Muromachi

Discover the Main Hall of Ozu Shrine in Moriyama, Shiga Prefecture—a nationally designated Important Cultural Property dating from the late Muromachi period. Explore its elegant cypress-bark roof, one of Japan's three great deity statues, and the vibrant Naginata Festival held every May 5.

Oda Shrine's two-story Romon Gate in Omihachiman, Shiga, is a 14th-century Important Cultural Property, its cypress-bark roof and Muromachi form intact.

Discover Kongōrinji Main Hall (Daihikaku), a National Treasure and masterpiece of Kamakura-era Japanese architecture nestled in the mountains of Aisho, Shiga. One of the Koto Sanzan temples, it offers breathtaking autumn foliage, historic gardens, and centuries of Buddhist heritage.

The main hall of Jishu Shrine in Katsuragawa, Otsu, is the only three-bay Kasuga-style shrine in Shiga. Rebuilt in 1502, it guards the Tendai temple of Myoo-in.

Discover the Jorakuji Three-Story Pagoda, a National Treasure built in 1400 in Konan City, Shiga Prefecture. Explore this masterpiece of Muromachi-period pure Japanese-style architecture, part of the Konan Sanzan temple trio near Lake Biwa.

The Main Hall of Jorakuji Temple in Konan City, Shiga Prefecture, is a National Treasure rebuilt in 1360. This magnificent Nanbokucho-period structure houses Important Cultural Property statues including the Thousand-Armed Kannon and Twenty-Eight Guardian Deities, alongside a National Treasure three-story pagoda amid spectacular autumn foliage.

Discover the Shingu Shrine Front Gate (Shingu Jinja Omote-mon), a nationally designated Important Cultural Property built in 1485 in Koka City, Shiga Prefecture. This thatched-roof gate with exquisite Muromachi-period carvings stands at the heart of Japan Heritage ninja country.

Discover the Main Hall of Shingu Shrine in Kusatsu, Shiga — an Important Cultural Property built in 1523. Admire its rare karahafu gable, exquisite kaerumata carvings, and a relocated Zeze Castle gate along the historic Tokaido highway.

Sekishin-ji's main hall in Kusatsu, rebuilt around 1359, blends Japanese and Zen styles. It stands at Yabase, the Lake Biwa port behind the proverb isogaba maware.

Discover the National Treasure main hall of Zensuiji Temple in Konan, Shiga Prefecture. This 14th-century Tendai Buddhist temple houses over 30 Buddhist statues, sacred healing water, and stunning autumn foliage as part of the Konan Sanzan temple trio.

Discover the Sōkenji Three-Story Pagoda, an Important Cultural Property of Japan built in 1454 and relocated by Oda Nobunaga to Azuchi Castle. Explore its Muromachi-period architecture, rich history, and stunning hilltop setting overlooking Lake Biwa.

The Main Hall of Daigyoji Shrine, located within the grounds of Enkoji Temple in Kunobe, Yasu City, Shiga Prefecture, is a mid-Muromachi period (c. 1466) shrine built in the ikkensha nagare-zukuri style with a hinoki cypress bark roof. Designated as an Important Cultural Property of Japan in 1943, this exquisite structure features refined transom carvings and ornamental panels. Together with Enkoji Temple's own Important Cultural Properties, the site offers a rare glimpse into the medieval tradition of shinbutsu-shūgō, the harmonious coexistence of Shinto and Buddhist worship.

The Main Hall of Fudoji Temple stands near the summit of Mount Taijin in the Konan Alps of Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture. Built in the early Muromachi period using dramatic cliff construction (kake-zukuri), this Important Cultural Property clings to a massive granite boulder, with its principal image enshrined within the natural rock cavity behind the hall.

Read over the body of Eigen-ji's founder the day after his death in 1367, this ink funeral elegy is an Important Cultural Property at the Shiga Zen temple he built.

An ink manuscript written at Eigen-ji in 1377, recording the Dharma address spoken as the Zen master Jakushitsu Genko was enshrined in the founder's hall.

Three scrolls at Eigen-ji, Shiga, recording the sermon and incense verse for the 33rd memorial of founder Jakushitsu Genko, held on his death anniversary in 1399.

A 1367 ink scroll preserves the verse chanted over incense at founder Jakushitsu Genkō's seventh-day rite, when his disciples resolved to keep Eigenji alive.

Two ink-on-paper scrolls hold a Zen sermon spoken at Eigenji in 1379 for the founder's thirteenth-anniversary memorial. An Important Cultural Property since 1936.

Three ink-on-paper scrolls show how Jōrakuji in Konan, Shiga rebuilt after the 1360 lightning fire that razed it. These medieval appeals funded the temple's National Treasure main hall and pagoda.

Hakozaki Shrine's main hall in Isa, Kagoshima, is a small late-Muromachi hall of camphor wood, one of southern Kyushu's rare surviving medieval buildings.