Edo

A silk portrait of the ink master Sesshu by Unkoku Toeki, who claimed to be his fourth-generation heir, bearing a verse by a Daitoku-ji abbot. Designated in 2023.

This 16-meter handscroll at Hōfu's Mōri Museum is Unkoku Tōeki's copy of Sesshū's National Treasure landscape, designated an Important Cultural Property in 2023.

The Takasu Family Documents are a collection of 127 historical documents spanning from 1351 to 1643, along with a rare Ming dynasty trade ship flag. Designated as an Important Cultural Property, this archive reveals the activities of the Takasu clan as deputy governors of Akama-ga-seki (Shimonoseki) under the Mōri, managing international trade between Japan and Ming China.

Discover Kikuya Family Residence in Hagi, Yamaguchi — one of Japan's oldest surviving merchant houses with five Important Cultural Property buildings, Edo-period gardens, and 500+ historical artifacts in a UNESCO World Heritage castle town.

The Kokubunji Kondo in Hofu, Yamaguchi Prefecture, is an Important Cultural Property Buddhist hall rebuilt in 1779 by Mori Shigetaka, lord of the Choshu Domain. As the Golden Hall of the only provincial temple in Japan that preserves its original Tenpyo-era temple grounds, it has stood on the same site for over 1,250 years, inheriting its original Nara-period foundation stones. Inside, approximately 50 Buddhist statues including Important Cultural Property-designated images are enshrined.

Daishōin in Hagi, Yamaguchi Prefecture, is one of two mausoleum temples of the Mōri lords of the Hagi domain. Its Main Hall, Kuri, Shoin, Bell Tower Gate, and Sutra Repository — rebuilt in the mid-eighteenth century after a fire — are all Important Cultural Properties of Japan. The adjoining Historic Site cemetery is lined with more than six hundred stone lanterns that are lit by candlelight each year on August 13 for the Hagi Mantōe festival.

The Kuniyasu Family Residence in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, is a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property built around 1850 as the headquarters of Matsukane-ya, a prosperous pomade oil merchant. This impressive two-story plastered townhouse features rare lattice insect-cage windows and grand exposed-beam interiors. Now open free as the Honke Matsugane tourism center, visitors can explore Edo-period architecture, sample local sake, and try on samurai armor — all just a 3-minute walk from the iconic Kintai Bridge.

The Somon of Kozanji Temple in the historic castle town of Chofu, Shimonoseki, is a Zen-style four-legged gate preserving mid-Muromachi period structural elements. Registered as a Nationally Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2004, it stands as the formal entrance to a temple compound housing a National Treasure and bearing witness to centuries of dramatic history.