This work is a collection of articles by famous Japanese scholars. The book is devoted to the topic actively developed in modern science about the meaning of "things" in the space of culture. The articles are placed in chronological order and cover a vast time stratum - from antiquity to the present day; written on the material of archeology, history, fine art, literature, theater, music and rituals. Increased attention to things in Japan, poetization, mythologization and sacralization of the world of things, a multidimensional "language" of interaction of things with each other and with a person in rituals and ceremonies, a thing as a gift or a sign of distinction in social life and as a sign of cultural and historical eras - these are the conceptual approaches of the authors to this most interesting topic.