Temples and shrines in Japan: which ones are worth the detour

⛩️ Temples & shrines · 137 destinations · 642 activities

Japan has over seventy thousand Buddhist temples and eighty thousand Shinto shrines, and the classic mistake is stringing fifteen together in two days until they stop being distinguishable. This list is ranked by real concentration and importance, not by count. Mixing works better: one large urban complex, one mountain shrine and one temple you can sleep in beat a three-city temple tour.

The destinations, by real weight

What to do exactly

Kyoto — 91 activities

• Byodo-in and the interior of the Phoenix Hall 2 h must-see

  The garden costs 700 yen for adults and 600 yen for groups of 25 or more, and includes the Hoshokan museum; there is no garden-only ticket. The garden opens 8:45 to 17:30 with last admission at 17:15 and the museum 9:00 to 17:00 with last admission at 16:45, every day of the year. Going into the Ho-o-do to see Jocho's Amida costs 300 yen more and works in slots every 20 minutes, from 9:30 to 16:10, with a limited quota per slot and tickets sold at the garden reception, not online. Be there 5 minutes before your assigned time; the commentary is in Japanese only (a leaflet is given in other languages) and the interior can close without notice for ceremonies. The official source gives two different capacity figures, 20 and 50 people per slot: confirm when buying.

• Fushimi Inari Taisha 2.5 h must-see

  Thousands of orange torii gates climbing the sacred Mount Inari.

• Ginkaku-ji, the Silver Pavilion and the sea of sand 1 h must-see

  Admission 1,000 yen, open every day with no closing day: 8:30-17:00 from March to November and 9:00-16:30 from December to February. The route is one-way and takes 30-45 minutes, so the crowding is felt above all on the ramp by the Ginshadan (the Kogetsudai sand cone and the sea of silver sand). It is the fifth most visited site in Kyoto, and the interior of the Kannon-den is never open: what you see is the exterior. Opening at 8:30 and going in during the first few minutes completely changes the experience compared with arriving at midday.

• Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku-ji) 1.5 h must-see

  A temple covered in gold leaf, reflected in its own pond — an absolute icon of Kyoto.

• Kiyomizu-dera Temple 2 h must-see

  World Heritage Buddhist temple with a broad wooden terrace on pillars giving panoramic views over Kyoto. NOTICE: Jishu Jinja, the love shrine inside the grounds with the two stones you walk between with your eyes shut, has been closed for reconstruction since August 2022 and in 2026 was still fenced off with no reopening date. Sannenzaka and Ninenzaka are public streets and can be walked, but they sit inside the no-smoking ordinance zone, which carries a fine.

• Nanzen-ji: the Sanmon gate and the Suirokaku aqueduct 2 h must-see

  The precinct and the brick Suirokaku aqueduct, part of the Lake Biwa Canal works, are free to enter; the Hojo garden and the climb up the Sanmon are paid separately, at around 500-600 yen each depending on the source (worth confirming at the ticket window). Hours 8:40-17:00 from March to November and 8:40-16:30 from December to February, with no closing days; there is a tea room with matcha and wagashi for about 500 yen. Important notice: the Nanzen-in subtemple is closed for works until the spring of 2027, so do not count on its pond garden. Following the aqueduct upstream leads to the Okuno-in and its small waterfall, almost always empty.

Nara — 25 activities

• Nara Park and its sacred deer 2 h must-see

  Around 1,400 wild deer, protected as a national natural monument, roam the park freely, and you may feed them only shika senbei crackers (200 yen, from the official stalls). They are not tame: more than a hundred people a year are hurt by bites, butts and antler gores, above all during the September-to-November rut and when does have fawns between May and July. Give them no other food and no plastic bags, do not wave a cracker without handing it over, and do not crouch down to their eye level.

• Sunset from the Nigatsu-do veranda 1 h must-see

  The wooden gallery clinging to the hillside above Todai-ji is open day and night and costs nothing: from it you see the Great Buddha Hall's roof, the park and the whole Nara basin with the sun going down behind it. At dusk the oil lanterns along the corridor are lit and almost nobody is left, because the tour groups have already headed back to Kyoto.

• The Ashura of Kofuku-ji at the National Treasure Museum 1 h must-see

  Carved in dry lacquer in 734, three-faced and six-armed with the face of a worried teenager, the Ashura is one of Japan's most loved sculptures and it is here, five minutes from the station. The museum opens 9:00-17:00 (last entry 16:45) and costs 900 yen; a combined ticket with the Central and Eastern Golden Halls is 1,600.

• The Great Buddha of Todai-ji Temple 1.5 h must-see

  One of the largest wooden buildings in the world, home to a giant bronze Buddha.

• Horyu-ji Temple 2.5 h

  On the edge of the city: the oldest wooden buildings in the world, from the seventh century, and a World Heritage Site in its own right, separate from the central Nara group.

• Asuka-dera and Japan's oldest Buddha 0.75 h

  The first full-scale Buddhist temple ever built in Japan, founded in 596, with a bronze Buddha cast in 609 that still sits where it was made: cracked and pieced back together after several fires, and the monks let you photograph it and explain the story without rushing. It is small and plain, nothing like the Great Buddha of Nara, and that is the point.

Kamakura — 25 activities

• Great Buddha of Kamakura (Daibutsu) 1.5 h must-see

  An outdoor bronze statue over 11 metres tall, the symbol of the city.

• Engaku-ji Temple 1.5 h

  One of Kamakura's two great Rinzai Zen temples alongside Kencho-ji, founded in 1282 next to Kita-Kamakura station, with a huge bell designated a National Treasure.

• Hase-dera Temple with Sea Views 1.5 h

  Terraced gardens overlooking Sagami Bay. Key point for the hydrangea season: on top of the four hundred yen admission you also need a five hundred yen ajisai-ken for the Mount Kannon path. Since 2026 it can be booked online with a one-hour time slot, sales opening every Tuesday at ten for the following seven days, although same-day tickets are still sold, with the usual queues. The path has around two hundred and ten steps.

• Kencho-ji Temple 1.5 h

  Japan's oldest Zen temple and head temple of the Rinzai school, with main halls and a rear garden set against the hillside.

• Great Buddha hiking trail 2.5 h

  A ridge path linking Kita-Kamakura with Genjiyama, Zeniarai Benten and the Great Buddha, crossing woodland and caves. It is shorter and more accessible than the Tenen trail, but check its condition beforehand because closures from fallen trees are common.

• Iwaya Caves and the Chigogafuchi reef on Enoshima 1.5 h

  Sea caves at the far end of the island, carved by the surf, where tradition says Kukai and Nichiren meditated, and which are walked with a lantern. They are reached across the Chigogafuchi rock platform and close in bad weather or heavy swell.

Tokyo — 31 activities

• Meiji Jingu Shrine 1.5 h must-see

  A Shinto shrine dedicated to Emperor Meiji, surrounded by a lush forest next to Harajuku. The shrine itself is free, but the inner garden, Gyoen, is charged for separately, and in June it has around one thousand five hundred Japanese irises in bloom.

• Mount Takao by trail 6, down by cable car 5 h must-see

  A stream-and-damp-forest route that avoids the asphalt of trail 1 and comes out at Yakuo-in temple and, on clear days, views of Fuji. It is the most climbed mountain on earth, about three million visitors a year: go on a weekday, start before eight, and take trail 6 or Inariyama.

• Kanda Matsuri: the odd-year hon-matsuri 6 h only the weekend closest to 15 May

  One of Edo's three great festivals, held in full ONLY in odd years: on Saturday a procession of nearly a thousand people covers thirty kilometres through Kanda, Nihonbashi and Marunouchi; on Sunday more than two hundred mikoshi enter the shrine. Even years bring the kage-matsuri, a reduced, near-internal version.

• Kanda Myojin Shrine and the EDOCCO centre 1.5 h

  Tutelary shrine of 108 Edo neighbourhoods, its vermilion-lacquered hall rebuilt in concrete in 1934 and therefore a survivor of the firebombing. It sells amulets for data and server protection and collaborates with anime series: it is Akihabara's digital patron.

• Sanno Matsuri at Hie Shrine: the even-year hon-matsuri 5 h only 7-17 Jun

  Festival of the shrine that guarded Edo Castle, with the Shinko-sai procession of some three hundred participants in court dress crossing the financial district over nine hours. Even years only: 2026 ran 7 to 17 June and the next big one is 2028.

• Sengaku-ji and the graves of the forty-seven ronin 1.5 h

  Soto temple where Asano Naganori and his forty-seven retainers lie, with incense lit at every headstone for three centuries. It is a working cemetery, not a Chushingura set: keep your voice down and respect the photography bans where posted.

Kunisaki Peninsula and Usa — 11 activities

• Fuki-ji and its Amida hall, a National Treasure 1 h must-see

  A small, dark wooden hall in a clearing, founded in the Heian period as the clan temple of Usa Jingu's high priest. Bungotakada city describes it as the oldest surviving wooden building in Kyushu and counts it among Japan's three Amida halls alongside the Byodo-in at Uji and the Konjikido at Chuson-ji; the Ōdō is a National Treasure and the seated Amida inside a national Important Cultural Property. Admission 500 yen, 8:30 to 16:30, open daily. In the rain they do not let you inside the Ōdō. The hondo, a separate building, is under restoration until March 2027 on the city's own forecast, and part of the admission goes to that work; the Ōdō is unaffected.

• Futago-ji, the temple that runs the mountain 1.5 h must-see

  A bekkaku honzan of the Tendai school halfway up Mount Futago, and the temple that has coordinated the whole Rokugo Manzan network since the Edo period. The first thing you see is a pair of stone Nio guardians planted either side of the approach path, the largest on the peninsula. Admission 300 yen, 8:30 to 16:30, though the kōdō and the oku-no-in close at 16:00, and sixty parking spaces; closed in snow or typhoon. About 25 minutes by car from Oita Airport. The grounds are a vast maple wood that turns entirely red in November.

• Usa Jingu, mother shrine of all Hachiman 2 h must-see

  Japan's roughly 40,000 Hachiman shrines all trace back here: Usa Jingu is their sōhongū, with a founding date of 725. The upper shrine has three halls for Hachiman, Himegami and Empress Jingu, and the honden, in hachiman-zukuri style, is a National Treasure. Worship here differs from the rest of the country: two bows, four claps, one bow, two claps more than usual. Grounds always open, the upper shrine 6:00 to 18:00, free entry, paid parking at 500 yen for a car.

• Kumano Magaibutsu, Buddhas in the cliff 1 h

  Two figures carved into the rock face, a Fudo Myoo about eight metres tall and a Nyorai about seven that is called Dainichi locally, among the largest cliff reliefs in Japan and designated both a national Important Cultural Property and a national Historic Site. You climb a staircase of loose, very uneven stones that legend says a demon raised in a single night; the ticket desk lends walking sticks and closed shoes are essential. Admission 500 yen; 8:30 to 17:00 April to October, to 16:30 November to March, no closing day. The monks' ridge-top minéiri pilgrimage starts from here.

• Makiodo and its nine wooden Buddhas 1 h

  All that survives of a vanished temple is its statue store, and inside are nine carvings designated national Important Cultural Properties in 1950: a seated Amida about 2.5 m tall from the Fujiwara period flanked by the Four Heavenly Kings, and a Fudo Myoo the city presents as the largest in Japan, with its two attendants either side. Admission 500 yen, 8:30 to 17:00, no closing day, parking for thirty cars. Five minutes by car from Fuki-ji, in the same valley.

• Shujo Onie, the rite of fire and demons 4 h only a night in January or February, date varies

  The oldest living rite on the peninsula, a national Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property: two men dressed as demons, the one who pacifies and the one who drives off misfortune, dance inside the temple hall with burning straw torches and then touch each worshipper's shoulder with them before going out to tour the village houses. Here the demon is the Buddha, not the enemy. It is held at night at Tennen-ji and, in alternate years, at Iwato-ji and Jōbutsu-ji; the date moves every year and must be checked on the city website.

Fukuoka — 19 activities

• Kanzeonji and the Kaidan-in 1.5 h

  This was the great temple of western Japan, and one of the two oldest bronze bells in the country, a national treasure cast in the 7th century, still hangs in its yard. The grounds are free; the treasure hall, with a score of large Buddhist sculptures, is charged separately (around 500 yen) and opens 9:00 to 17:00. Next door is the Kaidan-in, one of only three ordination platforms Japan ever had: every monk in the west had to come here to be ordained.

• Old Hakata light-up walk 3 h only from 31 October to 3 November

  For four nights a year, fourteen temples and shrines in the old town open from 17:30 to 21:00 with their gardens lit, among them Shofukuji, Tochoji, Myorakuji, Ryuguji and Kushida, which the rest of the year shut at dusk. The combined ticket costs 2,450 yen (1,950 if bought months ahead) and is good for one entry to each paying site; children up to junior high get in free with an adult. In 2026 it runs from 31 October to 3 November.

• Shikanoshima by bicycle 5 h booking

  The island belongs to the city of Fukuoka and is reached by ferry in half an hour or by road across the tombolo. You ride round it past the park where a farmer unearthed the gold seal of the King of Na in 1784, Shikaumi shrine and the Shiomi viewpoint.

• Shofukuji, the first zen temple in Japan 0.75 h

  Founded in 1195 by Eisai on his return from China, it is officially the first zen temple in the country. The buildings cannot be visited inside, but the garden grounds are free and quiet.

• Sou Fujimoto's temporary shrine at Dazaifu 0.5 h

  Dazaifu Tenmangu's main hall has been boarded up since May 2023 for its first major restoration in 124 years, so you cannot see it. Prayers are offered instead at a temporary hall by Sou Fujimoto with a forest planted on its roof, built to last only these years of works. The main hall is due to reopen in 2027, on the 1,125th anniversary of Michizane's death: anyone coming for the usual building will be disappointed, and anyone coming for the temporary one will see something that will never exist again.

• Temple route of old Hakata 2.5 h

  A walking itinerary through Gokusho-machi linking Shofukuji, Jotenji, Tochoji, Kushida and Sumiyoshi: the greatest concentration of founding temples in mainland Japan. The city publishes maps and there are free volunteer guides.

Nikko — 12 activities

• Toshogu Shrine 2.5 h must-see

  The mausoleum of shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, with gilded carvings and the famous relief of the wise monkeys. 2026 prices, raised on 1 April 2025: 1,600 yen for adults and 550 yen for primary and secondary school pupils, with the museum charged separately. Warning: the combined pass covering the two shrines and one temple NO LONGER EXISTS, and you have to pay at each precinct separately. The Yomeimon has been immaculate since its 2017 restoration, but the major conservation programme is still running and there is almost always some secondary building under scaffolding.

• Takinoo Shrine and the torii of luck 2 h

  An eighth-century shrine hidden in the forest, thirty minutes on foot uphill behind the Toshogu, almost empty even in high season. The Undameshi no Torii has a hole in its lintel through which you must throw three stones for a wish to be granted, and the Shiraito waterfall is beside it.

• Toshogu autumn festival with yabusame 3 h only 16-17 Oct

  In October the Toshogu repeats the horseback archery and the thousand-warrior procession, with far fewer people than the May edition. Confirm dates each year with the shrine.

• Night illumination of Rinnoji's Shoyoen garden 1 h

  A Japanese strolling garden around a pond, lit for about two weeks in November to coincide with peak maple colour. Confirm dates and price with Rinnoji each year.

• Rinno-ji Temple 1.5 h

  A Buddhist temple founded in the 8th century, part of Nikko's UNESCO World Heritage complex, home to the great Sanbutsudo hall and its three gilded Buddhas. The major restoration of the Sanbutsudo finished in 2019: any mention of scaffolding is out of date. Access is restricted by ceremonies on 3 February, on 1 and 2 April and on 14 December, and the Homotsuden closes around ten times a year to change its exhibition.

• Taiyuin-byo Mausoleum 1.5 h

  Mausoleum of shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu, Ieyasu's grandson, built deliberately more restrained than the neighbouring Toshogu, set among cedars in dark lacquer and gold; for many visitors the most beautiful and least crowded corner of the complex.

Miyajima — 10 activities

• Itsukushima Shrine's Floating Torii Gate 2 h must-see

  The red torii gate that appears to float on the sea at high tide. The restoration work, the largest in seventy years, finished in December 2022 and the torii is fully visible; any warning about scaffolding is out-of-date information. Since October 2023 the island visitor tax has to be paid, one hundred yen per person, which the JR Pass does not cover.

• Kangensai festival on lantern-lit boats 5 h only day 17 of the 6th lunar month

  One of Japan's three great water festivals: boats carrying gagaku court music cross the bay by night from the shrine. It follows the lunar calendar, the 17th day of the sixth month, so the date shifts each year between July and August.

• Five-storey pagoda and Senjokaku hall 0.75 h

  The 857-tatami hall that Hideyoshi left unfinished in 1587, with sea views between its bare beams, next to the 27-metre pagoda of 1407. Admission 100 yen to the Senjokaku.

• Henjokutsu cave and the 88 temples of Shikoku 0.5 h

  A dimly lit gallery beneath Daisho-in holding sand from the 88 temples of Shikoku and hundreds of hanging lanterns; walking through it is symbolically equivalent to the whole pilgrimage.

• Momotesai, spring bugaku dances 2 h only 16-18 Apr

  From 16 to 18 April, the court dances that tradition attributes to Taira no Kiyomori are performed on the shrine's raised stage, with a different programme each day.

• Rokai-bune rowing boat to the foot of the torii 0.5 h

  A boat moved by oar alone passes under the great torii in 20 or 30 minutes, with no engine and only at high tide. Adults 1,500 yen, children 500.

What only happens on specific dates

• Okera Mairi, the year-end fire at Yasaka Kyoto 31 Dec - 1 Jan
• Hatsumode, the first shrine visit of the year Kyoto 1-3 Jan
• Toka Ebisu, the five days of the god of commerce Kyoto 8-12 Jan
• Musha Shinji, ritual archery at Kamigamo Kyoto 16 Jan
• Going into the first floor of the To-ji pagoda Kyoto openings in January-March, April-May and October-December
• The Daitoku-ji subtemples that open only a few weeks Kyoto openings in autumn and winter; they change
• Kyo no Fuyu no Tabi: the temples that open only in winter Kyoto early January to mid-March
• Ochamori, the giant tea bowls of Saidai-ji Nara mid-January, April and October
• Shujo Onie, the rite of fire and demons Kunisaki Peninsula and Usa a night in January or February, date varies
• Ennen no Mai on the night of 20 January Hiraizumi 20 Jan
• Setsubun at Yoshida Jinja Kyoto the eve, the day and the day after Setsubun
• Setsubun at Yasaka with the four hanamachi Kyoto 2-3 Feb
• The Oni Odori of Rozan-ji Kyoto Setsubun day (2 or 3 February)
• Baikasai, open-air tea among the plum trees Kyoto 25 Feb
• Mibu Kyogen, the silent theatre of Mibu-dera Kyoto 2-3 February, 29 April to 5 May and the October long weekend
• Miyajidake's path of light Fukuoka ten days in February and October
• Oto Matsuri at Kamikura Shrine (Shingu) Kumano (Tanabe) 6 Feb
• Saidaiji Eyo, the naked festival Okayama the third Saturday of February
• The bonten, 16 and 17 February Yokote 16 and 17 February, fixed dates
• Hanezu Odori at Zuishin-in Kyoto the last Sunday of March
• Special opening of Ginkaku-ji's Hondo and Togudo Kyoto spring (March-May) and autumn (October-December)
• Kiyomori Festival Miyajima one Sunday around 20 March
• Aso Hifuri Shinji, the spinning fire rite Kumamoto mid-March
• Yasurai Matsuri, the red-haired demons of Imamiya Kyoto the second Sunday of April
• The other nenbutsu kyogen: Senbon Enma-do, Shinsen-en and Saga Kyoto April-May, late October and early November
• Gyoki Daie and the giant rosary of Hyakumanben Kyoto 23-25 Apr
• Ruriko-in in Yase, the reflection on the table Kyoto openings in April-May, July-August and October-December
• The Omuro cherries of Ninna-ji, the last in Kyoto Kyoto late blossom, mid-April
• Special opening of Kyoto's non-public cultural properties Kyoto late April to mid-May and late October to early November
• Kurayami Matsuri in Fuchu Tokyo 30 Apr - 6 May

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