Best Shrines Spot List

Enshrines Japan's top Shinto deity

The source of worship to Nachi Falls

The mystical, large torii (gateway) that appears as if it’s floating on the lake’s surface is a must-see

Pray for good health and matchmaking at this shrine built for subduing an epidemic

A shrine affiliated with boars and protection for the lower body

The head shrine of all the Inari-jinja shrines across Japan. Its approximately 1,000 photogenic torii gates (an archway to a Shinto shrine) attract many visitors.

Yushima-tenjin enshrines Amenotajikarao-no-mikoto, the god of better fortune and sports, and Michizane Sugawara, the god of learning and study. A number of famed scholars and writers visit this shrine.

The most sacred of the three Dewa Sanzan

The shrine to the north of the main hall of Kiyomizu-dera Temple, whose spirit is worshipped as a deity of marriage. A pair of guardian stones in the grounds known as ”Koi uranai-no-Ishi” dates back to the Jomon period.

Having many children themselves, rabbits symbolize safe child-rearing here

A shrine for a popular matchmaking deity and associated with the puppet play “Sonezaki Shinju”

The head shrine of all the Kasuga-jinja shrines all over Japan, it is located on Mt. Mikasa, which has been treated as a sacred area since ancient times. In 2018, the shrine commemorated its 1,250th anniversary.

The traditional god of learning

The Hakone Shrine with its vermillion-lacquered torii (Shinto shrine archway) and its Japanese cedars is a shrine with a holy presence that tells you about history

Hanazono-jinja Shrine in Shinjuku, loved by many as an urban oasis.

The oldest shrine in Kyoto

The head shrine of Oshu, boasting 1,200 years of history

This is a shrine founded on the vast premises surrounded by the mountains of Nikko. It is familiar to people as the god of luck and marital matchmaking.

Founded in 1895 for the 1,100th anniversary of the relocation of the capital city to the Heian-kyo, the shrine reproduces the Imperial Palace of the Heian-kyo. It enshrines Emperor Kanmu and Emperor Komei.

The inner sanctuary is the oldest example of Shinto architecture in Japan