Meiji

Discover the National Treasure "Diamond Sutra Handwritten by Daikaku Zenji" at Ryōkōin temple in Kyoto's Daitoku-ji complex. This 13th-century Zen calligraphy masterpiece by Rankei Dōryū, founder of Kamakura's Kenchō-ji, represents one of the finest surviving examples of Song-dynasty brushwork in Japan.

Discover the Daigo-ji Monjo Shōgyō, a National Treasure collection of 69,378 manuscripts at Kyoto's UNESCO World Heritage Daigo-ji Temple. Explore centuries of Buddhist sacred teachings, imperial correspondence, and historical records preserved since the Nara period.

The National Treasure 'Ink Writing by Wuzhun Shifan: Certificate of Enlightenment for Enni' at Tofuku-ji Temple in Kyoto is a formal inka certificate written on silk in 1237 by the great Chinese Chan master Wuzhun Shifan for his Japanese disciple Enni Ben'en. This masterpiece of Zen calligraphy documents a pivotal moment in the transmission of Zen Buddhism from China to Japan, and stands as one of the finest examples of Southern Song dynasty calligraphy preserved in Japan.

Discover the National Treasure bokuseki (Zen calligraphy) by Mi'an Xiangjie, a revered Southern Song dynasty Chan master. This sole surviving work, housed at Ryōkōin in Kyoto's Daitoku-ji, inspired a dedicated tea room and centuries of devotion from Zen monks and tea masters alike.

Seiryo-ji's National Treasure Shaka was carved in Song China in 985 and brought to Japan by the monk Chonen. Inside lay silk organs, among the oldest known.

Discover the National Treasure "Autumn Pasture with Cattle" (Akino Bokugyu-zu), a masterpiece of Southern Song Chinese painting attributed to court artist Yan Ciping. Housed at the Sen-oku Hakukokan Museum in Roppongi, Tokyo, this exquisite silk scroll once belonged to the Ashikaga Shogun's famed Higashiyama Collection.

The front entrance of the Ueda Family Residence in Amakusa, a Meiji structure whose formal shikidai genkan links the older main house to the later detached sitting room.

The main gate of the Ueda Family Residence in Amakusa, a Meiji four-legged gate with a tiled roof and wicket door, at the front of an estate built on Takahama porcelain.

The detached sitting room of the Ueda Family Residence in Amakusa, a refined Meiji guest wing where the poets Yosano Tekkan and Akiko are said to have stayed in 1932.

Built in 1899, the JR Misumi Line Ōda Station Main Building is the oldest surviving wooden station in Kumamoto Prefecture. A National Registered Tangible Cultural Property, this hipped-roof Meiji-era depot still serves daily passengers and houses the much-loved Ōda Retro Hall community café. Just a short walk away lies the celebrated Okoshiki Coast, where crescent sand patterns and Japan's most dramatic tides create breathtaking sunsets — a quiet, time-warped corner of the Uto Peninsula well worth a slow rail journey.

Standing in the heart of Yatsushiro City in Kumamoto Prefecture, the Chartres Saint Paul Monastery Memorial Hall is a graceful two-story wooden building completed in 1900 to serve as the base for French sisters who came to care for the sick poor and orphaned children. Registered as a national cultural property in 2000, it is a rare surviving example of veranda weatherboard colonial architecture, where two Western traditions—an Indian-route veranda style and an Anglo-American clapboard tradition—met in Meiji-era Japan. With Yatsushiro Castle, Matsui Shrine, and historic gardens within easy walking distance, the building offers a moving window into the modernization of regional Kyushu.

Discover Shoko Club Store, a registered tangible cultural property in Kumamoto. This 1890 ryotei linked to the Hosokawa clan's culinary heritage now thrives as a dining, lodging, and cultural complex in the historic Furumachi district.

Standing in the historic post town of Hamamachi in Yamato, Kumamoto Prefecture, the Tsūjun Shuzō Shop and Main House is the largest surviving townhouse of the Hyūga Kaidō post town and was entered on Japan's National Register of Tangible Cultural Properties in 2021. Its earthen-walled shop and timber main house meet at right angles, producing a striking chidori-hafu-like façade of exceptional craftsmanship. Founded in 1770, the brewery still operates today, offering free tours and tastings, along with stories of Saigō Takamori's lodging during the Satsuma Rebellion and a direct tie to the famous Tsūjun Bridge.

Standing along the Tsuboi River in Kumamoto's Shinmachi district, the Tominaga Photo Studio is a Registered Tangible Cultural Property founded by Meiji-era photographer Tominaga Rihei. Preserving its rare slant-roofed photography room, this historic wooden building holds an invaluable photographic record of modern Japan, from Kumamoto Castle before its destruction to portraits of Natsume Sōseki.

In Kojima, western Kumamoto, stands Hamada Soy Sauce's third storehouse, a 218-square-meter earthen warehouse of the mid-Meiji era, registered in 2007.

Hamada's early-Meiji soy sauce main house in Ojima, Kumamoto, founded 1818, keeps lattice windows and a namako-plaster base on a registered storehouse street.

At the western edge of a former sake brewer's estate in Hikawa, Kumamoto, a 14-meter plaster wall from the late Meiji period is braced inside by welded-tuff pillars.

In Hikawa, Kumamoto, the Iseri family brewed and banked. Their 1872 earthen rice storehouse, with three squared front posts, moved to the family estate in 2000.

A registered early-Meiji yakuimon gate at the former Iseri residence in Hikawa, Kumamoto, with a tortoiseshell namako wall and colored tiles set into its floor.

The front gate of the Fujisaki Family Residence (Sekishō-kan) in Tanoura, Kumamoto dates to about 1894. Sandstone pillars likely from Amakusa frame its board doors.