Important Cultural Property of Tokushima

Discover the Main Hall of Ushihiko Shrine in Naruto, Tokushima — an Important Cultural Property built in 1599 and the oldest surviving shrine building in the prefecture.

Standing halfway up Mt. Kirihata in Awa City, Tokushima, the Kirihataji Daitō is a National Important Cultural Property rescued from the early Meiji abolition of Buddhist temples. Originally commissioned in 1607 by Toyotomi Hideyori to pray for the repose of his father Hideyoshi's soul, it was dismantled from Osaka's Sumiyoshi Shinra-ji and painstakingly rebuilt at Kirihataji, the 10th temple on the Shikoku Pilgrimage, over roughly a decade. Its unique five-bay-square-over-three-bay-square form is the only surviving example of its type in Japan.

Jōrokuji Kannon-dō is an elegant two-tiered Buddhist hall in Tokushima City, rebuilt in 1648 and designated a National Important Cultural Property of Japan. Part of the Sōtō Zen temple Jōrokuji—affectionately called the "Hōryū-ji of Awa" for its concentration of historic buildings—the hall enshrines a nearly five-meter-tall Heian-period statue of Avalokiteshvara that gave the temple its name. This guide covers the hall's architecture, history, nearby attractions, and essential travel information for international visitors.

Jōroku-ji's two-storied Sanmon, raised in the late Muromachi period, is the oldest surviving building in Tokushima. Note its layered roofs and maple-lined approach.

Jōrokuji's main hall was once the abbot's quarters, rebuilt in 1629 for a lord's daughter. Its chamfered pillars mark early-Edo work and a blood-ceiling tradition.

Discover 922 Important Cultural Properties excavated from the Kannon-ji and Shikiji sites in Tokushima, including rare 7th-century Analects wooden tablets and the largest mokkan ever found in Japan. This remarkable collection reveals the inner workings of ancient Japan's provincial government, from bureaucratic correspondence to spiritual rituals. Free admission at Rekishiru Tokushima museum.