Kofun

Discover Shinso Senjimon, a National Treasure of Japan. This masterpiece by Zhiyong, a descendant of Wang Xizhi, showcases 1,000 characters in both regular and cursive scripts. Learn about its history, significance, and how to view this Tang Dynasty treasure.

Explore 80,000 National Treasures from Okinoshima, the sacred "Island Where God Dwells." Discover ancient ritual artifacts, Persian glass, and golden rings that reveal Japan's maritime heritage and international connections from the 4th-9th centuries.

Discover the magnificent collection of 80,000 National Treasures from Okinoshima's ritual sites, including Persian glass, Chinese ceramics, and golden artifacts that reveal 500 years of ancient East Asian maritime exchange at this UNESCO World Heritage site.

Discover the magnificent National Treasure artifacts from Miyajidake Kofun, featuring golden horse gear, a 2.8m ceremonial sword, and over 300 precious items. Visit the shrine's famous Path of Light phenomenon and explore Japan's second-largest stone chamber tomb.

Discover the Kinjū Budō Kyō, a Tang Dynasty bronze mirror designated as a National Treasure of Japan. Housed at Oyamazumi Shrine on Omishima Island along the Shimanami Kaido, this exquisite masterpiece showcases the cultural exchange along the ancient Silk Road.

Discover the Irinosawa Site in Kurihara, Miyagi Prefecture - a National Historic Site featuring Japan's northernmost fortified settlement from the 4th century Kofun period, with rare bronze mirrors, iron artifacts, and jade ornaments.

Discover Meihoki, a 7th century Chinese Buddhist manuscript preserved as a National Treasure at Kyoto's Kosanji Temple. This rare collection of karmic tales survived only in Japan, offering unique insights into Tang Dynasty Buddhism.

Explore the dramatic discovery of Japan's oldest readable text - 115 gold-inlaid characters hidden for centuries on an ancient sword. Visit the Sakitama Museum near Tokyo to see authentic 5th-century artifacts that proved Japan's early unification.

Discover the Sōranjō (Mourning Disorder Letter), a National Treasure of Japan preserving the calligraphy of Wang Xizhi, the greatest calligrapher in Chinese history. Learn about this Tang Dynasty masterpiece at the Museum of the Imperial Collections, Tokyo.

Discover the Fujinoki Kofun artifacts, a National Treasure collection of 12,000+ items including gilt-bronze saddle fittings, crowns, and shoes from a 6th-century royal tomb near Horyuji Temple in Nara, Japan.

Explore the magnificent gilt bronze khakkhara head at Zentsuji Temple in Kagawa, Japan. This 8th-century Tang Dynasty masterpiece, designated as a National Treasure, showcases exquisite metalwork and Buddhist iconography. Learn about its connection to Kobo Daishi and experience the birthplace of Shingon Buddhism.

Explore Japan's National Treasure Rokusoenen-den, an 803 CE Tang Dynasty manuscript at Enryaku-ji Temple. Learn about Huineng's revolutionary Zen teachings and plan your visit to Mount Hiei's UNESCO World Heritage site.

Explore the magnificent Sea Beast and Grape Mirror (Kaiju Budo Kyo), Japan's only nationally designated craft treasure in Chiba. This 7th-8th century Tang dynasty bronze mirror at Katori Shrine showcases exquisite ancient artistry and cultural exchange.

Experience a 1,400-year-old terracotta warrior designated as National Treasure. This 130.5cm Kofun period masterpiece at Tokyo National Museum reveals Japan's ancient military culture and spiritual beliefs. Complete visitor guide included.

Discover the Ryukin Jutaikyo, an Important Cultural Property of Japan. This gilt bronze mirror featuring the Four Divine Beasts was excavated from a Kofun period tomb and is now preserved at Tokyo's Gotoh Museum.

Held privately in Kyoto, this Important Cultural Property is a stone Buddhist relief dated to Kaiyuan 12 (724 CE). One of the famed Baoqing Temple group that once adorned Empress Wu Zetian's Seven-Treasure Platform in Tang Chang'an, it represents the High Tang synthesis of Indian Gupta and Chinese sculptural traditions.

Housed at the Kyoto National Museum, these five 3rd-century bronze mirrors unearthed in 1921 from Akazuka Kofun in Usa City, Oita Prefecture, are designated Important Cultural Properties. Chiefly triangular-rimmed deity-and-beast mirrors, they share molds with mirrors from tumuli across Japan, offering rare evidence of the early Yamato polity's reach and illuminating the great Queen Himiko debate.

Discover the Henkei Hōkaku Kamon-kyō, an Important Cultural Property held by the Kyoto National Museum. Cast in bronze in early Kofun-period Japan around the 4th century, this remarkable wakyō mirror reinterprets the Chinese Han-dynasty TLV design, replacing the Four Divine Beasts with elegant whirl patterns. Its decorative band wrapping around onto the polished face is almost unique in East Asian bronze mirror history.

Preserved at the Kyoto National Museum, this manuscript carries the Benmeiron, or 'Discourse on Discriminating Fate,' from volume fifty-four of the Wen Xuan—the oldest surviving anthology of Chinese literature, compiled by Crown Prince Xiao Tong of the Liang dynasty. Reaching Japan by the Nara period and treasured by Heian-era aristocrats, manuscripts of the Wen Xuan reveal the deep cultural ties between Japan and continental East Asia. A meaningful destination for travelers drawn to classical Chinese thought, calligraphic beauty, and the literary world that shaped Japan's classical age.

The Yamashina Nishinoyama Kofun Excavated Artifacts, designated a National Treasure in 1953 and housed at the Kyoto University Museum, are an extraordinary collection of early Heian period grave goods. Featuring a gold-mounted great sword, a gold-and-silver twin-phoenix mirror, and stone belt ornaments befitting the highest court nobility, these artifacts are believed to have come from the tomb of Sakanoue no Tamuramaro — the legendary Sei-i Taishogun who pacified northern Japan and founded Kiyomizu-dera Temple.