An The term is often shortened into just is an item officially classified as Tangible Cultural Property 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 state, c ...

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 ag ...

(

Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology The , also known as MEXT or Monka-shō, is one of the eleven Ministries of Japan that composes part of the executive branch of the Government of Japan. Its goal is to improve the development of Japan in relation with the international community ...

) 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。" () Jap ...

Classification of Cultural Properties

To protect the

cultural heritage Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by soci ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, 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 is a traditional Japanese garden, Japanese-style garden in Naka-ku, Yokohama, Naka Wards of Japan, Ward, Yokohama, Japan, which opened in 1906.

, 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 To ...

, 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 , Temple of Crossing the Blue Shore, is a Tendai Buddhist temple in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. In 2004, it was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with other locations, under the name "Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mounta ...

Wakayama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Wakayama Prefecture has a population of 944,320 () and has a geographic area of . Wakayama Prefecture borders Osaka Prefecture to the north, and Mie Prefecture and Nara Prefecture ...

File:Horyu-ji15s3200.jpg, A

Nio are two wrathful and muscular guardians of the Gautama Buddha, Buddha standing today at the entrance of many Buddhist temples in East Asian Buddhism in the form of frightening wrestler-like statues. They are dharmapala manifestations of the bo ...

Hōryū-ji is a Buddhist temple that was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples, in Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture, Japan. Its full name is , or Learning Temple of the Flourishing Law, the complex serving as both a seminary and monastery. The temple wa ...

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 i ...

File:Kochi Castle04s3872.jpg,

Kōchi Castle is an Edo Period Japanese castle in the city of Kōchi, Kōchi Prefecture, Japan. It is located at Otakayama hill, at the center of Kōchi city, which in turn is located at the center of the Kōchi Plain, the most prosperous area of former ...

Kōchi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Kōchi Prefecture has a population of 757,914 (1 December 2011) and has a geographic area of 7,103 km2 (2,742 sq mi). Kōchi Prefecture borders Ehime Prefecture to the northwest and ...

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 current ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

File:Tsujyunkyo.jpg,

Tsūjun Bridge Tsūjun Bridge (通潤橋 ''-kyō'') is an aqueduct in Yamato, Kumamoto, Japan. It is an arch bridge completed in 1854 and is 84.0m long. The arch spans 27.3m. It is the largest stone aqueduct in Japan. The Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs ...

Kumamoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, 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 ...

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 A former is an object, such as a template, gauge or cutting die, which is used to form something such as a boat's hull. Typically, a former gives shape to a structure that may have complex curvature. A former may become an integral part of th ...

File:TsurugaokaHachiman4226.jpg,

Tsurugaoka Hachimangū is the most important Shinto shrine in the city of Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The shrine is a cultural center of the city of Kamakura and serves as the venue of many of its most important festivals with two museums. For most of its ...

Kamakura, Kanagawa is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Kamakura has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 persons per km² over the total area of . Kamakura was designated as a city on 3 November 1939. Kamak ...

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 The Special utensils (名物 ''meibutsu'') are historic and precious Japanese tea utensils (茶道具). They consisted of important tea bowls, kettles, spoons, whisks, etc. The classification came not only from value of the tool itself but also ...

, 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