Nara

Discover the Todai-ji Kondo Chindangu, a National Treasure collection of 8th-century ritual objects—including legendary swords, crystal vessels, and gilded artifacts—unearthed from beneath Nara's Great Buddha. Learn about their connection to Emperor Shomu, Empress Komyo, and the Shoso-in treasures.

The Bussokuseki at Yakushi-ji Temple in Nara is Japan's oldest Buddha footprint stone, carved in 753 CE and designated a National Treasure. This archaeological artifact preserves the sacred footprints of Shakyamuni Buddha, transmitted from Sarnath in India through Chang'an in China to the ancient Nara capital. Together with the accompanying poem monument — also a National Treasure — it offers a rare window into pre-iconic Buddhist worship and Silk Road cultural exchange during the Nara period.

The Bussokuseki-kahi, a National Treasure enshrined in the Lecture Hall of Yakushi-ji Temple in Nara, is one of Japan's oldest surviving poetry steles, dating to around 770 CE. Bearing 21 poems written in man'yōgana script praising the Buddha's sacred footprints, it preserves an authentic record of Nara-period faith and the earliest Japanese writing. Together with Japan's oldest Buddha Footprint Stone, it offers a profound connection to the history of Buddhism's transmission across Asia.

The Wooden Ichiman-setsutō with lotus base at Hōryū-ji in Ikaruga, Nara, is a unique seven-tiered miniature pagoda created in the 8th century as a special marker for every 10,000 of the one million pagodas commissioned by Empress Shōtoku. Designated an Important Cultural Property and the only surviving example in the world, it stands at the origin of printed dharani, among the world's oldest dated printed materials. It is preserved in the Daihōzōin treasure hall at Hōryū-ji, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Preserved at Hōryū-ji in Ikaruga, Nara, the Wooden Jūmanzettō (with Remnant Lotus Pedestal) is the sole known surviving example of the thirteen-storied pagodas crowning Empress Shōtoku's eighth-century million-pagoda project. Originally one of just ten distributed to ten major temples after the Fujiwara no Nakamaro Rebellion, it embodies the imperial vow for state protection and the era that produced some of the world's oldest dated printed materials.

Held in the Daihōzōin of Hōryū-ji in Ikaruga, Nara, the Wooden Million Small Pagodas were commissioned by Empress Shōtoku in the 8th century after the Emi no Oshikatsu Rebellion. Each palm-sized three-tiered pagoda contains a printed dharani scroll regarded as the world's oldest dated printed text. Designated an Important Cultural Property, they are a remarkable testament to Nara-period devotion and the dawn of printing in Japan.

Held at the Kyushu National Museum, this Nara-period ledger records paper and other supplies issued to an office copying the Buddhist canon in 772-773.

A rare transmitted ancient sword of Nara-period Japan, this kiriha-zukuri tachi has a rounded back, a barracuda-shaped point and a clean straight temper line.

A Nara-period straight, single-edged sword in kirihazukuri form, predating the curved Japanese sword. An Important Cultural Property held privately in Fukushima.

This Tang dynasty manuscript (7th–8th century) is the oldest surviving copy of Volume 6 of the Shishuo Xinshu (Shishuo Xinyu), a celebrated Chinese anecdote collection. Designated as a National Treasure, this fragment features elegant Tang calligraphy, Heian-period reading marks, and esoteric Buddhist texts on the verso — a testament to over a millennium of Sino-Japanese cultural exchange.

The National Treasure Hanshu Shihuo Zhi Volume 4, held by Ōsu Kannon temple in Nagoya, is one of the world's oldest surviving manuscripts of the Book of Han's Treatise on Food and Money — ancient China's earliest economic history. Copied during the Nara to Heian period with Tang dynasty annotations, it bears the seal of Japan's ancient Ministry of Ceremonies and stands as a remarkable testament to cultural exchange across East Asia.

Discover the Kanrin Gakushi Shishū, a National Treasure manuscript of Tang dynasty Chinese poetry preserved at Ōsu Kannon temple in Nagoya. Learn about this rare Heian-period copy, the legendary Ōsu Bunko library, and how to plan your visit.

Held in the Hosa Library in Nagoya, the Song Edition of the Taiping Shenghui Fang (Kanazawa Bunko Version) is a Southern Song printed copy of the imperial medical encyclopedia originally compiled in 100 volumes by Wang Huaiyin under the command of Emperor Taizong. Designated an Important Cultural Property, it traveled from Hōjō Sanetoki's Kanazawa Bunko through Toyotomi Hidetsugu and Tokugawa Ieyasu to the first Owari lord Tokugawa Yoshinao. The 24 surviving printed booklets, supplemented by 27 Keichō-era manuscript volumes, bear the distinctive 'Kanazawa Bunko' and 'Gohon' seals on every volume, making it a primary witness to East Asian medical history.

Chōgyokushū, a Tang anthology lost in China, survives only as volumes 12 and 14, copied in Japan in 747. A National Treasure held at Ōsu Kannon in Nagoya.

The Sansai Jar reportedly excavated in Okayama Prefecture is a Japanese Important Cultural Property dating to the first half of the eighth century. Held by the Kurashiki Archaeological Museum in the Kurashiki Bikan Historical Quarter, it was reportedly discovered around 1904 in a lateral-chamber stone tomb near Tsuyama City, together with a ceramic coffin. Standing 21.3 centimeters tall with a maximum body diameter of 25.3 centimeters, the medicine-jar-shaped vessel is decorated with a luminous combination of green, amber, and clear lead glazes laid over a white slip ground — a luxurious technique known as Nara sansai, modeled after Chinese Tang sansai. Only a handful of comparable large Nara-period three-color jars are known to survive nationwide. That this courtly treasure was used as a cremation container in a provincial ancestral tomb makes it a remarkable witness to the human and cultural ties that linked the eighth-century capital with the regions of ancient Japan.

Discover the Gilt Bronze Lion and Arabesque Pattern Bowl (Kondō Shishi Karakusa Mon Hachi), a Nara-period National Treasure housed at Gokoku-no-ji Temple in Gifu City. Learn about its legendary connection to the Great Buddha of Todai-ji and plan your visit.

Discover the Ōhi, a rare National Treasure Buddhist shoulder cloth from Tang-dynasty China, brought to Japan by the monk Kūkai. Deposited at the Kyoto National Museum, this exquisite textile reveals over 1,200 years of Shingon Buddhist history.

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 Gyokuhen (Yupian) Volume 27 at Kōzan-ji Temple in Kyoto—a National Treasure and Tang dynasty manuscript of the oldest Chinese character dictionary, lost in China but preserved in Japan for over 1,400 years.