Muromachi

Seeking Blossoms (Tankazu) by the early Ming court painter Shi Rui is a fifteenth-century Chinese masterpiece preserved in Japan as an Important Cultural Property. The hanging scroll depicts literati seeking out early-spring blossoms in a mountainous landscape, rendered in the brilliant blue-and-green style with lavish use of mineral pigments and gold. Surviving works by Shi Rui are exceptionally rare, making this painting one of the finest examples of Chinese imperial court painting preserved in Japan. It is occasionally displayed in special exhibitions at the Tokyo National Museum.

Discover the Pigeon on a Peach Branch (Momohato-zu), a Japanese National Treasure attributed to Emperor Huizong of the Northern Song Dynasty. This exquisite silk painting from 1107 showcases the boneless (mokkotsu) technique, Slender Gold calligraphy, and a provenance tracing back to Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu.

Calligraphy by the Southern Song Chan master Xutang Zhiyu on wax-coated paper, an Important Cultural Property prized as a tea-room scroll, privately held in Tokyo.

This fifteenth-century pair of six-panel screens at the Tokyo National Museum is the oldest surviving Hamamatsu-zu, its mica ground glowing softly like moonlight.

A Muromachi ink painting of the poet Li Bai watching a waterfall, inscribed by the Zen monk Ishō Tokugan around the early 1420s, the oldest such work in Japan.

Discover the Rogan-zu (Reeds and Wild Geese) by Shūgetsu Tōkan, a designated Important Cultural Property of Japan. This Muromachi-period ink painting by a direct disciple of Sesshū captures the poetic beauty of autumn marshlands.

Discover the Celadon Ewer with Peony Design at Tokyo National Museum — a 15th-century Longquan ware masterpiece from Ming-dynasty China, beloved in Japan as classic Tenryu-ji celadon and designated an Important Art Object.

101 objects, 19 Noh masks, 80 costumes, and 2 instruments, handed down in a Hyuga merchant family and now a Registered Art Object at the Kyushu National Museum.

Discover the Main Hall of Asuke Hachimangu Shrine in Toyota City, Aichi — a nationally designated Important Cultural Property built in 1466. Explore its exquisite cypress-bark roof, Muromachi-era craftsmanship, and the vibrant Asuke district near Korankei Gorge.

Discover the Kannonji Tahoto Pagoda, a designated Important Cultural Property and Nagoya's oldest surviving wooden structure dating from 1536. Located at Arako Kannon Temple, this Muromachi-era two-story pagoda features Zen-style bracketing, over 1,200 Enku Buddhist carvings, and deep ties to samurai lord Maeda Toshiie.

Discover the Main Hall of Kumaku Shrine, an Important Cultural Property built in 1527 on Mount Yatsuomote in Nishio, Aichi. Explore its rare irimoya-zukuri architecture, cypress bark roof, and centuries of history linked to Kyoto's Yasaka Shrine.

Discover Kouden-ji Main Hall in Kitanagoya, Aichi — a stunning Muromachi-period Buddhist temple designated as an Important Cultural Property. Explore its cypress bark roof, secret Yakushi Nyorai statue, Enkū carvings, and Shinto-Buddhist fusion heritage.

At Sanmyo-ji in Toyokawa City rises a 14.5-meter pagoda rebuilt in 1531. Its lower stories follow the Japanese style; the third turns to the Zen style, a rare mix.

Inside Sanmyo-ji's main hall in Toyokawa City stands a wooden tabernacle for the Benzaiten image. Built in 1554, it takes the form of a Shinto shrine sanctuary.

A two-storied tahoto at Shokaiji in Inazawa, Aichi, from the mid-Muromachi period. Its bracketing blends two imported styles; the grounds are famed for hydrangeas.

The main hall of Jokoji in Seto, Aichi, known as Muiden. A Zen-style hall of 1493 with a skirting pent roof, it stands below the first Owari lord's mausoleum.

The Kannon hall of Shinkomyoji in Okazaki, Aichi, built in 1478. A Zen-style hall at a Pure Land temple founded by the Matsudaira, ancestors of Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Daiju-ji's tahoto in Okazaki, Aichi, was built in 1535 by Matsudaira Kiyoyasu, grandfather of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Its square lower story meets a round upper drum.

Takisanji's two-story gate near Okazaki, an Important Cultural Property since 1901, keeps a medieval temple-gate form, dated between 1267 and early Muromachi.

Takisan-ji's main hall in Okazaki, Aichi, is a cypress-bark-roofed esoteric Buddhist hall of the early Muromachi period, and the stage for a winter fire festival.