Muromachi

A thatched three-bay hall of 1427 in upland Wakayama, dated by its ridge tablets, housing a 1494 shrine cabinet and a village rite still held each lunar new year.

Discover the Gokoku-in Tahōtō, a magnificent two-storied pagoda designated as an Important Cultural Property of Japan. Built in 1449 at Kimiidera Temple in Wakayama, this Muromachi-era masterpiece enshrines the Five Wisdom Buddhas and offers breathtaking views of Wakanoura Bay.

Discover the Important Cultural Property Rōmon Gate of Gokoku-in at Kimiidera Temple in Wakayama. Built in 1509, this vermillion two-story gate blends Muromachi and Momoyama architectural styles and welcomes pilgrims to the second temple of the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage.

Built in 1560 and named an Important Cultural Property in 1955, this single-bay Kasuga-style hall in mountainous Aridagawa keeps carved peonies and faded polychrome.

Explore the Daimon of Chohoji Temple in Kainan, Wakayama — a National Treasure gate built in 1388. One of only two temples in Japan with three National Treasure buildings alongside Horyuji. Learn about its history, architecture, and visiting tips.

Discover the Chohoji Tahoto, a National Treasure two-storied pagoda built in 1357 in Kainan, Wakayama. Explore its pure Japanese architectural style, elegant kaerumata carvings, and the temple's deep connections to the Kishu Tokugawa clan.

Rebuilt in 1462, the Main Hall of Tomobuchi Hachiman Shrine in Kinokawa is Wakayama's only three-bay nagare-zukuri with a front chamber and Kyoto-style carving.

The Main Halls of Niu Kanshofu Shrine in Kudoyama, Wakayama Prefecture, are three Shinto sanctuary buildings founded by the monk Kukai in 816 and designated as Important Cultural Properties of Japan and a UNESCO World Heritage component. Rebuilt in 1517 and 1541 in the single-bay Kasuga style with cypress-bark roofing, the halls feature stunning polychrome decoration and represent outstanding examples of late Muromachi-period shrine architecture. Located at the trailhead of the Koyasan Choishimichi pilgrimage route, they have served as the spiritual gateway to sacred Mount Koya for over twelve centuries.

The Daito of Negoroji Temple in Iwade City, Wakayama, is Japan's largest wooden tahoto pagoda. Completed in 1547 after 67 years of construction and standing some 37 meters tall, it is the only National Treasure tahoto whose interior is regularly open to visitors—offering a rare chance to experience the cosmic geometry of Shingon esoteric Buddhism from within.

The main hall of Hōon-ji in Aridagawa, Wakayama, dates to 1457, fixed by a ridge plaque in its roof. A small, square, thatched hall protected nationally since 1917.

Hōzō-ji's bell tower in Wakayama is a Muromachi-period building with a hipped roof rare on such towers. Its bell reportedly warned villagers of the 1854 tsunami.

The main hall of Risho Gokokuji in Hashimoto, Wakayama, is a five-bay hipped-roof hall rebuilt around 1375, an Important Cultural Property with vermilion pillars.

An Important Cultural Property at Sainanin on Mt. Kōya, showing the guardian deity Daigensui Myōō. The Agency for Cultural Affairs records it as a Yuan Chinese work.

An Important Cultural Property at Kongobuji, from Yuan-dynasty China. Tradition calls it Yakushi, the Medicine Buddha, but its official title names only a buddha.

An iron-bound wooden grain measure dated 1396, the Kōya masu set the rice tax for Mount Kōya's Kanshōfu Estate and is Japan's oldest standard measure of known date.

A 6,285-volume Korean Goryeo Buddhist canon at Koyasan, dedicated in 1599 by Ishida Mitsunari for his late mother and kept in an octagonal revolving bookcase.

This Wakayama shrine holds about 1,200 medieval court furnishings from around 1390, from gold-lacquer toiletry boxes with their fittings to painted cypress fans.

A Muromachi tachi by Kagenaga of Inaba Province, given to Susa Shrine in Arida, Wakayama, by the shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune in 1721 and kept as a shrine treasure.

A Muromachi bronze bell at Kongobuji on Mount Koya, cast on the Buddha's birthday in 1504 and re-inscribed in 1572. An Important Cultural Property at the Reihokan.

A colossal jōroku triad at Negoro-ji: a Diamond World Dainichi flanked by Kongōsatta and Sonshō Butchō, the only surviving example of a composition devised by Kakuban.