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The term "National Treasure" has been used in Japan to denote cultural properties since 1897,[1][2] although the definition and the criteria have changed since the introduction of the term. The crafts items in the list adhere to the current definition and have been designated National Treasures according to the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties that came into effect on June 9, 1951.
The items are selected by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology based on their "especially high historical or artistic value".[3][4] The list presents 132 entries from Classical to early modern Japan, spanning from the 7th century Asuka to the 18th century Edo period. The number of items is higher, however, since groups of related objects have been joined as single entries. The listed objects are of many types and include household goods, objects related to Buddhism, armour and harnesses. Some of the oldest objects were imported from China at the time.
The listed items consist of materials such as wood over clay or to bronze. Often the articles were decorated using a variety of artistic techniques like gilding of precious metals, line engraving, maki-e, mother of pearl inlay or lacquer. The objects are housed in Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines or museums.[4]
The objects in this list represent about half of the 254 National Treasures in the category "crafts". They are complemented by 110 swords and 12 Japanese sword mountings National Treasures of the List of National Treasures of Japan (crafts: swords).[4]
Statistics
| Prefecture | City | National Treasures |
|---|---|---|
| Aichi | Nagoya | 1 |
| Akita | Daisen | 1 |
| Aomori | Hachinohe | 2 |
| Chiba | Katori | 1 |
| Ehime | Imabari | 5 |
| Fukui | Echizen | 1 |
| Sakai | 1 | |
| Tsuruga | 1 | |
| Fukuoka | Dazaifu | 1 |
| Fukuoka | 1 | |
| Gifu | Gifu | 1 |
| Gunma | Shibukawa | 1 |
| Hiroshima | Hatsukaichi | 7 |
| Ishikawa | Kanazawa | 1 |
| Iwate | Hiraizumi | 4 |
| Kagawa | Zentsūji | 1 |
| Kanagawa | Kamakura | 5 |
| Kyoto | Kyoto | 13 |
| Uji | 2 | |
| Nagano | Suwa | 1 |
| Nara | Gojō | 1 |
| Ikaruga | 4 | |
| Ikoma | 1 | |
| Katsuragi | 1 | |
| Nara | 25 | |
| Sakurai | 1 | |
| Ōita | Usa | 1 |
| Okayama | Okayama | 1 |
| Osaka | Fujiidera | 1 |
| Habikino | 1 | |
| Izumi | 1 | |
| Osaka | 6 | |
| Shiga | Moriyama | 1 |
| Nagahama | 1 | |
| Ōtsu | 3 | |
| Shimane | Izumo | 2 |
| Shizuoka | Atami | 1 |
| Mishima | 1 | |
| Tokyo | Ōme | 2 |
| Tokyo | 20 | |
| Wakayama | Kinokawa | 1 |
| Kōya | 1 | |
| Shingu | 1 | |
| Yamaguchi | Hōfu | 1 |
| Yamanashi | Kōshū | 1 |
| Period[nb 1] | National Treasures |
|---|---|
| Silla dynasty | 1 |
| Asuka period | 4 |
| Sui dynasty | 1 |
| Tang dynasty | 11 |
| Nara period | 16 |
| Heian period | 50 |
| Southern Song dynasty | 7 |
| Kamakura period | 27 |
| Yuan dynasty | 1 |
| Muromachi period | 2 |
| Nanboku-chō period | 3 |
| Joseon dynasty | 1 |
| Momoyama period | 1 |
| Edo period | 6 |
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Usage
The table's columns (except for Remarks, Type and Image) are sortable pressing the arrows symbols. The following gives an overview of what is included in the table and how the sorting works. Not all tables have all of the following columns.
- Name: name as registered in the Database of National Cultural Properties[4]
- Artist: name of the artist if known
- Remarks: additional information such as style, special materials, techniques or notable owners
- Date: period and year; the column entries sort by year. If the entry can only be dated to a time-period, they sort by the start year of that period
- Type: general nature of object, main materials and dimensions
- Present location: "temple/museum/shrine-name town-name prefecture-name"; column entries sort as "prefecture-name town-name temple/museum/shrine-name"
- Image: a picture of the item
Treasures
Pottery
Japanese pottery is one of the country's oldest art forms dating to the neolithic period, and some of the world's oldest earthenware from about 14,000 BC has been discovered in Japan. Early pottery objects were made of clay, unglazed and without ornamentation. Later, during the Jōmon, Yayoi and Kofun periods, simple patterned designs and molded ornamentations were added. Such early techniques were formed by coiling or scratching and firing pieces at low temperatures.[5][6][7] High-fired Korean Sue ware, and with it the pottery wheel, arrived in Japan around the 6th century, marking the beginning of major technological advances imported from the mainland.[6][7] Stoneware originated in Japan with the development of green-glazed and other color glazed pottery in the second half of the 7th century. The oldest item in this list is a green-glazed funerary pot from the 12th century.[7]
The popularity of the tea ceremony among the ruling class had a significant influence on ceramic production. To satisfy the demand for high quality pottery items necessary to the tea ceremony a large number of celadon vases and tenmoku ash-glazed teabowls initially were imported from China from the mid-11th to the 16th centuries. These imported items were copied and produced locally at the Seto kiln in Owari Province.[6][8] Around the mid-16th century adjacent Mino took over as a production center of conservative Chinese inspired Seto style pottery. The Japanese invasions of Korea from 1592 to 1598, and subsequent relocation of Korean potters to Kyushu, brought new pottery styles to Japan.[6] From the late-16th century, Mino potters developed new, distinctly Japanese techniques such as Shino ware or Raku ware.[9] This was also motivated by a general shift of tastes among teamasters and others, who came to prefer simpler unglazed tea bowls formed by hand rather than on a pottery wheel.[6] Of the 14 pottery items in this list, eight entries are chawan bowls used in the tea ceremony, three are flower vases, one is an incense burner, one a tea-leaf jar and one a funerary pot. Eight objects originated in China, five in Japan and one in Korea.[4]
Japan
| Name | Artist | Remarks | Date | Type | Present location | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White Raku (楽焼白片身変茶碗, rakuyaki shirokatamigawari chawan) named Fuji-san (不二山)[10][11] | Honami Kōetsu | Thought to have been a wedding present by Honami Kōetsu | Edo period, 17th century | Chawan; Raku ware; height: 8.6 cm (3.4 in), diameter: 11.5 cm (4.5 in) | Sunritz Hattori Museum of Arts, Suwa, Nagano | 
|
| Incense burner in the shape of pheasant decorated with overglaze enamels (色絵雉香炉, iroe kijikōro)[12] | Nonomura Ninsei | Life-sized, cock pheasant shaped incense burner composed of two parts; lifelike coloration with green, navy blue, red and gold pigments; used in the tea ceremony | Edo period, 17th century | Incense burner; Kyoto-ware, polychrome overglaze (色絵, iroe); length: 48.3 centimetres (19.0 in), width: 12.5 cm (4.9 in), height: 18.1 cm (7.1 in) | Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of Art, Kanazawa, Ishikawa | —
|
| Tea-leaf jar with a design of wisteria (色絵藤花文茶壺, iroe fujihanamon chatsubo)[13] | Nonomura Ninsei | Blooming wisteria flowers painted over a warm white glaze in enamels of red, purple, gold and silver; base is orange and has a stamp mark reading "Ninsei"; passed down in the Kyogoku family of the Marugame domain, present day Kagawa Prefecture | Edo period, 17th century | Tea-leaf jar; stoneware (Kyoto-ware) with overglaze enamels; height: 28.8 cm (11.3 in), bore diameter: 10.1 cm (4.0 in), trunk diameter: 27.3 cm (10.7 in), bottom diameter: 10.5 cm (4.1 in) | MOA Museum of Art, Atami, Shizuoka | 
|
| Tea bowl, Shino ware (志野茶碗, shino chawan) named U no hanagaki (卯花墻)[14] | unknown | Distorted shape | Momoyama period | Chawan; thick white glaze, red scorch marks, and texture of small holes | Mitsui Memorial Museum, Tokyo | —
|
| Pot with design of autumn grasses (Akikusamon bottle) (秋草文壺, akikusamontsubo)[15][16] | unknown | Discovered in the Hakusan Burial Mound; mouth bending slightly outward, bulging upper body, narrow base; covered with green glaze and drawings of autumn grasses (Japanese silver grass, melon) scratched in with a spatula; character "上" in the inside of the mouth | Heian period, second half of the 12th century | Funerary pot; Atsumi ware; height: 42 cm (17 in), diameter at neck: 16 cm (6.3 in), diameter at body 29 cm (11 in), diameter at base 14 cm (5.5 in) | Keio University, Tokyo; currently at Tokyo National Museum | 
|
China, Korea
| Name | Remarks | Date | Type | Present location | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spotted tenmoku tea bowl (曜変天目茶碗, yōhen tenmoku chawan) or Inaba tenmoku (稲葉天目)[17] | One of four extant tea bowls in the ｙōhen tenmoku style (three are National Treasures); passed from the Tokugawa clan to Inaba Masayasu and handed down in the Inaba clan | Southern Song, 12–13th century | Chawan; karamono (唐物), natural ash (ｙōhen) tenmoku glaze; height: 6.8 cm (2.7 in), mouth diameter: 12 cm (4.7 in), base diameter: 3.8 cm (1.5 in) | Seikadō Bunko Art Museum, Tokyo | .jpg)
|
| Spotted tenmoku tea bowl (曜変天目茶碗, ｙōhen tenmoku chawan)[18] | One of four extant tea bowls in the ｙōhen tenmoku style (three are National Treasures); produced in the Jian kilns in Fujian (福建省建窯) in south China | Southern Song, 12–13th century | Chawan; karamono (唐物), natural ash (ｙōhen) tenmoku glaze; blue and green spot marks; height: 6.8 cm (2.7 in), mouth diameter: 12.3 cm (4.8 in), base diameter: 3.8 cm (1.5 in) | Fujita Art Museum, Osaka | 
|
| Spotted tenmoku tea bowl (燿変天目茶碗, ｙōhen tenmoku chawan) | One of four extant tea bowls in the ｙōhen tenmoku style (three are National Treasures) | Southern Song, 12–13th century | Chawan; karamono (唐物), natural ash (ｙōhen) tenmoku glaze; height: 6.6 cm (2.6 in), mouth diameter: 12.1 cm (4.8 in), base diameter: 3.8 cm (1.5 in) | Ryūkō-in (龍光院) (Daitoku-ji), Kyoto | .jpg)
|
| Tea bowl with tortoise shell pattern (玳玻天目茶碗, taihi tenmoku chawan) | Produced in the Jizhou kiln (吉州窯) in Yonghe, Ji'an County | Southern Song | Chawan; tenmoku glaze | Shōkoku-ji, Kyoto | —
|
| Tea bowl with silvery (oil) spots (油滴天目茶碗, yuteki tenmoku chawan)[19] | Formerly in possession of Toyotomi Hidetsugu; later handed down in Nishi Hongan-ji, the Mitsui family and the Sakai clan | Southern Song, 12–13th century | Chawan; tenmoku glaze; diameter: 12.2 cm (4.8 in) | Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka, Osaka | —
|
| Celadon turnip-bottom flower vase (青磁下蕪花生, seiji shimokabura hanaike)[20] | Produced in the Longquan (龍泉) kiln | Southern Song, 12th century | Flower vase; celadon; height: 23.5 cm (9.3 in) | custody of Hara Museum ARC (ハラミュージアムアーク), Shibukawa, Gunma; owned by Arukansheru Foundation for the Arts (アルカンシエール美術財団, arukanshiēru bijutsu zaidan), Tokyo | —
|
| Celadon flower vase with Fenghuang ears (handle) (青磁鳳凰耳花生, seiji hōōmimi hanaike) or Bansei (万声)[21] | Produced in the Longquan (龍泉) kiln | Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=List_of_National_Treasures_of_Japan_(crafts:_others)