Temples & Shrines
Sacred sites, Buddhist temples, and Shinto shrines
138 spots
Sakurai Futamigaura
At Sakurai Beach in western Itoshima, two granite rocks rise from the shallow water 150 meters offshore — connected by a…
Nanzoin Temple
Deep in the cedar forests of Sasaguri, 20 minutes by train from Hakata, Nanzoin Temple houses a bronze reclining Buddha…
Dazaifu Tenmangu
Dazaifu Tenmangu was built in 905 to enshrine the spirit of Sugawara Michizane, a Heian-period scholar and court officia…
Komyozenji Temple
One hundred meters from the crowds of Dazaifu Tenmangu, through a gate that most visitors walk past, lies Komyozenji — a…
Kushida Shrine
Kushida Shrine, tucked behind the Hakata Station shopping district, is the spiritual center of Hakata's merchant culture…
Tochoji Temple
Tochoji, founded in 806 by the monk Kukai (Kobo Daishi) on his return from Tang Dynasty China, is Fukuoka's oldest Shing…
Mizuma Temple
Perched on a 221-meter hilltop above the Chikugo River plain, Mizuma-dera (水分寺) offers an extraordinary panoramic view t…
Raizan Sennyoji Temple
On the upper slopes of Mt. Raizan, behind a cedar forest that filters almost all direct sunlight, Sennyoji Temple has be…
Sumiyoshi Shrine
Sumiyoshi Shrine predates written Japanese history — established, according to shrine records, in 211 AD to honor the go…
Shofukuji Temple
Shofukuji, founded in 1195 by the monk Eisai after returning from Chinese Song Dynasty, is the first Zen Buddhist temple…
Homan-zan Jinguji
Homan-zan (829m) has been sacred simultaneously to both Buddhism and Shinto since the 8th century — a mountain deity-hab…
Hakozaki Shrine
Hakozaki Shrine, established in 923, is one of Japan's three great Hachiman shrines and holds the unique distinction of…
Atago Shrine
Atago Shrine sits on Atago Hill (68m) in the Nishi-ku district of Fukuoka City, overlooking the full arc of Hakata Bay f…
Saga's Okuninushi Shrine Night Trail
The path connecting Saga City's five historic shrines along the old merchant route has been maintained as a walking trai…
Takeo Shrine 3,000-Year-Old Camphor Tree
Within the grounds of Takeo Jinja, a camphor tree estimated at 3,000 years old stands 30 meters tall with a circumferenc…
Oura Catholic Church
Built in 1864 by French missionary Father Petitjean, Oura Church is the oldest surviving Christian church in Japan and a…
Goto Islands
Take the 20-minute boat from Hisaka port to Kashiragashima Island (population: 26) and walk the concrete path uphill pas…
Hirado Xavier Memorial Church & Temple Next Door
Hirado Xavier Memorial Church (1931) stands on the exact spot where Francis Xavier preached in 1550 during his first mis…
Sofukuji Temple
Sofukuji is a Chinese-style Zen temple established in 1629 by Chinese residents of Nagasaki, built in the Ming Dynasty a…
Honmyo-ji Temple
Honmyo-ji is a Buddhist temple on a forested hill northeast of Kumamoto Castle, established in 1585 by Kato Kiyomasa. Th…
Aso Shrine
Aso Shrine, established in 281 AD, is one of Japan's oldest Shinto shrines and was famous for its three-story gate tower…
Usa Jingu
Usa Jingu, established in 725 AD, is the head shrine of all Hachiman shrines in Japan (numbering 40,000+). Hachiman is t…
Rokugo-manzan Temples
Stand at the base of the Kumano Magaibutsu cliff at 7:30 on a November morning and you'll understand why monks chose thi…
Udo Jingu Shrine
Udo Jingu is one of Japan's most dramatically sited shrines — built inside a seaside cave carved into volcanic cliffs, w…
Takachiho Yokagura
Between mid-November and early February, 20 villages across Takachiho hold all-night kagura ceremonies in private homes…
Omi Shrine
Omi Shrine (大御神社) is a coastal Shinto shrine perched on rocks directly facing the Pacific Ocean, famous as one of Japan'…
Aoshima Island
Aoshima is a small island (1.5km circumference) connected to the mainland by a walking bridge, famous for two features:…
Miyazaki Jingu
Miyazaki Jingu is one of Kyushu's most important shrines, dedicated to Emperor Jimmu — Japan's legendary first emperor w…
Amano Yasukawara Cave
Amano Yasukawara (天安河原) is a large riverside cave along the Iwato River, believed to be the site where 8 million kami (g…
Kirishima Shrine
Kirishima Jingu is a Shinto shrine complex set deep in the forested slopes of the Kirishima volcanic range, dedicated to…
Fushimi Inari Taisha
Fushimi Inari Taisha is Kyoto's most iconic shrine, famous for the Senbon Torii (千本鳥居, 'thousands of torii gates') — a t…
Kinkaku-ji Golden Pavilion
Kinkaku-ji (金閣寺, 'Temple of the Golden Pavilion') is a three-story Zen Buddhist temple covered in pure gold leaf, reflec…
Kiyomizu-dera
Kiyomizu-dera (清水寺, 'Pure Water Temple') is a UNESCO World Heritage temple famous for its wooden stage (清水の舞台, Kiyomizu…
Ginkaku-ji Silver Pavilion
Ginkaku-ji (銀閣寺, 'Temple of the Silver Pavilion') was built in 1482 by Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa as a retirement villa,…
Ryoan-ji Rock Garden
Ryoan-ji Temple (龍安寺) houses Japan's most famous Zen rock garden (枯山水, karesansui 'dry landscape') — a rectangular plot…
Tenryu-ji Temple
Tenryu-ji (天龍寺, 'Heavenly Dragon Temple') is a UNESCO World Heritage Zen temple built in 1339, ranking first among Kyoto…
Sanjusangen-do
Sanjusangen-do (三十三間堂, 'Hall with 33 Bays') is a 120-meter-long wooden hall containing 1,001 life-size golden statues of…
Byodo-in Phoenix Hall
Byodo-in Temple (平等院) features the Phoenix Hall (鳳凰堂, Hōōdō), a National Treasure depicted on Japan's 10-yen coin and 10…
Nanzen-ji Temple
Nanzen-ji (南禅寺) ranks as the head temple of the Rinzai Zen sect's Nanzen-ji school, with a massive Sanmon gate (三門, 22 m…
Kifune Shrine
Kifune Shrine (貴船神社) sits in a forested mountain valley north of Kyoto, famous for its summer river dining platforms (川床…
Kurama-dera Temple
Kurama-dera Temple (鞍馬寺) sits atop Mt. Kurama (570m) in northern Kyoto, accessible by cable car or a scenic 30-minute fo…
Tofuku-ji Temple
Tofuku-ji Temple (東福寺) is Kyoto's premier autumn foliage destination, featuring 2,000 maple trees that create a 'sea of…
Eikan-do Temple
Eikan-do Temple (永観堂), officially Zenrin-ji, is renowned for its autumn night illuminations (mid-November) when 3,000 ma…
Yasaka Shrine
Yasaka Shrine (八坂神社) anchors the eastern end of Gion, serving as Gion Matsuri's spiritual headquarters and guardian of t…
Daitoku-ji Temple Complex
Daitoku-ji (大徳寺) is a sprawling Zen temple complex containing 22 sub-temples, several with exceptional gardens open to t…
Heian Shrine
Heian Shrine (平安神宮) was built in 1895 to commemorate Kyoto's 1,100th anniversary, recreating the original Heian Imperial…
Kyoto Zen Meditation
You sit on a round cushion facing a white wall six inches from your nose. Legs folded, back straight, hands in a mudra y…
Sumiyoshi Taisha
Sumiyoshi Taisha (住吉大社) is one of Japan's oldest Shinto shrines (founded 211 CE), predating Buddhist influence in Japan.…
Shitennoji Temple
Shitennoji (四天王寺) was founded in 593 CE by Prince Shotoku, making it one of Japan's oldest Buddhist temples and the firs…
Hozenji Yokocho
Hozenji Yokocho (法善寺横丁) is a narrow 80-meter stone-paved alley lined with traditional restaurants, bars, and the moss-co…
Day Trip to Mount Koya
The cable car climbing Mount Koya tilts at 26 degrees — steep enough that my feet pressed hard against the floor as we a…
Shoshazan Engyoji Temple
Engyoji Temple (円教寺) sits atop Mt. Shosha (書写山, 371m), a sprawling mountain monastery founded in 966 CE. The complex inc…
Zuihoji Temple
Zuihoji Temple (瑞宝寺) is a Zen temple in Arima Onsen's forested hills, famous for autumn foliage — over 2,500 maple trees…
Todaiji Temple
Todaiji Temple (東大寺, 'Great Eastern Temple') houses the Daibutsu (大仏, Great Buddha) — a 15-meter-tall bronze statue of V…
Kasuga Taisha
Kasuga Taisha (春日大社) is Nara's most important Shinto shrine, established in 768 AD as the tutelary shrine of the powerfu…
Kofukuji Temple
Kofukuji (興福寺) is a UNESCO World Heritage temple founded in 669 AD as the clan temple of the powerful Fujiwara family, s…
Mount Yoshino
Yoshino's 30,000 cherry trees bloom in four elevation zones called senbon (千本, 'thousand trees') — Shimo, Naka, Kami, an…
Horyuji Temple
Horyuji (法隆寺) is a UNESCO World Heritage temple containing the world's oldest surviving wooden structures — the Main Hal…
Yakushiji Temple
Yakushiji (薬師寺) is a UNESCO World Heritage temple founded in 680 AD, famous for its twin pagodas flanking the Main Hall…
Gangoji Temple
Gangoji (元興寺) is one of Nara's Seven Great Temples and Japan's oldest temple, originally founded in 588 AD in Asuka befo…
Kashihara Jingu Shrine
Kashihara Jingu (橿原神宮) is a large Shinto shrine dedicated to Emperor Jimmu, Japan's legendary first emperor according to…
Isonokami Jingu Shrine
Isonokami Jingu (石上神宮) is one of Japan's oldest Shinto shrines, established in the 4th century as a repository for sacre…
Toshodaiji Temple
When the Chinese monk Jianzhen finally reached Japan in 754 AD after five shipwrecks, pirate attacks, and twelve years a…
Asuka-dera Temple
Asuka-dera (飛鳥寺) was Japan's first full-scale Buddhist temple, founded in 596 AD when Buddhism was still new to the arch…
Yoshino Mikumari Shrine
Yoshino Mikumari Shrine (吉野水分神社) is a Shinto shrine dedicated to Mikumari-no-Kami (水分神), the deity of water distribution…
Chikubushima Island
Chikubushima (竹生島) is a small sacred island in northern Lake Biwa, home to Hogonji Temple (宝厳寺) and Tsukubusuma Shrine (…
Shirahige Shrine
Shirahige Shrine (白鬚神社) is a 2,000-year-old Shinto shrine famous for its vermillion torii gate standing in Lake Biwa, 30…
Enryakuji Temple
Enryakuji Temple (延暦寺) is a sprawling Buddhist monastery complex atop Mt. Hiei (848m), straddling the border between Kyo…
Miidera Temple
Miidera Temple (三井寺, formally Onjo-ji) is a major Tendai Buddhist temple founded in 672 CE, located on Mt. Hiei's easter…
Omi Jingu
Omi Shrine (近江神宮) is a Shinto shrine dedicated to Emperor Tenji (626–672 CE), who reigned during Japan's adoption of Chi…
Ishiyama-dera Temple
Ishiyama-dera (石山寺, 'Stone Mountain Temple') is a historic Buddhist temple founded in 747 CE, built on a massive natural…
Koyasan Temple Town
Koyasan sits at 900 meters, a temple town of 117 buildings founded in 816 by Kukai (Kobo Daishi) as Shingon Buddhism's h…
Nachi Falls & Kumano Nachi Taisha
Nachi Falls (那智滝, Nachi-no-Taki) is Japan's tallest single-drop waterfall, plunging 133 meters from a sheer cliff into a…
Okunoin Cemetery Night Walk
Okunoin (奥之院) is a 2-kilometer path through 200,000 moss-covered tombstones and memorial monuments beneath towering 500-…
Kumano Hongu Taisha
Kumano Hongu Taisha (熊野本宮大社) is the head shrine of the Kumano Sanzan (Three Grand Shrines) and spiritual terminus of the…
Kongobu-ji Temple
Kongobu-ji (金剛峯寺) is the head temple of Shingon Buddhism and the administrative center of Koyasan's 117 temples, founded…
Takijiri-oji Shrine
Takijiri-oji (滝尻王子) is the starting point of the Nakahechi Trail, the most popular Kumano Kodo pilgrimage route, and his…
Kimii-dera Temple
Kimii-dera (紀三井寺, 'Temple of Three Wells of Kii Province') is a hilltop temple complex founded in 770 AD, famous for its…
Kumano Nachi Taisha Fire Festival
The Nachi-no-Hi Matsuri (那智の火祭り, Nachi Fire Festival), held annually on July 14th, is one of Japan's three great fire fe…
Ise Jingu
Walking through Ise Jingu's forest approaches feels like stepping through a curtain between worlds. The path to Naiku, t…
Meoto Iwa (Wedded Rocks)
Meoto Iwa (夫婦岩, 'Wedded Rocks') are two sacred rocks in the ocean connected by a thick shimenawa (sacred rope) made of r…
Sarutahiko Shrine
Sarutahiko Shrine (猿田彦神社) is dedicated to Sarutahiko no Okami — the Shinto deity of guidance, crossroads, and new beginn…
Futami Okitama Shrine
Futami Okitama Shrine (二見興玉神社) is a coastal Shinto shrine famous for its hundreds of frog statues (蛙, kaeru) and pre-pil…
Natadera Temple
Natadera Temple (那谷寺) is an ancient mountain temple founded in 717 AD, renowned for its dramatic natural setting among m…
Zenkoji Temple
Zenkoji Temple (善光寺) guards Japan's first Buddhist statue, a golden Amida triad carried from Korea in 552 AD. The statue…
Bessho Onsen (Nagano)
Bessho Onsen (別所温泉) is a quiet hot spring town with a remarkable concentration of Kamakura-period (1185–1333) temples, e…
Togakushi Shrine
Togakushi Shrine (戸隠神社) is a complex of five Shinto shrines scattered across the forested slopes of Mount Togakushi, con…
Kunozan Toshogu Shrine
Kunozan Toshogu Shrine (久能山東照宮) is a lavishly decorated Shinto shrine dedicated to Tokugawa Ieyasu, the shogun who unifi…
Atsuta Shrine
Atsuta Shrine (熱田神宮, Atsuta Jingu) ranks among Japan's most important Shinto shrines, housing the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi (草…
Atsuta Jingu Forest
The sacred forest (鎮守の森, chinju-no-mori) surrounding Atsuta Shrine comprises 190,000 square meters of old-growth camphor…
Yahiko Shrine
Yahiko Shrine sits at the base of Mt. Yahiko (634m), a sacred peak that has been a Shinto pilgrimage site for over 2,400…
Hakusan Shrine Furusato Village
Hakusan Shrine is a modest Shinto shrine in Niigata City's outskirts, known not for its religious significance but for t…
Zuiryuji Temple
Zuiryuji Temple (瑞龍寺) is a National Treasure Zen temple in Takaoka City, representing the pinnacle of early Edo-period t…
Chureito Pagoda
The Chureito Pagoda, a five-story vermillion structure perched on the hillside above Fujiyoshida City, offers the postca…
Takeda Shingen Historical Sites
Takeda Shingen (1521–1573) was one of the most formidable daimyo of Japan's Warring States period, ruling Kai Province (…
Erin-ji Temple
Erin-ji Temple, located in the mountains east of Kofu, served as the family temple of the Takeda clan during the Warring…
Daizenji Taisekiji Temple
Daizenji Taisekiji Temple, nestled in the Katsunuma wine valley, has an unusual claim: it houses a 1,200-year-old wooden…
Kitaguchi Hongu Fuji Sengen Shrine
Kitaguchi Hongu Fuji Sengen Shrine has served as the traditional starting point for Mt. Fuji pilgrimages via the Yoshida…
Eiheiji Temple
Eiheiji is a working Zen monastery founded in 1244, where 150-200 monks follow a training schedule unchanged since the E…
Meiji Shrine
Meiji Shrine (明治神宮, Meiji Jingu) is a Shinto shrine dedicated to Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken, set within 175 acres…
Senso-ji Temple
Senso-ji (浅草寺) is Tokyo's oldest and most significant Buddhist temple, founded in 645 AD after two fishermen discovered…
Great Buddha of Kamakura
The Great Buddha of Kamakura (鎌倉大仏, Kamakura Daibutsu) is a 13.35-meter-tall bronze statue of Amida Buddha weighing 121…
Hasedera Temple
Hasedera Temple (長谷寺) is a hillside Buddhist temple famous for its 9.18-meter wooden statue of Kannon (11-faced Goddess…
Tsurugaoka Hachimangu
Tsurugaoka Hachimangu (鶴岡八幡宮) is Kamakura's most important Shinto shrine, dedicated to Hachiman (god of warriors and pat…
Enoshima Island
Enoshima (江の島) is a small island (0.4km²) connected to the Shonan coast by a 600-meter bridge, crowned with shrines, bot…
Hakone Shrine
The torii gate standing in Lake Ashi's shallows is what phone cameras were invented for, but the shrine complex itself c…
Zeniarai Benten Shrine
Zeniarai Benten (銭洗弁財天, 'Money-Washing Benzaiten') is a shrine hidden in a cave where worshippers wash coins and bills i…
Hokokuji Temple
Hokokuji Temple (報国寺, 'Temple of Nation Protection') is a small Zen temple famous for its bamboo grove — over 2,000 moso…
Chichibu Shrine
Chichibu Shrine (秩父神社) claims a founding date of 2,100 years ago, though the current structures date to the 1592 reconst…
Hodosan Shrine & Ropeway
Mt. Hodo (宝登山, 497m) rises steeply above Nagatoro town, its summit accessible by a 5-minute ropeway ride that climbs 320…
Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine
Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine (川越氷川神社) is one of Japan's premier 'enmusubi' (縁結び, matchmaking) shrines, believed to grant blessi…
Mitsumine Shrine
Mitsumine Shrine (三峯神社) sits at 1,100 meters on a remote mountain peak in the Chichibu range, enshrining wolf deities (o…
Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage
The Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage (秩父三十四箇所観音霊場) is one of Japan's three major Kannon temple pilgrimages — a circuit of 3…
Musashi Ichinomiya Hikawa Shrine
Musashi Ichinomiya Hikawa Shrine (武蔵一宮氷川神社) is the grand headquarters of over 280 Hikawa shrines scattered across the Ka…
Naritasan Shinshoji Temple
Naritasan Shinshoji Temple, founded in 940 AD, is one of Japan's most important Shingon Buddhist temples and a major pil…
Katori Shrine
Katori Shrine, founded over 2,600 years ago according to shrine records, is one of Japan's three great martial shrines (…
Nokogiriyama
Nokogiriyama (鋸山, 'Saw Mountain,' 329m) earned its name from the jagged cliff face created by 300 years of stone quarryi…
Akagi Shrine
Akagi Shrine (赤城神社) sits on the shore of Lake Onuma (大沼, 1,350m elevation) in the caldera of Mt. Akagi (赤城山, 1,828m), a…
Achi Shrine
Achi Shrine (阿智神社, Achi Jinja) sits atop a forested hill overlooking Kurashiki's Bikan Historical Quarter, offering pano…
Motonosumi Inari Shrine
Motonosumi Inari Shrine (元乃隅神社) features 123 bright vermillion torii gates cascading down a coastal clifftop toward the…
Rurikoji Temple
Rurikoji Temple (瑠璃光寺) is home to one of Japan's three most beautiful five-story pagodas — a National Treasure built in…
Akama Shrine
Akama Shrine (赤間神宮) is a waterfront shrine dedicated to the child Emperor Antoku, who drowned at age 8 in the 1185 Battl…
Sesshu Garden
Sesshu Garden (雪舟庭) is a karesansui (dry landscape) garden designed by Sesshu Toyo (1420–1506), Japan's most revered ink…
Mt. Daisen
Mt. Daisen (1,729m) rises in near-perfect symmetry above the western Tottori plains, earning the nickname 'Mount Fuji of…
Kannon-in Temple Garden
Kannon-in Temple in central Tottori City preserves a 500-year-old pond-stroll garden (chisen-kaiyu-shiki) designated as…
Daisen-ji Temple
Daisen-ji Temple, established in 718 AD, served as the spiritual gateway to Mt. Daisen's sacred peak for over a millenni…
Izumo Taisha
Izumo Taisha is one of Japan's oldest shrines, maybe the oldest depending on who's counting. It's dedicated to Okuninush…
Hinomisaki Shrine & Lighthouse
Hinomisaki (日御碕) is a dramatic cape at Shimane's western tip featuring Hinomisaki Shrine (vermillion shrine buildings) a…
Zentsuji Temple
Zentsuji Temple holds profound significance as the birthplace of Kobo Daishi, the revered monk who founded Shingon Buddh…
Ishite-ji Temple
Ishite-ji is Temple #51 of the 88-temple Shikoku Pilgrimage, a large Buddhist complex featuring a towering three-story p…
Ryozen-ji Temple
Ryozen-ji (霊山寺) is Temple #1 of the 88 Temple Pilgrimage (四国八十八ヶ所, Shikoku Hachijū-Hakkasho), a 1,200km Buddhist pilgrim…
Yakuoji Temple
Yakuoji (薬王寺) is Temple #23 of the 88 Temple Pilgrimage, dramatically positioned on a coastal mountain with Pacific Ocea…
Chusonji Temple
Chusonji Temple is the crown jewel of Hiraizumi's UNESCO World Heritage sites, founded in 850 CE and expanded in the ear…
Takkoku no Iwaya Bishamon-do
Takkoku no Iwaya Bishamon-do is a Buddhist temple built into a cliff cave, dramatically perched on a rock face 15 meters…
Motsuji Temple Garden
Motsuji Temple was once larger than Chusonji, containing 40 temple buildings and 500 monks' quarters during the Northern…
Kamaishi Daikannon
Kamaishi Daikannon is a 48.5-meter tall statue of Kannon (Buddhist goddess of mercy) standing on a peninsula overlooking…
Zuiganji Temple
Zuiganji Temple stands as one of the Tohoku region's most important Zen Buddhist temples, a National Treasure that has s…
Sazae-do Temple
Sazae-dō (さざえ堂) is an extraordinary hexagonal wooden temple built in 1796, featuring a double-helix interior structure w…