Best Temples Spot List

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

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.

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 branch temple of the Naritasan Shinshoji Temple on the land of Kawagoe and is famous for its goma-kito (a ritual of consecrated fire) and the flea market on the 28th of every month.

Hozomon Gate houses Nio statues on each side (one called Agyo and the other called Ungyo). The 4.5-meter long giant waraji sandals ward off evil

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

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

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.

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

It is the Buddhist temple which is said to be the origin of maneki-neko or a luck-inviting cat figurine, beckoning with its right front paw. In its temple grounds, a number of historical assets still remain.

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.

See “Thunder of the Dragon” during special viewings

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.”

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

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

Famous for its national treasure, a statue of Miroku Bosatsu

The orderly lineup of 1001 thousand-armed Kannon is superb

Nara’s Great Buddha is seated here

With ancient living and meditation quarters

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.