Heian

Discover the National Treasure 'Silk-Painted Image of the Eleven-Headed Kannon' at Nara National Museum — a 12th-century Heian-period masterpiece on silk. As one of Japan's oldest surviving silk paintings of this form of Kannon, it features an unusually naturalistic three-quarter pose, exquisite cut-gold-leaf (kirikane) decoration, and motifs newly introduced from Song-dynasty China. This guide covers the painting's iconography, history, and how to plan your visit to the museum in Nara Park.

Discover the Lotus Arabesque Maki-e Sutra Box, a National Treasure from the late Heian period housed at Nara National Museum. Crafted in the exceptionally rare lacquered-leather (shippi) technique and adorned with togidashi maki-e, this elegant container once preserved decorated sutras at Jingū-ji in Fukui.

A Southern Song-period silk painting of a quail bearing the "Zakkashitsu-in" connoisseurship seal of Shogun Ashikaga Yoshinori, this Important Cultural Property descends from the celebrated Higashiyama lineage of Chinese paintings cherished by the Ashikaga shogunal house, and is privately preserved in Tokyo as a quiet witness to Japan's medieval engagement with classical Chinese art.

Held privately in Tokyo, this Heian-period painting sets Vajrasattva among four bodhisattvas of desire, touch, love and pride: passion turned toward awakening.

Discover the Pigeon on a Peach Branch (Momohato-zu), a Japanese National Treasure attributed to Emperor Huizong of the Northern Song Dynasty. This exquisite silk painting from 1107 showcases the boneless (mokkotsu) technique, Slender Gold calligraphy, and a provenance tracing back to Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu.

Designated as a National Treasure, Kokin Wakashū Volume 5 (Kōya-gire) is the oldest surviving manuscript of Japan's first imperially commissioned poetry anthology and a supreme masterpiece of kana calligraphy. Written around 1050 CE, this scroll of autumn poems showcases the dynamic Second Style attributed to Minamoto no Kaneyuki. Discover its profound significance, the three distinct calligraphic styles, and where to appreciate this millennium-old treasure.

A tachi signed "Shinbo saku," once a National Treasure and now an Important Cultural Property of unknown whereabouts. Related blades survive in Yamagata and Tokyo.

The Nihon Shoki Jindai Jōkan Dankan is a rare manuscript fragment of Japan's first official chronicle, transcribed in the late 8th to early 9th century. Designated an Important Cultural Property, it preserves the foundational myths of the Age of Gods—creation, the birth of the islands, the sun goddess Amaterasu—in pure classical Chinese without later reading marks, ranking among the oldest extant copies of the Nihon Shoki and bearing the distinguished provenance of poet-scholar Sasaki Nobutsuna.

A precious fragment of the Lotus Sutra in gold ink on indigo paper, handwritten by Fujiwara no Michinaga — the most powerful nobleman of the Heian period — and buried at the summit of Mount Kinpu in 1007. Housed at the Tokyo National Museum, this Important Cultural Property is among the earliest sutra mound artifacts in Japan, bearing witness to the deep Buddhist faith of the Heian aristocracy.

Calligraphy by the Southern Song Chan master Xutang Zhiyu on wax-coated paper, an Important Cultural Property prized as a tea-room scroll, privately held in Tokyo.

A thirteenth-century Southern Song painting of water buffalo attributed to Yan Ciping, owned by the Sen-oku Hakukokan; a National Treasure since 1957.

A twelfth-century manuscript of the Manyoshu, Japan's oldest poetry anthology, copied by the celebrated calligrapher Fujiwara no Sadanobu onto luxurious mica-printed paper. Treasured by the Maeda lords of Kaga for over three centuries before being presented to the Emperor Meiji, it was designated a National Treasure in 2023 and is one of the Five Great Manyoshu of the Heian period.

Around 1141, Retired Emperor Toba's court copied the Lotus Sutra one scroll per person on gold-strewn papers. Trace Tesshuji's nineteen-scroll National Treasure.

This National Treasure tachi by the Ko-Bizen smith Masatsune was shogun Yoshimune's 1745 retirement gift to the Owari Tokugawa, now at Nagoya's Tokugawa Art Museum.

Japan's oldest illustrated Tale of Genji, a 12th-century National Treasure at Nagoya's Tokugawa Art Museum, shown a few weeks each November to protect its pigments.

Copied in 1160 by Fujiwara no Koreyuki, these National Treasure scrolls at the Kyoto National Museum set a complete Heian poetry anthology on ashide-e paper.

A Tang manuscript of the Book of Han, chapter 57 on poet Yang Xiong, at Kyoto National Museum. Taboo strokes and 948 reading marks trace ten centuries of study.

Fujiwara no Kintō's only surviving autograph draft of the Hokuzanshō, held at the Kyoto National Museum. Its reverse hides two of Japan's oldest kana letters.

This National Treasure handscroll preserves love poems from the Kokin Wakashu in flowing kana on mica-printed Chinese paper, long credited to Ono no Tofu.

This Tang-dynasty scroll at the Kyoto National Museum preserves 172 lines of the Shishuo Xinshu, the world's oldest surviving manuscript of the Chinese classic.