Kofun

This National Treasure at the Kyoto National Museum is the oldest surviving copy of the Chinese classic Shishuo Xinyu, in seventh-century Tang regular script.

Discover the Dailōtan-kyō Volume 3, a National Treasure Buddhist sutra copied in 673 CE during the Tang Dynasty. Housed at Chion-in temple in Kyoto, this ancient cosmological scripture offers a rare glimpse into early Buddhist manuscript culture.

Tobatsu Bishamonten at Kyoto's To-ji, a Tang-dynasty National Treasure that once guarded Rashomon gate. The 189.4 cm figure stands on the palms of the earth goddess.

Designated a National Important Cultural Property, this collection from the late fifth-century Butai No. 1 Tumulus in Maebashi—including house-shaped haniwa, hundreds of talc miniatures, and rare clay food-offering vessels—vividly evokes a Kofun-period funerary ritual. The items, owned by the State, are on view at the Gunma Prefectural Museum of History in Takasaki.

At the Watanuki Kannonyama Tumulus in Takasaki, Gunma, an unlooted 6th-century chamber held grave goods linked to Baekje and China, now a National Treasure.

Grave goods from the Amamiyayama Tomb in Takatsuki, Osaka, an Important Cultural Property since 2000: bronze mirrors, iron swords and strung glass beads.

Fifth-century haniwa from Takarazuka Tomb No. 1 in Matsusaka, Mie, a National Treasure since 2024, including a 140 cm ship and models of water-ritual sites.

A Tang hemp kesa at Enryakuji, said to have been brought from China by Saicho, a National Treasure since 1966 and a rare surviving example in hemp.

Compiled in 543 and lost in China, the Yupian survives only in Tang manuscripts in Japan. This National Treasure at Ishiyama-dera is volume 27's latter half.

At Ishiyama-dera in Shiga, the Shaku Makaen Ron is a rare Tang-dynasty manuscript of a commentary on the Awakening of Faith, kept in five folding booklets.

Held at Enryaku-ji, this National Treasure is a single scroll of two Tang government permits issued to the monk Saichō in 804 and 805. Part is in his own hand.

A National Treasure at Onjo-ji near Lake Biwa, this Tang handscroll in ink line maps the deities of the Diamond World mandala, brought from China by Enchin in 855.

Discover the Bokuzeisho Volume 23 Fragment, an Important Cultural Property held by Shomyo-ji Temple and preserved at Kanagawa Prefectural Kanazawa Bunko. Explore how this rare divination manuscript reveals the scholarly world of medieval Japanese Buddhist learning.

1,064 Kofun-period clay figures and objects from the Myogashima tombs in Iwata, Shizuoka, an Important Cultural Property since 2013, showing the rites of the time.

On five hills in Nomi City, Ishikawa, the Nomi Kofun Group holds 62 burial mounds built across three centuries, including the keyhole tomb of Akitsuneyama No.1.

Five tiny pure-gold bells from an undisturbed 1950 tomb in Kisarazu gave Kinreizuka its name. Its swords and gilt-bronze fittings are an Important Cultural Property.

Excavated in 1848 beside Emperor Ojin's tomb, these dragon-patterned gilt bronze saddle fittings count among Japan's oldest horse trappings, shown Saturdays.

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.

Kobe Site in Usa, Oita preserves a 3rd to 4th century moated settlement that evolved into a chief's residence, yielding pottery from Kinai and Kibi trade routes.

A Tang manuscript of the Book of Han, chapter 57 on poet Yang Xiong, at Kyoto National Museum. Taboo strokes and 948 reading marks trace ten centuries of study.