Best Temples Spot List

A school that embodies the dreams of Buddhist teacher Kobo Daishi

A grand temple complex established on Mount Koya some 900 years ago

Famous for its majestic, moss-covered garden

Tadao Ando designed this temple's main hall

The Osawa-no-ike Pond is famous for its cherry blossoms and moon-viewing pavilion

Check out the ”Sento Kuyo” ceremony on summer nights

A majestic temple and garden with beautiful Arashiyama in the background

The first of 33 temples on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, Seiganto-ji is an ever-popular destination for worshipers

A Zen temple associated with warlord Date Masamune. Visit the main hall, which is a designated national treasure, and the architectural masterpiece that is the Kuri (kitchen building).

Established by Emperor Shirakawa during the Heian Period, the temple's name derives from the ingo (posthumous Buddhist name) of Yoshiakira Ashikaga, the second shogun of the Muromachi bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun). While exploring the precinct, you'll find the graves of Yoshiakira and Masatsura Kusunoki, the busho (military commander) of Nancho (Southern Court) located next to each other. Masatsura was much respected by Yoshiakira even though he was an enemy general. During autumn, the maple leaves turn a striking red (visitors are not allowed to bring in a tripod stand or a unipod).

One of two Daihonzan (head temples) of the Soto school of Zen Buddhism, with modern buildings in the spacious temple grounds. You can practice Zen meditation here.

Legend has it that the temple buildings were built by Emperor Shomu. In addition to the exquisite Kamakura-Period-style Romon Gate (National Treasure) facing the old road, there is a Kamakura-Period-style thirteen-story pagoda (Important Cultural Property) towering at the center of the temple grounds. The temple is also famous for its cosmos flowers.

Surrounded by nature and visited by many people, Bentendo Temple rises from the center of Shinobazu Pond in Ueno Park.

A spacious Buddhist temple with buildings of historical and cultural value. Kan'ei-ji is easily accessible to the general public and heartily welcomes visitors.

A temple of flowers, with a circuit-style garden

A vault of many national cultural artifacts from the Nara period

This is a historic temple established in 830 and also known as Kawagoe Daishi. The temple is famous for the 538 statues of rakan (disciples of Buddha) with various facial expressions.

Main priests' residence of Senso-ji complex where the Three Buddha Statues of Amitabha are enshrined. The temple also houses ancestral tablets of Tokugawa Shoguns.

A five-story traditional Japanese building, towering in the lush woods, you are sure to find while walking in Ueno Park. It is a National Important Cultural Property.

This is an old temple that is said to have been built in the Kamakura period (1192 to 1333). During the Edo period (1603 to 1868), it became known for the tomi-kuji lottery and was called Edo-santomi (three shrines selling lotteries).