Kamakura

Discover the Kuki Masamune, a National Treasure tantō forged by the legendary swordsmith Masamune in the Kamakura period. Housed at Hayashibara Museum of Art in Okayama, this unsigned masterpiece carries a dramatic history from the Kuki naval clan to Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Discover the Wooden Senju Kannon and Two Attendant Statues of Mio-ji Temple in Niimi City, Okayama — a Kamakura-period three-figure ensemble of national importance, designated as far back as 1901. Explore the artistic value of the central Senju Kannon, the dynamic flanking figures of Fudo Myo-o and Bishamonten, the temple's Muromachi-era main hall, and nearby attractions in northern Okayama.

Held by Chusonji Temple in Hiraizumi, Iwate, these four Important Cultural Property masks include the Wakajo, whose ink inscription on the reverse dates it to 1291—making it the oldest dated Noh mask known to survive in Japan. Together with two Okina masks and one Roujo mask, they are still worn each year by Chusonji's monks during Kojitsu Shikisanban, a medieval ennen performance offered on May 4–5 and November 3 at the Hakusan Shrine Noh stage.

Standing in the precincts of Nagataki Hakusan Shrine in Gujō, Gifu Prefecture, this hexagonal stone lantern bears an inscription dating it to 1302, the late Kamakura period. Carved from andesite and rising over three metres tall, it is decorated with lotus petals, running lions, and a small seated Buddha figure. Designated an Important Cultural Property of Japan, it is one of the finest dated stone lanterns of medieval Japan and a rare surviving witness to the Mino-side centre of Hakusan mountain worship.

Discover the National Treasure tachi signed by Yasutsugu, a masterwork of the Ko-Aoe swordsmithing school from the Kamakura period. Once owned by Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki, this magnificent blade is housed at Hikaru Museum in Takayama, Gifu Prefecture.

The National Treasure 'Nittō Guhō Junrei Kōki' is the diary of the Heian-period Tendai monk Ennin (Jikaku Daishi), who traveled across Tang Dynasty China for nearly ten years as part of the last Japanese embassy. This oldest surviving manuscript, transcribed by the monk Kanetane in 1291, is an invaluable historical record of ninth-century Chinese society, customs, and religion — ranked alongside Marco Polo's Travels as one of the great travel accounts in world literature.

Discover a life-sized early Kamakura-period bronze statue of Akasagarbha Bodhisattva — a nationally designated Important Cultural Property preserved with its original canopy and halo in the remote mountain village of Itoshiro, Gifu. Once the sacred body of Hakusan Chukyo Shrine, this masterpiece embodies the flourishing of Hakusan mountain faith.

Cast in 1326 for Enpuku-ji Temple in Matsushima, the Unpan at Zuiganji is a rare Kamakura-period bronze gong shaped like a cloud, used to summon Zen monks. Discover this Important Cultural Property at the Seiryuden Treasure Hall.

Standing at the southern tip of Oshima Island in Matsushima, Miyagi Prefecture, the Oshu Mishima Raiken Stele is a slate monument over three meters tall, erected in 1307 by more than thirty disciples to honor the monk Raiken, who never left the island during twenty-two years of solitary practice. Its 643 characters of cursive script were both composed and brushed by the celebrated Chinese émigré monk Issan Ichinei. Designated an Important Cultural Property in 1955, it is one of the finest dated cursive stone inscriptions surviving from the late Kamakura period.

Originally preserved as a sacred treasure in an Ainu household in Hidaka, Hokkaido, this silver-mounted Kamakura-period tachi survives as a rare early example of Ezo-style ceremonial swords. Held by the Tohoku History Museum in Tagajo, Miyagi.

The Ebisu hall at Ishida Shrine in Ayabe is northern Kyoto's oldest shrine building, raised in 1311 and dated by its ridge tag, with rare early Zen-style detail.

Japan's largest medieval stone pagoda at 6.08 meters, the Iwashimizu Hachimangu Gorinto in Yawata bears no inscription, leaving its origin to several rival legends.

A 15.2-meter granite stupa raised in 1286 by the monk Eison alongside the rebuilt Uji Bridge. Japan's largest surviving pre-modern stone pagoda, standing on a small island just upstream of Byodo-in.

Discover the Kasuga Shrine Main Hall, an Important Cultural Property from the late Kamakura period, nestled within Ujigami Shrine—home to Japan's oldest shrine architecture and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Uji, Kyoto.

Built around 1215, Ujigami Shrine's worship hall is Japan's oldest. Shutters and a low floor borrow from aristocratic houses; a bargeboard hides the gabled roof.

Uji Shrine's main hall is a three-bay nagare-zukuri of the Kamakura period. Until 1883 it was one shrine with Ujigami uphill. A looking-back rabbit guides you here.

The Five-Story Pagoda of Kaijusenji Temple in Kizugawa City, Kyoto Prefecture, is Japan's only surviving five-story pagoda from the Kamakura period, built in 1214. Discover this National Treasure's unique architectural features including the rare mokoshi pent roof shared only with Horyuji Temple, its exquisite interior paintings, and the serene mountain setting overlooking the ancient Kuni-kyo capital ruins.

A granite five-ringed stupa of the late Kamakura period at Gansen-ji, in the Tono hills of southern Kyoto. Its lotus-petal base marks the regional Yamato style.

A granite thirteen-story pagoda at Gansenji in Kyoto, traditionally dated to 1314, its lowest tier carved with seed syllables of the four Diamond-Realm Buddhas.

Discover the Gansenji Stone Chamber (Sekishitsu), an Important Cultural Property from 1312 in Kizugawa, Kyoto. This rare granite shrine houses a carved Fudō Myōō relief and stands in the serene Tōno no Sato, a hidden Buddhist heritage area near Nara.