Differences Between National Treasures, Important Cultural Properties, Registered Tangible Cultural Properties, and City Designations

The six categories of cultural properties

The Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties divides cultural properties into six types: tangible cultural properties, intangible cultural properties, folk cultural properties, monuments, cultural landscapes, and groups of traditional buildings. The national government designates, selects, or registers the important ones among these for priority protection. Buried cultural properties in the ground and the techniques used for repair (conservation techniques for cultural properties) are also protected. Cultural landscapes and groups of traditional buildings are "selected" rather than "designated": the national government selects them on the basis of proposals from local governments. In Kyoto City these are the "Cultural Landscape of Kyoto Okazaki" (selected in 2015) and the townscapes of Sannenzaka, Gion Shinbashi, Saga Toriimoto, and Kamigamo.

A national designation, selection, or registration is made after the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology consults the Council for Cultural Affairs and receives its recommendation. At the recommendation stage the property is only a candidate; it becomes officially designated when the notice appears in the official gazette. Once designated, changes to its current state are restricted, but the national government provides subsidies for repairs and the like.

Categories of Cultural Properties and How Designation and Registration Work

Designation of tangible cultural properties

Tangible cultural properties are divided into buildings and "works of art and craft," which cover paintings, sculpture, craft objects, calligraphy, classical books, historical documents, archaeological materials, and historical materials. The national government designates the important ones as Important Cultural Properties, and then designates those of especially high value from the standpoint of world culture as National Treasures. For buildings, the standard for a National Treasure is "an Important Cultural Property that is exceptionally outstanding and of especially deep significance in cultural history."

Because a National Treasure is also an Important Cultural Property, the count of Important Cultural Properties includes the National Treasures.

Registered Tangible Cultural Properties are "protected loosely"

The Registered Tangible Cultural Property system was created by an amendment to the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties that took effect on October 1, 1996. Whereas the designation system strictly selects important properties and gives them strong regulation through permits and generous protection, the registration system offers looser protection based on notification, guidance, and advice, and complements the designation system.

As a rule, eligible buildings are those completed 50 years or more ago, and a building can be registered if it meets any one of three criteria: it contributes to the historical landscape of the country, it serves as a model of design, or it would be difficult to reproduce. In Kyoto City, the registered buildings are mostly from the modern era.

Historic Sites, Places of Scenic Beauty, Natural Monuments, and the "Special" grade

"Monuments" is the collective term for remains such as shell mounds, ancient tombs, and castle sites; scenic places such as gardens, gorges, and mountains; and animals, plants, and geological and mineral features. The national government designates the important ones as Historic Sites, Places of Scenic Beauty, or Natural Monuments, and the especially important ones as Special Historic Sites, Special Places of Scenic Beauty, or Special Natural Monuments. Kyoto City's Natural Monuments include the biological community of Midoro-ga-ike Pond.

Intangible Cultural Properties and "Living National Treasures"

Intangible cultural properties are the skills themselves, in fields such as theater, music, and craft techniques. When the national government designates an important one as an Important Intangible Cultural Property, it at the same time recognizes the people who embody the skill at a high level as holders, and groups as holding organizations. A holder recognized as an individual (individual recognition) is what is popularly called a "Living National Treasure." It is a common name rather than a legal term, and the holder receives a special grant of 2 million yen a year from the national government.

For a long time there were only two fields, performing arts and craft techniques, but a recommendation by the Council for Cultural Affairs on October 24, 2025, added "lifestyle culture," which was announced in the gazette in December of that year. On October 16, 2026, the first recommendations in this field were made, to recognize Ikenobō Sen'ei for rikka flower arrangement and Takahashi Eiichi for Kyoto kaiseki cuisine (both of Kyoto City), and Nōguchi Naohiko of Ishikawa Prefecture for ginjō sake brewing, as holders.

The prefecture and the city also designate and register

Cultural properties that are not nationally designated can be designated or registered by prefectures and municipalities under their own cultural property protection ordinances. Nationwide there are 123,557 such properties, 22,635 of them by prefectures (as of May 1, 2026).

Under the Kyoto City Cultural Properties Protection Ordinance, Kyoto City treats the properties it designates and registers as "Kyoto City Cultural Properties," and it has also designated 11 cultural property environment conservation areas to protect their surroundings. Kyoto Prefecture, besides designation and registration, has its own system of "provisional registration."