Muromachi

The Yasaka Pagoda of Hokanji in Higashiyama, Kyoto, is a five-storey pagoda of 1440 that rises above the sloping Yasaka-dori in one of the city's classic views.

Hōtō-ji's Sōmon is a mid-Muromachi four-legged gate, an Important Cultural Property from 1906 and among the temple's oldest buildings, just south of Fushimi Inari.

At Hōtō-ji in southern Kyoto stands a tahōtō pagoda dated to 1438, the oldest of its form in the city, with a rare gyōki-buki lower roof drawn from the Lotus Sutra.

Dated to 1448, the main hall of Mito Shrine in Jōyō, Kyoto is the city's oldest surviving building, a single-bay nagare-zukuri hall roofed in cypress bark.

Raised in 1422 at Muko Shrine in Kyoto, this three-bay nagare-zukuri hall with a cypress-bark roof has been an Important Cultural Property since designation in 1902.

Described by the national register as the oldest surviving hojo hall, built early in the sixteenth century and listed in 1961. Four dry gardens ring it.

The hojo of Ryoginan at Tofukuji, Kyoto, of about 1387 and a National Treasure since 1963, the oldest surviving abbot's quarters in Japan.

The reception hall of Reiunin, a sub-temple of Myoshinji in Kyoto, dates from the late Muromachi period (1467–1572), a small shingled hall with a corridor.

The main hall of Rokuharamitsuji in Higashiyama, Kyoto, built in 1363, is a broad hipped-roof hall of seven by six bays, among the first buildings designated.

Yuan Chan master Yunfeng Miaogao's 1284 colophon on a calligraphy by his dharma ancestor Dahui Zonggao. An Important Cultural Property at Kyoto's Kitamura Museum.

The Ōte-kagami at Kyoto's Yōmei Bunko gathers 307 calligraphy fragments across two oversized albums, from a 20-line Ōjōmu sutra leaf to a hand by Emperor Saga.

Discover the National Treasure bokuseki calligraphy by Chinese Chan master Xutang Zhiyu, preserved at Daitoku-ji temple in Kyoto. Learn about its Zen heritage, tea ceremony significance, and how to view this masterpiece.

Discover the National Treasure bokuseki by Yuan-dynasty Zen master Gulin Qingmao, bestowed upon his Japanese disciple Getsurin Dōkō in 1327. Now deposited at Kyoto National Museum, this masterpiece of Zen calligraphy embodies centuries of cross-cultural spiritual exchange between China and Japan.

Discover the Important Cultural Property "Dōto" — two powerful characters by Chinese Chan monk Gekkan Bunmei, housed at Shōkoku-ji's Jōtenkaku Museum in Kyoto. Learn about bokuseki (Zen calligraphy), its meaning, and how to visit.

A National Treasure of Shōjōke-in, Kyoto: a Southern Song Amida triad in three signed scrolls by the Ningbo painter Fuetsu, now held at the Kyoto National Museum.

Ninna-ji's National Treasure Kujaku Myōō, a Song-dynasty Chinese painting, shows the Peacock Wisdom King with three faces and six arms on a white peacock.

Two Southern Song scrolls at Kyoto's Konchi-in, the Autumn and Winter Landscapes are a National Treasure once owned by the Ashikaga shoguns and ascribed to Huizong.

Two Southern Song ink landscapes attributed to Li Tang at Kotoin, Daitokuji, Kyoto, a National Treasure since 1952; the temple is closed in 2026.

Discover Muqi's "Kannon, Monkeys and Cranes" — a 13th-century Southern Song masterpiece and one of Japan's most revered National Treasures, held at Daitoku-ji in Kyoto. A cornerstone of the Ashikaga shogunate's Higashiyama Gyomotsu collection, this three-scroll ink painting will be a headline exhibit at the Tokyo National Museum's 2026 Daitoku-ji 700th anniversary exhibition.

Housed at Daitoku-ji in Kyoto, this National Treasure is a thirteenth-century hanging scroll by the Chinese Chan Buddhist monk-painter Muqi, depicting the White-Robed Kannon in ink and light color on silk. Once part of the Ashikaga shogunate's Higashiyama Gomotsu collection and bearing Yoshimitsu's Doyu seal, it forms the central panel of the famed Kannon, Gibbons, and Crane triptych and stands as a foundational model for Japanese ink painting. A full guide to its history, artistic significance, viewing opportunities, and access to Daitoku-ji.