Heian

Printed in Southern Song China in 1139, these 17 National Treasure volumes of the Maoshi zhengyi rest at Kyo-U Library in Osaka with Kanazawa Bunko seals.

The Tobiseiji Hanaike at the Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, is a National Treasure regarded as the finest surviving example of Chinese Yuan-dynasty Longquan celadon with iron-spot decoration. Standing 27.3 cm tall in the elegant yuhuchun form, twenty-one iron spots dance across its jade-green glaze. Discover this masterpiece treasured in Japan for centuries through the Konoike merchants and the famed Ataka Collection.

At Osaka's Dōmyōji Tenmangū, the National Treasure Hakuga Dankin Kyō is a 14.5 cm bronze mirror of the qin master Bo Ya, one of six relics of Michizane.

Brushed by Fujiwara no Yukinari and once owned by Retired Emperor Go-Saga, this National Treasure scroll of Bai Juyi's poems awaits visitors in Tadaoka, Osaka.

This Heian-period National Treasure at Osaka's Fujita Museum depicts Lotus Sutra merit scenes in gold and silver maki-e, with phoenixes and instruments on its lid.

A Heian copy of the Chinese Classic of Poetry at Osaka's Dainenbutsu-ji, this National Treasure shows an archaic Nara-style hand once tied to Sugawara no Michizane.

Enshrined in the main hall of Domyoji Temple in Fujiidera City, Osaka, the National Treasure Wooden Standing Eleven-Headed Kannon is a ninth-century masterpiece of the early Heian period. Carved from a single block of kaya wood and standing approximately 98 centimeters tall, it is celebrated as the pinnacle of Japanese danzo sculpture and traditionally attributed to Sugawara no Michizane. This guide covers the statue's artistic significance, viewing schedule (the 18th and 25th of each month), nearby World Heritage kofun tombs, and essential travel information.

At Kongoji Temple in Kawachinagano, Osaka, three towering wooden statues—Dainichi Nyorai, Fudo Myoo, and Gozanze Myoo—form a rare three-dimensional Sonsho Mandala. Crafted over some fifty years by Heian and Kamakura masters including Kaikei's disciple Gyokai, the trinity was elevated to National Treasure status in 2017.

Kanshinji's National Treasure Nyoirin Kannon, a six-armed ninth-century image with its original pigments intact, appears only on April 17 and 18 each year in Osaka.

Carved from a single torreya trunk in the late 9th century, the National Treasure Yakushi at Shishikutsuji, Osaka, survived the 1615 siege. Full visiting guide.

At Osaka's Shitennoji, five fan-shaped booklets layer Lotus Sutra calligraphy over lively scenes of Heian nobles and markets, the last of Heian fan painting.

A National Treasure of Japan, the Ichiji Rendai Hokekyō (Fugen Kanpotsuhon) is a dazzling late Heian decorated sutra in which each written character is enthroned on a painted lotus pedestal and encircled by a golden halo. The gold- and silver-strewn paper and the yamato-e frontispiece depicting a Heian memorial rite make it one of Japan's finest sōshokukyō. It is preserved at the Museum Yamato Bunkakan in Nara.

A herdboy rides his ox home through falling snow in Li Di's Returning Herd in Snow, a Southern Song National Treasure kept at Nara's Yamato Bunkakan museum.

Fukiji Ōdō, located on the Kunisaki Peninsula in Bungo-Takada, Oita Prefecture, is the oldest surviving wooden structure in Kyushu and a designated National Treasure of Japan. Ranked alongside Byōdō-in's Phoenix Hall and Chūson-ji's Golden Hall as one of Japan's Three Great Amida Halls, this late Heian-period masterpiece preserves extraordinary wall paintings depicting the Pure Land paradise and an Important Cultural Property statue of Amida Buddha.

Sixty-one Buddhas carved into volcanic cliffs in Usuki, Oita, became Japan's first rock-cut National Treasures in 1995. Meet the restored Furuzono Dainichi.

The Gonga Kanga Site in Iida holds the buried offices and storehouses of the ancient Ina district government, in use from the late 7th to early 10th century.

Only two Fugen Bosatsu paintings rank as National Treasures in Japan. Explore Bujoji Temple's Heian masterpiece, its cut-gold kirikane artistry, and how to see it.

This National Treasure tachi by the Ko-Bizen smith Masatsune was shogun Yoshimune's 1745 retirement gift to the Owari Tokugawa, now at Nagoya's Tokugawa Art Museum.

Japan's oldest illustrated Tale of Genji, a 12th-century National Treasure at Nagoya's Tokugawa Art Museum, shown a few weeks each November to protect its pigments.

Copied in 1160 by Fujiwara no Koreyuki, these National Treasure scrolls at the Kyoto National Museum set a complete Heian poetry anthology on ashide-e paper.