Kamakura

Hokekyo-ji in Ichikawa, Chiba, holds over a hundred letters and treatises in the hand of the monk Nichiren, a rare survival named an Important Cultural Property.

Hokekyoji Temple in Ichikawa, Chiba, preserves Nichiren's own 1269 copy of his warning to the shogunate, a 15.98-meter scroll named a National Treasure in 1952.

Kōon-ji Kannon-dō, known as 'Kuginashi-dō' (Hall Without Nails), is a National Treasure in Kaizuka City, Osaka. Built in the late Kamakura period entirely without iron nails, this extraordinary hall preserves the legacy of the Nara-period monk Gyōki. Featuring a fusion of Japanese, Zen, and Great Buddha architectural styles, rare Gyōki-buki roof tiles, and 19 Important Cultural Property Buddhist statues, it is a must-visit for heritage enthusiasts.

Standing in Hineno, Izumisano City, Osaka, the Main Hall (Kondō) of Jigen-in Temple is an early-Kamakura-period building designated as an Important Cultural Property in 1903. With its three-by-three-bay plan, single hipped tile roof and one-bay porch, the small but exquisitely proportioned hall stands beside the National Treasure tahōtō pagoda within the Japan Heritage landscape of medieval Hineno Manor. Founded in 673 according to temple tradition, it preserves the Yakushi Nyorai principal image, a tranquil moss garden and over seven centuries of continuous spiritual life.

The Tahōtō pagoda of Jigen-in Temple in Izumisano, Osaka, is a National Treasure built in 1271 during the Kamakura period. Counted among Japan's Three Great Tahōtō Pagodas alongside Ishiyama-dera and Kongō Sanmai-in, it is regarded as the smallest outdoor wooden tahōtō with National Treasure or Important Cultural Property status. Its cypress-bark roof, refined four-step bracketing, and well-preserved original altar make it an architectural jewel. Just minutes from Kansai International Airport, the temple sits within the Hine-no-Shō Japan Heritage district, offering a serene encounter with medieval Japan.

Kanshin-ji preserves a pair of gilt-bronze lotus vases, one inscribed 1330 (Gentoku 2). Late Kamakura kebyō for Shingon altar rites, Important Cultural Property.

The Two-Poem Kaishi by Fujiwara no Hidetō preserves two summer waka inscribed in 1201 by a young warrior-courtier just before his appointment to Retired Emperor Go-Toba's Bureau of Poetry. Dated precisely to the last day of the sixth month of Kennin 1, the scroll is a reference work for early Kamakura calligraphy and an Important Cultural Property since 1954.

Written 13 days before his death in exile, Emperor Gotoba's handprint-sealed will is a National Treasure and the founding document of Minase Jingu, Osaka.

The National Treasure celadon vase 'Bansei', fired at Southern Song China's Longquan kilns, passed from an empress to a Kyoto temple before reaching Izumi, Osaka.

A ninth-century Tang manuscript of China's first dictionary survives in Osaka as a National Treasure. See its seal-script columns at the Kyou Shooku library.

Osaka's Kyou Shooku library holds eleven Song-printed volumes of the Shiji jijie, the oldest Shiji commentary, a National Treasure once owned by Naito Konan.

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.

Cursive scrolls brushed by Shuho Myocho, founder of Daitokuji, transcribe verses by Chan master Xutang Zhiyu. A National Treasure at Osaka's Masaki Art Museum.

A Kamakura-period National Treasure tachi by Bizen master Nagamitsu, inscribed to the three Kumano deities and once owned by Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and the shoguns.

A National Treasure mikoshi at Konda Hachimangu in Osaka, said to be a gift from Minamoto no Yoritomo, uniting lacquer, shell inlay and rare Kamakura brocade.

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 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.

This Kamakura-period portrait of Emperor Go-Toba, said to be painted before his 1221 exile and attributed to Fujiwara no Nobuzane, is held by Minase Jingu in Osaka.

Osaka's Fujita Museum holds a National Treasure scroll illustrating Murasaki Shikibu's 1008 court diary. See its moonlit boating scene and gold leaf pages.

Twelve scrolls over 190 meters long depict Xuanzang's 17-year journey to India. A Kamakura masterpiece once kept secret at Kofukuji, now at Osaka's Fujita Museum.