Best Temples and Shrines in Japan

Kyoto was the imperial capital for more than a thousand years and still has around 1,600 temples and 400 shrines, 17 of them on the World Heritage list. Five do most of the work for first-time visitors. Fushimi Inari-taisha, the head shrine of the rice and business god Inari, is free and open 24 hours; its paths climb through some 10,000 vermilion torii donated by companies, and the full loop to the 233 m summit takes two to three hours. Go before 8am or after dark, because by mid-morning the first few hundred metres are a queue. Kiyomizu-dera (500 yen) has a wooden stage built out over a wooded ravine on 139 pillars, at its best at the 6am opening or during the spring and autumn night illuminations.

Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavilion, is a gold-leafed hall reflected in a pond: 500 yen, 9am to 5pm, and a fixed one-way path, so allow 40 minutes. Ginkaku-ji, its unsilvered counterpart, sits at the north end of the Philosopher’s Path, a 2 km canal walk that ends near Nanzen-ji and its brick aqueduct. For Zen gardens, Ryoan-ji’s 15 rocks in raked gravel are best on a weekday morning, and Tenryu-ji in Arashiyama backs onto the bamboo grove.

Two less obvious picks: Sanjusangen-do, a 120 m hall holding 1,001 gilded statues of the goddess Kannon, and Tofuku-ji, whose wooden bridge over a maple valley is Kyoto’s most crowded spot in mid-November. The moss garden at Saiho-ji can only be seen by advance reservation. South of the city, Uji has the Phoenix Hall of Byodo-in, the building on the 10-yen coin. North, Enryaku-ji spreads across the forested top of Mount Hiei, and the mountain temple of Kurama is linked to the hot-spring village of Kibune by a one-hour forest trail.

Nara, 45 minutes from Kyoto or Osaka by Kintetsu or JR, was the capital before Kyoto, and its temples are older and bigger. Everything central sits inside Nara Park, among roughly 1,300 free-roaming deer that bow for crackers (200 yen) and nip at paper maps.

Todai-ji’s Daibutsuden is one of the largest wooden buildings in the world, and it was rebuilt at two-thirds of its original size. Inside sits a 15 m bronze Buddha cast in the 8th century; behind it, a pillar has a hole the size of the Buddha’s nostril, and children who squeeze through are said to be guaranteed enlightenment. The hall costs 800 yen (cash), or 1,200 yen with the museum, and is busiest from 10am to 3pm. A ten-minute walk east, Kasuga Taisha is approached along paths lined with about 2,000 stone lanterns; its 3,000 bronze and stone lanterns are all lit only twice a year, in early February and mid-August. Kofuku-ji has a five-storey pagoda near the station.

The essential trip out of town is Horyu-ji, about 12 km southwest by JR or bus, whose pagoda and Golden Hall date to around 700 and are the oldest surviving wooden buildings in the world. It is quiet even in peak season. On the way back, Yakushi-ji and Toshodai-ji sit five minutes apart in the Nishinokyo area and fill an afternoon.

Tokyo’s oldest temple, Senso-ji in Asakusa, is free and open from dawn, with the halls closing around 5pm and the grounds lit until late. Walk in through the Kaminarimon gate and its giant red lantern, then along Nakamise-dori, a 250 m street of snack and souvenir stalls; at 7am the street is shut and the temple is almost empty. Meiji Shrine, beside Harajuku station, stands in a 70-hectare planted forest and is free from sunrise to sunset; arrive early and you may see a Shinto wedding procession cross the courtyard. Quieter Tokyo shrines include Nezu Shrine, with its own small tunnel of torii and an azalea festival in April, and Hie Shrine near the government district. Zojo-ji, below Tokyo Tower, is the Tokugawa family temple.

Kamakura, an hour south on the JR Yokosuka line, was the shogun’s capital in the 13th century and is the best temple day trip from Tokyo. The 11 m bronze Great Buddha of Kotoku-in has sat in the open air since a tsunami washed away its hall in 1498; entry is 300 yen, and for a little more you can step inside the statue. Walk or take the Enoden line between it and Hase-dera, which has a sea view and a hillside of hydrangeas in June. The town’s main shrine, Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, is free, and the Zen temples Kencho-ji and Engaku-ji in Kita-Kamakura hold zazen sessions that visitors can join.

Nikko is the opposite of Zen restraint. Nikko Tosho-gu, the mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu, was rebuilt in the 1630s with thousands of carvings, gold leaf and lacquer; the Yomeimon gate alone has more than 500 carved figures, and the shrine is home to the original “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” monkeys and the Sleeping Cat over the passage to Ieyasu’s tomb, 200 stone steps up through the cedars. The shrine ticket costs 1,600 yen, with hours of about 9am to 5pm (to 4pm in winter).

Tosho-gu shares a hillside with the Buddhist Rinno-ji and the Shinto Futarasan Shrine, listed together as the Shrines and Temples of Nikko. From Asakusa the Tobu limited express takes about two hours; JR Pass holders go via Utsunomiya. A day is enough for the shrines, but stay a night and you can add Lake Chuzenji and Kegon Falls, 40 minutes uphill by bus, best in mid to late October.

Ise Jingu in Ise is the holiest site in Shinto, dedicated to the sun goddess Amaterasu. It has two main shrines, the Outer Shrine (Geku) near Iseshi station and the Inner Shrine (Naiku) 6 km away, and both are rebuilt from fresh cypress every 20 years on an adjacent plot; the next rebuilding is due in 2033. Entry is free, but you see only the thatched roofs over a fence, and the point is the walk: across the Uji Bridge, past the riverside purification spot and through ancient forest. Visit the Outer Shrine first, then the Inner, and eat in the Oharai-machi lanes. Kintetsu runs direct from Osaka and Nagoya in about two hours and 80 minutes respectively.

Izumo Taisha, in Izumo on the Sea of Japan coast, is the shrine of matchmaking. Its Kaguraden hall carries a twisted rice-straw rope about 13 m long, and the ritual here is two bows, four claps and one bow. In the tenth lunar month (around November) the gods of all Japan are said to gather here. It is free and pairs with a night in Matsue.

Itsukushima Shrine on Miyajima is built on piers over a tidal bay, with its great torii standing in the water at high tide; at low tide you can walk out to it. The JR and Matsudai ferries from Miyajimaguchi take 10 minutes, and a 100-yen visitor tax is added to the fare. The shrine costs 300 yen. Check the tide table before you go, stay for the evening when day-trippers leave, and ride the ropeway up Mount Misen for views over the Inland Sea.

Some of Japan’s most memorable religious sites take effort to reach. Mount Koya (Koyasan) is a plateau town of about 117 temples founded by the monk Kukai in 816, around two hours from Osaka’s Namba station by Nankai train and cable car. Roughly 50 temples run shukubo lodgings: a tatami room, vegetarian shojin ryori dinner and breakfast, and the option to join the 6am morning service. Expect around 12,000 to 25,000 yen per person with meals. After dark, walk the 2 km path through Okunoin, Japan’s largest cemetery, to Kukai’s mausoleum, past some 200,000 moss-covered graves under giant cedars. Kongobu-ji, the head temple, has the country’s largest rock garden.

The Kumano Kodo pilgrimage trails on the Kii Peninsula link three grand shrines, Hongu Taisha, Hayatama Taisha and Nachi Taisha. Beside Nachi, the vermilion pagoda of Seiganto-ji stands in front of Nachi Falls, at 133 m the tallest single-drop waterfall in Japan. All of it is part of the Kii Mountain Range World Heritage site.

In Yamagata, Dewa Sanzan is three mountains sacred to the yamabushi mountain ascetics. On Mount Haguro a stone stairway of 2,446 steps climbs through cedar forest past a five-storey pagoda, and the shrine-run lodgings at the foot serve mountain-vegetable dinners. Yamadera (Risshaku-ji), near Yamagata city, is a cliffside temple reached by about 1,000 steps. Further north, Chuson-ji in Hiraizumi has the Konjikido, a small hall covered entirely in gold leaf in 1124. The longest of all is the Shikoku 88-temple pilgrimage, about 1,200 km on foot, which takes most walkers 40 to 60 days; many visitors do a few temples by car or bus instead.

• Zenko-ji, Nagano: a 7th-century temple open to all sects. Pay to walk through a pitch-black tunnel under the main hall and feel for the “key to paradise” on the wall.
• Kotohira-gu, Kagawa: the shrine of sailors, 785 stone steps up Mount Zozu, or 1,368 to the inner shrine. An easy day from Takamatsu.
• Dazaifu Tenmangu, near Fukuoka: the shrine of scholarship, where students leave prayers before exams. About 6,000 plum trees bloom in February, and Nishitetsu trains from Tenjin take around 30 to 40 minutes.
• Atsuta Shrine, Nagoya: home of the sacred sword, one of the three imperial regalia, in a wooded park ten minutes from central Nagoya.
• Eihei-ji, Fukui: the head temple of Soto Zen, a working monastery of about 200 monks in the mountains, which takes overnight guests for a taste of the daily routine.
• Mount Osore, Aomori: a volcanic caldera of sulphur vents, pinwheels and offerings to the dead, believed to be a gateway to the afterlife. Open roughly May to October.
• Shitenno-ji and Sumiyoshi Taisha, Osaka: the oldest state-founded temple in Japan and one of the oldest shrines, with an arched red bridge.

Shrine grounds are almost always free; temples charge for gardens and main halls. Fees below are as of 2026 and several have risen since 2024, so check the official sites before you go.

At a shrine, bow once at the torii and walk to the side of the path, since the centre belongs to the god. At the water basin (temizuya), rinse your left hand, then your right, pour a little water into your cupped left hand to rinse your mouth, and spit it beside the basin, never back in. At the hall, drop a coin in the box (5 yen is lucky), ring the bell, then bow twice, clap twice, pray and bow once more. At a temple, skip the clapping: put your hands together, bow, and waft incense smoke over yourself if there is a burner. Our Japanese culture guide covers the wider rules.

Shoes come off wherever there is a raised wooden floor or tatami, and you walk in socks, so wear a pair without holes. Dress codes are relaxed compared with Southeast Asia, but very short shorts and beachwear look out of place, and shoulders should be covered if you plan a temple stay or zazen. Photography is fine in grounds and banned inside most main halls and treasure rooms; signs say so. Do not photograph worshippers praying up close, and never step over or sit on offerings, stone lanterns or graves.

Most temples and shrines sell a goshuin, a calligraphed seal written in front of you in a folding stamp book (goshuincho). The books cost 1,500 to 3,000 yen and each stamp 300 to 500 yen, and collecting them gives a trip a thread to follow. Hand over the book open at a fresh page; some popular sites now sell pre-written paper slips at busy times. Omamori charms (500 to 1,000 yen) cover everything from traffic safety to exams, and omikuji fortunes cost 100 to 300 yen; if you draw bad luck, tie it to the rack provided and leave it behind. Ema, small wooden plaques, are for writing a wish and hanging at the shrine.

A temple stay is the most memorable way into Buddhist Japan. Koyasan is the easiest, with dozens of shukubo that take online bookings and have English-speaking staff; Eihei-ji, the shrine lodgings at Mount Haguro and smaller temples in Kyoto also take guests. Book a month or more ahead for spring and autumn, and expect a 9pm or 10pm curfew and a dawn service. Zazen sessions open to beginners run at Engaku-ji and Kencho-ji in Kamakura and at many Kyoto Zen temples, usually for 1,000 to 3,000 yen including a short talk.

Timing your visit for a festival changes the experience. Hatsumode, the New Year shrine visit from 31 December to 3 January, packs Meiji Shrine with about three million people. Setsubun on 3 February brings bean-throwing ceremonies, and spring and autumn are when temples open hidden halls and light their gardens at night. Kyoto’s Gion Matsuri all through July belongs to Yasaka Shrine, and Obon in mid-August fills temples with lanterns. Our best time to visit Japan page lists festival dates, and the cherry blossom guide covers the temples that are best in spring.

Christianity has a small but visible history, centred on Nagasaki. Oura Church, built in 1864, is the oldest standing church in Japan, and Urakami Cathedral was rebuilt after the 1945 atomic bomb destroyed it; both are part of the Hidden Christian Sites World Heritage listing, which includes remote island churches in the Goto Islands. In Tokyo, the green-domed Holy Resurrection Cathedral (Nikolai-do) is Orthodox, and Tokyo Camii in Yoyogi-Uehara is an Ottoman-style mosque that welcomes visitors outside prayer times. Kobe Mosque, from 1935, is the oldest in Japan.