Best Temples Spot List

A soaring five-story pagoda at Senso-ji Temple in Asakusa with magnificent nighttime illumination.

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.

A temple of flowers, with a circuit-style garden

Famous for the Great Buddha of Kamakura which weighs 121 tonnes, Kotoku-in is a Buddhist temple of the Jodo-shu sect.

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.

This is a historically valuable temple that has National Treasures within its magnificent scenery that makes good use of nature. Zazen seated meditation meetings are held on weekends.

The fierce-eyed Fudo Myo-o (Acala) statue, this Buddhist temple's main object of worship, is really astounding. The backdrop of beautiful red maple leaves is also impressive.

It is a Buddhist temple in Tsukiji. The exterior of the main worship hall is a stone construction in the ancient Indian style, and the interior of the hall is arranged in the traditional Shinshu-sect temple design and layout.

The temple hall is classified as an Important Cultural Property, modeled after Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto Higashiyama. The gorgeous vermillion facade fascinates visitors.

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.

The principal object of worship at Ennoji Temple is Enma Daio. It also enshrines the Ten Judges of Hell. You can experience an ancient view of the afterlife here.

Sanehira Jiro Doi is famous for protecting Yoritomo Minamoto from Kagechika Oba’s army after he had lost the Battle of Ishibashiyama. Joganji Temple is the family temple of the Doi clan. The temple grounds contain many sights of historic interest, including Shichikido, a hall which keeps the seven wooden statues depicting Yoritomo and each of his samurai warriors who played an active part in the revival of the Minamoto family, as well as the Doi family’s burial ground (designated as a Kanagawa cultural property). A Chinese juniper tree planted by Sanehira himself (estimated to be 800 years old and designated as a national natural monument) is the largest and oldest in Kanagawa Prefecture, and its straight, vertical trunk is an impressive sight thought to be extremely rare in Japan.

Famous for its national treasure, a statue of Miroku Bosatsu

Be healed by the wabi-sabi of this Muromachi-period elegant garden that transcends space and time

See the brave figures of twelve protective deities

The Western Paradise of the Buddha Amida’s dazzling dream, a gold space that reflects upon a pond

The head temple of the Shinshu Otani sect of Buddhism is located within walking distance from Kyoto Station. The local residents refer to it affectionately as ”Ohigashi-san.”

See “Thunder of the Dragon” during special viewings

A temple with a living, breathing aesthetic sense of the tea ceremony

Japan's oldest convent was a gift from Prince Shotoku to his mother