Registered Tangible Cultural Properties of Tokyo

Tucked inside Shirayuri University's wooded campus in suburban Tokyo, Megumi-so is a remarkable early-Meiji farmhouse with a triple life: originally the main hall of the Kikuchi family — hereditary village headmen in Izu Shuzenji — it was relocated to Tokyo in 1930 and moved again within the campus in 1967. Registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2014, the building preserves a massive central pillar, a classic six-room plan, and traces of a ceremonial stepped entrance. This guide explains its history, architectural highlights, and how to visit during its annual public opening.

Discover Shinkaiya, a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in Bunkyo, Tokyo. This wooden two-story soba restaurant, built in 1926, has served handmade noodles for over a century — surviving earthquakes, war, and time itself.

At the foot of Tokyo Tower stands the 1743 vermilion front gate of Shinkō-in, a branch of the Tokugawa temple Zōjō-ji, registered as a Cultural Property in 2001.

Below Tokyo Tower in Higashi-Azabu, Shinkoin's 1955 wooden main hall blends temple carpentry with modern touches, registered as a Tangible Cultural Property in 2017.

The Shinchosha Warehouse in Yaraicho, Shinjuku, Tokyo, is a five-story reinforced concrete book warehouse completed in 1959. Engineered to hold five million volumes, it served as the logistical heart of postwar publishing for Shinchosha, one of Japan's leading publishing houses. Its matching glazed tiles, shared eave line with the adjacent main building, and deep continuous streetscape along Ushigome-Chuo-dori make it a quiet masterpiece of Showa-era commercial modernism. Registered as a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property on August 6, 2025, it stands just steps from Kagurazaka Station, perfectly paired with a stroll through the Kagurazaka and Yaraicho districts.

Discover the Shinchosha Main Building in Kagurazaka, Tokyo — a 1957 reinforced concrete office registered as a Tangible Cultural Property. Explore its glazed tile façade, lobby relief celebrating world scripts, and the storied history of one of Japan's most prestigious publishers.

Shintomicho Tekkinro Store in Chuo City, Tokyo, is a wooden restaurant of about 1949. Its black fence and stone gate wall hold the line of a lost geisha quarter.

This reinforced concrete house in Bunkyo Ward was begun as a home and law office and caught by the 1923 earthquake mid-build. Nationally registered in 1998.

Built in 1947 as an architect's own house and studio, this single-storey timber home in Yokoderacho, Shinjuku, pairs lattice doors with brick. Registered 2011.

Built in 1916 as a pawnshop vault, this Yanaka storehouse rises three storeys of clay-plaster construction on a span of just 3.6 metres. Registered in 2000.

A late-Edo townhouse in Yanaka, Tokyo, the two-storey Oguraya pawnshop keeps its wide plank door and eight-mat counter room. Registered as heritage in 2000.

A white 1936 school block beside a Tokyo geisha quarter: high windows to the street, wide ones to the yard. It survived the 1945 firebombing; registered in 2023.

Steel trusses carry the ceiling of this 1936 Tokyo school hall, leaving the floor clear of columns, while riveted steel columns hide in the walls. Registered 2023.

Discover Seikō Lodging, a rare 1930s Western-style boarding house in Tokyo's Ogikubo neighborhood. This Registered Tangible Cultural Property features a distinctive copper dome roof and continues to operate as Ryokan Seikō, offering overnight stays in a living piece of Japanese history.

Discover Solfège School, a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in Mejiro, Tokyo, designed by renowned modernist architect Junzo Yoshimura in 1967 for his violinist wife. Explore its architectural beauty, musical heritage, and unique solfège education method.

Discover Tiger Building in Kuramae, Tokyo — a Registered Tangible Cultural Property built in 1934. This reinforced concrete apartment building survived the Tokyo air raids and stands as the oldest building in Taito Ward.

The Taiyo Building (Maruishi Building) in Kanda Kaji-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, is a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property completed in 1931. Designed by Yamashita Toshiro—the architect behind Japan's first skyscraper, the Kasumigaseki Building—this rare Romanesque Revival office building features exquisite stone carvings, ornamental reliefs, and guardian lion statues.

Built in 1928 in a Setagaya garden, this Ōya stone basin runs 1.2 by 4.1 metres, its corner blocks pushing the edging outward into a cross in plan. Registered 2007.

This 1928 stone gate in Setagaya opens 1.8 metres wide, its posts stacked seven courses of Ōya stone under a capstone, with steps, paving and a stone flower bed.

Built in 1934 by Diet member Tsukumo Kunitoshi in Ome, western Tokyo, this timber guest wing has a tea room, salvaged brewery beams and a hall above the Tama River.

Tokyo’s registered properties across designations, with featured heritage and travel notes.

The complete kokuhō catalogue — browse by prefecture, period, and category.

Nationwide jūyō bunkazai — architecture, sculpture, painting, crafts, and documents.