Kamakura

Discover the Kumano Junisha Gongen Mishōtai, an Important Cultural Property featuring thirteen Buddhist deities on a gilded bronze mirror disc. Explore the beauty of Shinto-Buddhist syncretism at Nara National Museum.

Held at the Kyushu National Museum, this Important Cultural Property is a Yuan-dynasty Chinese tea bowl from the 13th–14th century. A rare kiln effect at the boundary of its black and brown glazes produces a silvery 'rainbow' band that gave the bowl its name. Its provenance traces back to the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa.

This stone pagoda in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto, inscribed in 1230 and now of eleven storeys, is an early Kamakura tower; its state since the 2026 earthquake is unknown.

Stone pagoda of 1276 at Chorakuji in Ota, Gunma, its date found by chance under the base in 1931; one of only two Kamakura-dated hoto pagodas in Gunma Prefecture.

Preserved at Fudō-ji Temple in Gunma Prefecture, this stone standing statue of Fudō Myōō bears the inscribed signatures of two In-pa (院派) school sculptors — In-ryū and a second master whose name is partially illegible. Stone Buddhist statues bearing the signatures of named sculptural masters are exceedingly rare in Japan, where wooden images dominate. This article explores the work's iconography, the history of the In-pa school, the reasons for its cultural designation, and recommendations for visitors planning a trip to Gunma.

Thirteen-tiered granite pagoda of 1294 at Komyobo on Ikuchijima, Onomichi, Hiroshima, 8.5 metres high and said to be erected by the monk Ninsho; free to visit.

Jodoji Temple Sutra Stupa in Onomichi is a 1278 stone stupa, the oldest dated monument at the temple, raised by a merchant's son with sutras sealed inside.

A late Kamakura great armor with helmet and shoulder guards at Itsukushima Shrine, Hiroshima, a National Treasure since 1951, elegant in form and colour.

A 13th-century tachi by Kunimune, a founder of Kamakura swordsmithing, with a flamboyant temper line of round-headed choji; a National Treasure in Fukuyama.

A 13th-century tachi by Norifusa of the Ichimonji school, with a flamboyant choji temper line, given by shogun Tsunayoshi in 1707; a National Treasure at Fukuyama.

A 13th-century tachi by Yoshifusa of the Fukuoka Ichimonji school, with its original tang and a flawless choji temper line; a National Treasure in Fukuyama.

A 13th-century dagger by Shintogo Kunimitsu, founder of Kamakura swordsmithing, named after its owner Gamo Ujisato of Aizu; a National Treasure in Fukuyama.

Built in the late Kamakura period on reused Nara lecture-hall foundations, Sanuki Kokubunji's main hall shelters a 5.2-meter Thousand-Armed Kannon, a hidden Buddha.

The Motoyamaji Main Hall in Mitoyo, Kagawa, a National Treasure of 1300: an esoteric hall dated by inscriptions on its ridge beam and a foundation stone.

Kofukuji Hokyoin Pagoda in Higashimatsuyama, Saitama: a 2.1-metre stone memorial pagoda dated 1323, combining Kanto and Kansai forms, kept in a temple storehouse.

Medieval quarries in Ogawa, Saitama, a Historic Site since 2014, where green schist was cut and shaped into blanks for the Musashi-type stone tablets of Kanto.

Discover the Amida Sutra at Jikoji Temple in Saitama, part of Japan's National Treasure "Jikoji-kyo" — one of Japan's Three Great Decorated Sutras. Learn about its imperial origins, golden artistry, and how to visit.

A National Treasure tachi forged in 1329 by Osafune Kagemitsu with Kagemasa. Its tang names the smiths, the warrior patron, and the shrine it was made for.

A National Treasure short sword by Osafune Kagemitsu, dated 1323, bearing a carved deity's name and later kept by warlord Uesugi Kenshin, in Omiya, Saitama.

Discover the Heart Sutra (Hannya Shingyō) at Jikō-ji Temple in Tokigawa, Saitama — a National Treasure and one of Japan's three great decorated sutras, created in the early 13th century under the patronage of Retired Emperor Go-Toba. Learn about its history, artistic significance, and how to visit.