Cultural Properties & National Treasures
Nara is one of Japan's richest troves of cultural properties. This theme gathers databases and GIS for everything from National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties to prefecturally designated items, alongside the National Treasures feature browsable by municipality.
Related articles2
Q.What rules protect Nara's historic landscapes?
In Nara, 6,024.0 hectares across five municipalities are designated Historic Landscape Preservation Areas under the national Ancient Capitals Preservation Law (as of March 1, 2026), and Asuka village is protected in its entirety — the only whole-village case in Japan. Add three nationally selected historic townscape districts, three certified "historic city" plans, and landscape-plan zones that effectively cover the whole prefecture. Read this map of regulations in reverse, and you get a map of the places Japan has officially deemed worth preserving.
Q.How many National Treasures does Nara have?
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.
Related datasets9
- 文化財文化庁
Database of National Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
The official database of cultural properties designated, registered, or selected by the Japanese government. Searchable by name, category, prefecture, designation type, owner, and period, with CSV export of search results. The primary source for a comprehensive view of National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties in Nara. Photos carry separate rights — treat only text data as reusable.
Questions this data can answer
How many National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties are in Nara?
HTMLCSVUpdated2026-08-23 - 斑鳩町斑鳩町
Ikaruga Town Open Data Library (Tourist Facilities, Cultural Properties, Events etc.)
Open data from the town of Ikaruga, home to the World Heritage Hōryū-ji: tourist facilities, cultural properties, events, public Wi-Fi and public toilets in the government-recommended dataset format — base data for building visitor services around Hōryū-ji.
Questions this data can answer
What tourist facilities and cultural properties are there around Hōryū-ji and Hokki-ji?
CSVXLSXUpdated2026-08-23 - 景観国土交通省
National Land Numerical Information: Preservation Districts for Groups of Traditional Buildings
GIS polygons of Preservation Districts for Groups of Traditional Buildings — historic townscapes such as castle towns, post towns and temple towns. Nara has three nationally selected districts: Imai-chō (Kashihara), Matsuyama (Uda) and Gojō Shinmachi (Gojō), each with exact boundaries.
Questions this data can answer
What are the exact boundaries of Nara's three preservation districts (Imai-chō, Uda-Matsuyama, Gojō Shinmachi)?
SHPJSONUpdated2026-08-23 - 文化財奈良文化財研究所
National Cultural Heritage Inventory (Nabunken)
A cross-searchable database of roughly 520,000 cultural-property records consolidated by the Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties from lists scattered across governments, universities and museums. Nara Prefecture alone accounts for over 15,000 entries.
Questions this data can answer
How many cultural properties does Nara have including those beyond national designation, and where?
HTMLUpdated2026-08-23 - 文化財奈良文化財研究所
Cultural Heritage Overview WebGIS (Nabunken)
A WebGIS mapping roughly 680,000 archaeological sites and cultural properties nationwide. Visualizes the dense distribution of sites in the Asuka-Fujiwara area and around World Heritage components.
Questions this data can answer
How are archaeological sites distributed across Asuka, Kashihara and Sakurai?
HTMLUpdated2026-08-23 - 世界遺産奈良市
Nara City Designated Cultural Properties and World Heritage Zone Data
City-designated cultural properties as CSV, plus shapefiles of the property areas, buffer zones and harmonization areas of the World Heritage “Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara” — rare GIS-ready data for tourism mapping.
Questions this data can answer
Where exactly are the property areas and buffer zones of Ancient Nara?
CSVSHPUpdated2026-08-23 - 文化財奈良県
Nara Prefectural Designated Cultural Properties
The full list of cultural properties designated under the prefectural ordinance, structured by municipality, category, location, owner, period and designation date — complementing the national database at the prefectural level.
Questions this data can answer
How many prefecturally designated cultural properties does each municipality have?
PDFXLSXUpdated2026-08-23 - 三郷町三郷町
Sangō Town Cultural Properties
The list of designated and registered cultural properties in Sangō, in the recommended dataset format with CSV and Excel — a municipal-level complement to the national database.
Questions this data can answer
What cultural properties are there in Sangō Town?
CSVXLSXUpdated2026-08-23 - 大和郡山市大和郡山市
Yamatokōriyama City Recommended Datasets (Tourist Facilities, Cultural Properties, Events etc.)
Open data from the castle town famous for goldfish, in the standard recommended format: tourist facilities, cultural properties, events, public toilets and Wi-Fi access points, each downloadable as CSV and Excel.
Questions this data can answer
What tourist facilities and cultural properties does Yamatokōriyama have?
CSVXLSXUpdated2026-08-23