An The term is often shortened into just is an item officially classified as

Tangible Cultural Property Tangibility is the property of being able to be perceived by touch. A commonplace understanding of "tangibility" renders it as an attribute allowing something to be perceptible to the senses. In criminal law, one of the elements of an offense of ...

by the

Japanese government The Government of Japan consists of legislative, executive and judiciary branches and is based on popular sovereignty. The Government runs under the framework established by the Constitution of Japan, adopted in 1947. It is a unitary stat ...

Agency for Cultural Affairs The is a special body of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). It was set up in 1968 to promote Japanese arts and culture. The agency's budget for FY 2018 rose to ¥107.7 billion. Overview The ...

( Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) and judged to be of particular importance to the history, arts, and culture of the

Japanese people The are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Japanese archipelago."人類学上は，旧石器時代あるいは縄文時代以来，現在の北海道〜沖縄諸島（南西諸島）に住んだ集団を祖先にもつ人々。" () Ja ...

Classification of Cultural Properties

To protect the cultural heritage of Japan, the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties was created as a under which important items are appropriated as Cultural Properties,In this article, capitals indicate an official designation as opposed to a simple, unofficial definition, e.g "Cultural Properties" as opposed to "cultural properties". thus imposing restrictions to their alteration, repair and export. Besides the "designation system", there exists a , which guarantees a lower level of protection and support to Registered Cultural Properties. Cultural Properties are classified according to their nature. Items designated as Tangible Cultural Properties (as opposed to Intangible Cultural Properties), cultural products of high historical or artistic value such as structures, paintings, sculptures, handicrafts, calligraphic works, ancient books, historic documents, archeological artifacts and other such items, can later, if they satisfy certain criteria, be designated either Important Cultural Properties or , for especially valuable items. The designation can take place at the , or level. In this last case the designating agency is often not specified. Varying levels of designation can coexist. For example, Sankei-en, a traditional Japanese-style garden in Naka Ward,

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of ...

, is both city and nationally designated as an Important Cultural Properties.Yokohama Sankei Garden
Sankei-en's official site accessed on November 3, 2009 (in Japanese)

Examples

File:Seigantoji05s1920.jpg, Seiganto-ji, Wakayama Prefecture File:Horyu-ji15s3200.jpg, A Nio at Hōryū-ji,

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It ...

File:Kochi Castle04s3872.jpg, Kōchi Castle, Kōchi Prefecture File:Nihonbashi 12.jpg, Nihon Bridge in

Nihonbashi is a business district of Chūō, Tokyo, Japan which grew up around the bridge of the same name which has linked two sides of the Nihonbashi River at this site since the 17th century. The first wooden bridge was completed in 1603. The curre ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

File:Tsujyunkyo.jpg, Tsūjun Bridge,

Kumamoto Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture to the northeast, Miyaza ...

File:Nikolai-do.jpg,

Holy Resurrection Cathedral , also known as , in Chiyoda, Tokyo, is the main cathedral of the Japanese Orthodox Church. History The founder of the Japanese Orthodox Church Ivan Dmitrievich Kasatkin (1836–1912), later St. Nicholas of Japan, was an archbishop who devo ...

in Tokyo File:Hokkaido Prefectural Office02s5s4272.jpg, The Former Hokkaidō government office building File:TsurugaokaHachiman4226.jpg, Tsurugaoka Hachimangū in Kamakura, Kanagawa prefecture File:Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company Head Office 2009.jpg,

Meiji Seimei Kan ''Meiji Seimei Kan'' (明治生命館) is a building in Marunouchi, Tokyo, Japan. History It was designed by Shinichiro Okada and completed in March 1934. The building was one of the first of its kind to be completely designed by Japanese ...

in Tokyo File:Hatsuhana Katatsuki, front view (black and white).jpg, ''Hatsuhana'' tea caddy, one of the special tea utensils, kept at the Tokugawa Memorial Foundation

Lists of Important Cultural Properties of Japan

* List of Important Cultural Properties of Japan (Asuka period: structures) * List of Important Cultural Properties of Japan (Nara period: structures) * List of Important Cultural Properties of Japan (Heian period: structures) * List of Important Cultural Properties of Japan (Kamakura period: structures) * List of Important Cultural Properties of Japan (Shōwa period: structures) * List of Important Cultural Properties of Japan (Okinawa: structures)

Notes

References

External links