Nara

Nara-period silver bowls and crystal beads buried beneath the Kondo of Kofukuji, Nara, found in 1884, a National Treasure since 1958.

The Sanzon Senbutsu is a fired-clay plaque of a seated Buddha and two standing attendants, designated in 1901 among the earliest protected objects in Japan.

The Tennin-mon Sen from Asuka's Okadera is a square clay tile carved with a celestial being lifting a scarf, a rare survival now held at the Kyoto National Museum.

Nara-period objects found around the Great Buddha's pedestal at Todaiji during repairs in 1907 and 1908, a National Treasure since 1957.

A Buddha's footprint stone dated 753 at Yakushiji, Nara, a National Treasure since 1952, with footprints incised on top and inscriptions on all four sides.

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.

A Tang manuscript of a poetry collection in the Osu library of Hoshoin, Nagoya, a National Treasure.

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.

A Nara-period gilt bronze offering bowl incised with leaping lions at Gokokushiji, Gifu, a National Treasure since 1955.

A Tang-dynasty stole of Toji, Kyoto, said to have come to Kukai from his teacher Huiguo, a National Treasure since 1953.