Q.How many National Treasures does Nara have?
Published 2026-06-29
Answer
As of April 1, 2026, Nara Prefecture holds 208 National Treasures — third in Japan after Tokyo and Kyoto. But for sculpture (mostly Buddhist statues) and architecture, Nara ranks first in the country. By depth of heritage, it is unmatched.
Third in Japan by total count
Nara Prefecture holds 208 National Treasures, the designation managed by the Agency for Cultural Affairs (as of April 1, 2026, per the prefecture). That is third nationally, behind Tokyo and Kyoto. Counting Important Cultural Properties as well, the total reaches 1,548 — again third in Japan. Tokyo leads largely because national and private museums there concentrate paintings, crafts and calligraphy; Nara's treasures, by contrast, are mostly held in situ by the temples and shrines that have guarded them for centuries.
208National Treasures in Nara (as of April 1, 2026)
3rdamong prefectures, after Tokyo and Kyoto
1,548National Treasures + Important Cultural Properties (3rd nationally)
Statues and architecture: Nara is No.1
Break the figures down by type and Nara's strength is clear. Of Japan's 142 sculpture National Treasures — mostly Buddhist statues — 76 (53.5%) are in Nara, the most of any prefecture. For architecture, 64 of Japan's 233 (27.5%) are here, again first nationally (both as of April 1, 2026, per the prefecture). This concentration reflects Nara's history as an ancient capital, where great temples such as Tōdai-ji, Kōfuku-ji and Hōryū-ji have preserved their treasures on the spot.
76sculpture (1st; 53.5% of Japan's total)
64architecture (1st; 27.5% of Japan's total)
How you count changes the number
A note on counting. The Agency for Cultural Affairs counts by "designation": a matched set of swords or a bundle of scriptures is one item, which puts Nara at 208. Our own National Treasures feature counts at the level of individual objects from the same database, giving 241 — slightly higher. Neither is wrong; they simply measure at different granularities. The nationwide comparisons in this article use the "designation" count, which is consistent across prefectures.
Where are they?
Looking at locations in our feature (241 objects), more than half are in Nara city, followed by the town of Ikaruga, home of Hōryū-ji. The treasures cluster tightly within the World Heritage zones of "Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara" and "Buddhist Monuments in the Hōryū-ji Area." Yet they also dot older temples and shrines well outside the city, in Sakurai, Tenri, Uda and Katsuragi.
- Nara149objects
- Ikaruga44objects
- Sakurai10objects
- Tenri9objects
- Uda9objects
| Municipality | National Treasures (by object) |
|---|---|
| Nara | 149 |
| Ikaruga | 44 |
| Sakurai | 10 |
| Tenri | 9 |
| Uda | 9 |
| Katsuragi | 7 |
| 6 other municipalities | 13 |
How to look them up by municipality
Each National Treasure can be looked up — name, location, date of designation — in the Agency for Cultural Affairs' National Cultural Properties Database. Our feature narrows that to Nara and reorganizes it by municipality and type, so you can filter by category (architecture, sculpture, painting and more) and see how the treasures map onto the components of Nara's World Heritage sites.