy, and a provenance tracing back to Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu.

Held by the Diplomatic Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tsushin Zenran (320 volumes) and Zoku Tsushin Zenran (1,784 volumes) form Japan's first systematic compilation of diplomatic records. Covering the turbulent decade from 1859 to 1868, these approximately 2,000 volumes contain primary documents on Perry's arrival, the Namamugi Incident, and other pivotal Bakumatsu events. Designated an Important Cultural Property in 2016, related materials can be viewed free of charge at the Exhibition Room on the 5th floor of Mori JP Tower in Azabudai Hills, Tokyo.

Held in a private Tokyo collection, the Nanbu Family Documents are an Important Cultural Property of Japan comprising 243 unmounted medieval letters and orders preserved by the Hachinohe (later Tōno) Nanbu clan. Spanning the Kamakura through early Edo periods, the archive includes original directives from Southern Court generals Kitabatake Akiie and Akinobu, alongside the Soga Documents — making it a vital window into the wars and politics of medieval northern Japan.

Discover the Important Cultural Property tsuba by Tsuchiya Yasuchika, one of the celebrated Nara Sansaku masters. This Edo-period sword guard depicts plovers in flight against a golden sunrise through masterful iron carving and gold inlay.

Self-taught photographer Yokoyama Matsusaburo learned his craft to portray his mother. These 83 objects, kept by one Hakodate family, survive from early Meiji Japan.