Kamakura

Discover Nakatsukasa Masamune, a National Treasure katana forged by Japan's legendary swordsmith Masamune, once owned by the invincible samurai Honda Tadakatsu. See it at Tokyo National Museum.

Discover the Sarashina Nikki, a National Treasure manuscript hand-copied by Fujiwara no Teika in the 13th century—the oldest and only surviving source of this Heian-era woman's memoir, housed at the Museum of the Imperial Collections in Tokyo.

Discover the Sōranjō (Mourning Disorder Letter), a National Treasure of Japan preserving the calligraphy of Wang Xizhi, the greatest calligrapher in Chinese history. Learn about this Tang Dynasty masterpiece at the Museum of the Imperial Collections, Tokyo.

Discover the National Treasure tachi signed Hisakuni, a masterpiece of Kamakura-period swordsmithing by the legendary Awataguchi Hisakuni. Learn about its history, artistry, and how to see it at the Tokyo National Museum.

Discover the National Treasure tantō known as Gotō Tōshirō, forged by legendary Kamakura-era swordsmith Yoshimitsu and housed at Tokugawa Art Museum in Nagoya. A shogun's wedding gift with centuries of history.

Discover the Nihon Shoki Jindaikan, a National Treasure manuscript at Kyoto National Museum. This 13th-century handwritten copy preserves Japan's oldest official mythology, including the creation of the Japanese islands and the birth of Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess. Learn about its cultural significance, viewing opportunities, and nearby attractions.

Discover the exquisite 13th-century Butterfly Mother-of-Pearl Maki-e Cosmetic Box, a Japanese National Treasure showcasing the pinnacle of Kamakura period lacquerware. Located at Tokyo's Ebara Hatakeyama Museum, this masterpiece combines three decorative techniques with stunning visual impact.

Discover the Important Cultural Property 'Katana with Gold Inlay Inscription Rai Kunimitsu' at Tokyo National Museum. Explore this Kamakura period masterpiece by the legendary Rai school swordsmith, appraised by the prestigious Hon'ami family.

Discover the Kasuga Fudarakusan Mandala, a rare Kamakura-period masterpiece depicting the mystical fusion of Kasuga Shrine and Mount Potalaka. This Important Cultural Property at Tokyo's Nezu Museum offers a unique window into medieval Japan's syncretic religious art.

Discover the mystical beauty of Yohen Tenmoku tea bowl (Inaba Tenmoku) at Seikado Bunko Art Museum in Marunouchi, Tokyo. Experience this 12th century National Treasure with its celestial blue iridescence and explore the sophisticated culture of Japanese tea ceremony.

Discover the haunting beauty of Hakubyō-e ryōshi Rishukyō, a 12th-century Japanese National Treasure at Tokyo's Gotoh Museum. Learn how Emperor Go-Shirakawa's death transformed an unfinished court painting into a memorial Buddhist sutra with mysteriously blank faces.

Discover the enigmatic Ink Painting of Hanshan and Shide attributed to Kaō, a 14th-century masterwork representing the dawn of Japanese ink painting. Learn about the legendary Zen eccentrics, their spiritual symbolism, and how to experience this registered art treasure at Tokyo National Museum.

This rare 27-centimetre ken, straight and double-edged, is signed by Mitsutada, the Kamakura-era founder of Bizen's Osafune school, a smith famed for curved tachi.

A Kamakura silk painting of Aizen Myōō, the red king of passion, an Important Cultural Property of 1953. His iconography and where to see kindred scrolls in Tokyo.

A large Kamakura-period painting of the Buddha Amida descending on clouds with Kannon and Seishi to welcome a dying soul. Held at the Tokyo National Museum.

Held in a private Tokyo collection, this Important Cultural Property is a Kamakura-period silk painting tied to the 1299 National Treasure Ippen Hijiri-e. The single hanging scroll depicts a scene at the sacred island of Enoshima and was designated an Important Cultural Property in 1959.

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.

A hanging scroll in ink and color on silk, named an Important Cultural Property in 1959. Lan Ying, who painted it, was a leading landscape master of the late Ming.

A Kamakura silk painting of Ganjin, the Chinese monk blinded crossing to Japan in 753. An Important Cultural Property in Tokyo, echoing his Toshodai-ji statue.

A Kamakura silk scroll once called a nobleman's residence, now read as the Tales of Ise scene of Narihira crossing snow to visit Prince Koretaka at Ono.