National Treasures of Tokyo

Brushed in 1325 by the Yuan master Gulin Qingmao for his disciple Betsugen Enshi, this farewell verse, once owned by Oda Nobunaga, is now a National Treasure.

Compiled for Tang emperor Taizong in 631 and lost in China, this fifty-volume statecraft anthology survives as thirteen Heian scrolls on dyed, gold-ruled paper.

A pictorial Yayoi bronze bell at the Tokyo National Museum, said to come from old Sanuki, its six panels engraving deer hunts, herons, a granary and grain-pounders.

Discover Jieshi Diao Youlan Daiwo, the world's oldest complete instrumental music manuscript. This 7th-century guqin tablature, designated a National Treasure of Japan, is preserved at the Tokyo National Museum in Ueno, Tokyo.

Three National Treasure scrolls of the Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish, written in the Nara period in oversized characters on paper once thought to hold relics.

An eighth-century Kengukyo handscroll in oversized characters, long ascribed to Emperor Shomu. One of the few Daishomu scrolls left whole, rarely shown in Tokyo.

Watanabe Kazan's 1837 portrait of scholar Takami Senseki blends Western facial shading with East Asian brushwork. A National Treasure at the Tokyo National Museum.

The original seventh scroll of the Ippen Hijiri-e is kept apart from its set, at the Tokyo National Museum. The 1299 silk scroll shows the dancing nembutsu in Kyoto.

Just 24.2 cm tall, this National Treasure at Tokyo's Nezu Museum is a peak of Southern Song bird-and-flower painting, attributed to Li Anzhong and shown only rarely.

Ninety-three Kasuga miracle tales on twenty silk scrolls, painted around 1309 by Takashina Takakane. Complete and never repainted, a National Treasure since 2021.

A National Treasure at the Tokyo National Museum, the only Peacock Wisdom King painting left from Heian Japan, admired for its gentle deity and refined gold work.

Painted by the Song court artist Li Di and dated 1197, this National Treasure pairs a white and a red cotton rose, one flower as it shifts colour across a day.

The oldest surviving painted image of Kokūzō in Japan, this 12th-century silk scroll at the Tokyo National Museum is admired for its fine cut-gold kirikane work.

Japan's oldest surviving arhat paintings, this 11th-century National Treasure of 16 silk scrolls at the Tokyo National Museum glows with soft, back-dyed color.

A late-12th-century National Treasure of Senju Kannon at the Tokyo National Museum: forty-two arms ringed by small hands, the silk worked in fine gold kirikane.

Ito Jakuchu's National Treasure: thirty silk scrolls of birds, fish, and flowers painted over a decade for a Kyoto Zen temple, held at Tokyo's Sannomaru Shozokan.

A National Treasure at Tokyo Nezu Museum, this rare Kamakura scroll shows Nachi Falls alone as a sacred deity, fusing yamato-e and Chinese ink-and-gold landscape.

A 12th-century Heian National Treasure at Tokyo National Museum, this silk scroll depicts Fugen Bosatsu on a six-tusked white elephant amid fine cut-gold ornament.

A fan-shaped Song-dynasty painting of one apple branch, its blossoms ranging from bud to full bloom. Now a National Treasure at Tokyo's Ebara Hatakeyama Museum.

A National Treasure at the Tokyo National Museum: a Southern Song three-scroll set by Liang Kai of a gaunt Buddha and snowy peaks, held by the Ashikaga shoguns.

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.