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Country guide

Japan

Japan's sacred geography layers Shinto shrine landscapes, Buddhist temple networks, mountain ascetic practice, island pilgrimage, and urban devotional sites.

545 sacred sites across 64 regions. Use the tradition links to narrow in.

Sacred journeys

Pilgrimages in Japan

Follow routes that connect sacred places across Japan. Mapped-place counts reflect the current atlas. Showing 6 of 10 mapped routes.

View all 10 in Japan

Browse by region

Explore Japan region by region

Open a regional guide to see its sacred sites, traditions, and map.

Show all 63 regions

Explore Japan by facet

Dates connected to Japan

Upcoming festivals, feast days, and pilgrimages tied to Japan. Add any to your calendar, or see the full observance calendar.

Showing 433-480 of 545 sites in this country guide

Shōfuku-ji
Buddhism

Shōfuku-ji

Kasama, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan

Sashiro-san Shōfuku-ji is the 23rd Bandō station, a temple whose continuity has survived two complete physical destructions. The founding legend tells of a hunter on Mt....

Shōfuku-ji
Buddhism

Shōfuku-ji

Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan

Shōfuku-ji — popularly known as Iizumi Kannon — is the fifth station of the Bandō Sanjūsankasho and one of the most active Shingon Kannon temples in Kanagawa....

Shōhō-ji (Iwama-dera)
Buddhism

Shōhō-ji (Iwama-dera)

Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, Japan

Shōhō-ji (Iwama-dera) is station 12 on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, a Shingon-shū Daigoji-ha temple in Shiga dedicated to Senju Kannon....

Shōin Shrine
Shinto

Shōin Shrine

Setagaya City, Tokyo, Japan

Shōin Shrine (松陰神社) is an active Shinto sacred place in Tokyo. The record is grounded in an exact Google Place ID, nearby coordinates, institutional or reference evidence,...

Shōkoku-ji
Buddhism

Shōkoku-ji

Zama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan

Shōkoku-ji at Mount Myōhō — known for over a millennium as Hoshi-no-ya Kannon, the Valley of Stars Kannon — gathers folk-mystical phenomena around a Sacred Kannon honzon....

Shōkoku-ji (Kyoto)
Rinzai Zen Buddhism, Shōkoku-ji school

Shōkoku-ji (Kyoto)

Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan

The Zen monastery behind Kyoto’s Golden and Silver Pavilions. Shōkoku-ji (Kyoto) remains an active Rinzai Zen Buddhism, Shōkoku-ji school temple....

Shōraku-ji (Senjū-in)
Buddhism

Shōraku-ji (Senjū-in)

Bizen, Okayama Prefecture, Japan

Shōraku-ji, also known as Senju-in, sits on a low hill in Bizen and serves as Temple #3 of the Chūgoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage. The honzon is a hibutsu Eleven-Faced Kannon....

Shōrin-ji
Buddhism

Shōrin-ji

Chichibu, Saitama Prefecture, Japan

Shōrin-ji, fifteenth station of the Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage, is a Rinzai Zen temple of the Kenchō-ji branch on the historic Banba-machi neighbourhood of central...

Shorinji Temple, Sakurai
Buddhism

Shorinji Temple, Sakurai

Sakurai, Nara, Japan

At Shorinji, the principal Koyasu Enmei Jizo is associated with prayers for children and safe childbirth....

Shōryū-ji
Buddhism

Shōryū-ji

Tosa, Kochi Prefecture, Japan

Shōryū-ji is the thirty-sixth stop on the Shikoku 88, set on the Yokonami Peninsula above Uranouchi Bay in Tosa City....

Shōsan-ji
Buddhism

Shōsan-ji

Kamiyama, Tokushima Prefecture, Japan

Shōsan-ji stands at 706 metres on Mt. Shōsan-ji in Kamiyama, the second-highest temple of the Shikoku 88 and the first nansho or 'difficult place' on the route....

Shusshakaji
Buddhism

Shusshakaji

Zentsūji, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan

Temple 73 Shusshakaji sits at the foot of Mt Gahaishi in Zentsūji City, Kagawa. The legend here is intimate: a seven-year-old boy named Mao — later Kūkai — leapt from a...

Sōji-ji
Buddhism

Sōji-ji

Ibaraki, Osaka Prefecture, Japan

Sōji-ji is station 22 on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, a Kōyasan Shingon-shū temple in Osaka dedicated to Senju Kannon....

Sonohyan-utaki
Shinto

Sonohyan-utaki

Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan

At the threshold of Shuri Castle, a coral limestone gate opens onto a sacred grove that cannot be entered....

Sōrin-ji
Buddhism

Sōrin-ji

Ube, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan

Sōrin-ji — Shōkō-zan Sōrin-ji — is a Tang-Chinese-founded temple (777 CE) re-established in 1670 as the bodhi-temple of the Fukuhara clan, chief retainers of the Mōri...

St. Ignatius Catholic Church
Christianity

St. Ignatius Catholic Church

Kōjimachi, Tokyo, Japan

St. Ignatius Catholic Church (カトリック麹町 聖イグナチオ教会) is an active Roman Catholic Christianity sacred place in Tokyo....

St. Mary's Cathedral, Tokyo
Christianity

St. Mary's Cathedral, Tokyo

Bunkyo City, Tokyo, Japan

St. Mary's Cathedral, Tokyo (東京カテドラル聖マリア大聖堂) is an active Roman Catholic Christianity sacred place in Tokyo....

Sugimoto-dera
Buddhism

Sugimoto-dera

Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan

Sugimoto-dera is the first station of the Bandō Sanjūsankasho — Kamakura's oldest Buddhist temple, where three Eleven-Headed Kannon statues from successive Heian centuries...

Suisen-ji
Buddhism

Suisen-ji

Minano, Saitama Prefecture, Japan

Suisen-ji — Nittaku-san Suisen-ji — is the 34th and final station of the Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage and the kechigan-jo (結願所, 'place where the vow is fulfilled') of...

Suishō-ji (Daishō-in)
Buddhism

Suishō-ji (Daishō-in)

Miyajima, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan

Daishō-in — full classical name Takizan Suiseiji Daishōin (also Suishō-ji), commonly called Miyajima Daishō-in — is the daihonzan (head temple) of the Omuro branch of...

Suitengu Shrine
Shinto

Suitengu Shrine

Chuo City, Tokyo, Japan

Suitengu Shrine (水天宮) is an active Shinto sacred place in Tokyo. The record is grounded in an exact Google Place ID, nearby coordinates, institutional or reference...

Suma-dera
Buddhism

Suma-dera

Hyogo Prefecture, Japan

Suma-dera, formally Joya-san Fukushō-ji, is the head temple (daihonzan) of its own Shingon sub-school — the Shingon-shū Sumadera-ha — and the principal site of Heike...

Sumiyoshi Jinja
Shinto

Sumiyoshi Jinja

Chuo City, Tokyo, Japan

Sumiyoshi Jinja (住吉神社(佃)) is an active Shinto sacred place in Tokyo. The record is grounded in an exact Google Place ID, nearby coordinates, institutional or reference...

Sumiyoshi-taisha
Shinto

Sumiyoshi-taisha

Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan

When Izanagi purified himself in the sea after his journey to the underworld, three deities emerged from the waters—the Sumiyoshi Sanjin, gods of the sea who have...

Susanō Shrine
Shinto

Susanō Shrine

Arakawa City, Tokyo, Japan

Susanō Shrine (素盞雄神社) is an active Shinto sacred place in Tokyo. The record is grounded in an exact Google Place ID, nearby coordinates, institutional or reference...

Suwa-taisha
Shinto

Suwa-taisha

Suwa, Nagano Prefecture, Japan

Suwa-taisha predates shrine architecture itself. Four shrines encircle Lake Suwa in Nagano Prefecture, but their sacred objects are not artifacts—they are Mount Moriya and...

Tabata Stone Circle
Shinto

Tabata Stone Circle

Machida, Tokyo, Japan

Five minutes from a Tokyo train station, a ring of stones marks where Jomon peoples gathered three thousand years ago....

Tachibana-dera
Buddhism

Tachibana-dera

Nara Prefecture, Japan

Tachibana-dera is a Tendai temple set in the Asuka rice fields of Nara Prefecture, traditionally identified as the birthplace of Prince Shōtoku....

Tachiki-Kannon An’yō-ji
Buddhism

Tachiki-Kannon An’yō-ji

Shiga Prefecture, Japan

Tachiki Kannon An'yō-ji stands above the Seta River on a cliff that pilgrims reach by climbing roughly 800 stone steps....

Taima-dera
Buddhism

Taima-dera

Nara Prefecture, Japan

Taima-dera is a major dual-administered temple at the foot of Mount Nijō — held jointly by Shingon (Buzan branch) and Jōdo-shū....

Tairyū-ji
Buddhism

Tairyū-ji

Anan, Tokushima Prefecture, Japan

Tairyū-ji, Temple 21 of the Shikoku 88, is one of the few sites Kūkai names in his own writings as the place of his decisive ascetic practice....

Taisan-ji
Buddhism

Taisan-ji

Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, Japan

Temple 52 of the Shikoku henro stands northwest of Matsuyama in cypress and bamboo forest....

Taisan-ji
Buddhism

Taisan-ji

Imabari, Ehime Prefecture, Japan

Temple 56 of the Shikoku henro is one of the few personally founded by Kūkai. In 815 he led local villagers in flood-control work along the Sosha River, performed the...

Taisan-ji
Buddhism

Taisan-ji

Hyogo Prefecture, Japan

Sanshinzan Taisan-ji in Kobe's Nishi Ward holds a 1293 wooden main hall registered as a National Treasure of Japan — one of only a few such structures in the entire Hyōgo...

Taisō-ji
Buddhism

Taisō-ji

Shinjuku City, Tokyo, Japan

Taisō-ji (霞関山 本覚院 太宗寺) is an active Japanese Buddhism sacred place in Tokyo. The record is grounded in an exact Google Place ID, nearby coordinates, institutional or...

Taiyū-ji
Buddhism

Taiyū-ji

Osaka Prefecture, Japan

Founded by Kūkai in the early 9th century at the heart of what is now Osaka's Umeda entertainment district, Taiyū-ji is a Kōyasan Shingon temple whose principal Senju...

Takachiho Gorge
Shinto

Takachiho Gorge

Takachiho, Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan

In this volcanic gorge where sheer basalt cliffs rise 80 meters above an emerald river, Japan's creation mythology takes physical form....

Takahata Fudoson
Buddhism

Takahata Fudoson

Hino, Tokyo, Japan

Takahata Fudoson (高幡山明王院金剛寺(高幡不動尊)) is an active Shingon Buddhism sacred place in Tokyo....

Takaoshihime Shrine
Shinto

Takaoshihime Shrine

Masaki, Ehime, Japan

Takaoshihime Shrine in Masaki honours a deity revered as an ancestral protector of midwives and wet nurses....

Takijiri-oji
UNESCOKumano Shinto, Buddhism, and Shugendō

Takijiri-oji

Tanabe, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan

Takijiri-oji (滝尻王子) is the traditional entrance to the Kumano mountains and one of the five major oji on the Nakahechi section of the Kumano Kodo....

Tamatsukuri Onsen
Shinto

Tamatsukuri Onsen

Matsue, Shimane, Japan

Tamatsukuri Onsen follows the Tamayu River in Matsue.

Tanema-ji
Buddhism

Tanema-ji

Haruno, Kochi Prefecture, Japan

The thirty-fourth temple of the Shikoku 88 sits among rice paddies in Haruno, Kōchi....

Tanjō-ji (Okayama)
Buddhism

Tanjō-ji (Okayama)

Kumenan, Okayama Prefecture, Japan

Tanjō-ji marks the literal birthplace of Hōnen Shōnin (1133–1212), founder of Jōdo-shū Pure Land Buddhism....

Tateyama
Buddhist mountain worship

Tateyama

Toyama, Japan

Tateyama is a mountain group in Japan’s Northern Alps and a historic centre of mountain worship....

Tatsue-ji
Buddhism

Tatsue-ji

Komatsushima, Tokushima Prefecture, Japan

Tatsue-ji is the Sōsekisho, the chief barrier temple of the Shikoku 88. Folk belief holds that pilgrims of unresolved sin or insincere intent cannot pass beyond this gate....

Tenjōji
Buddhism

Tenjōji

Hyogo Prefecture, Japan

Mayasan Tenjō-ji sits near the summit of Mt. Maya, the Kobe-area mountain named for Mayadevi (Lady Maya, mother of the Buddha) — the temple's distinctive secondary focus...

Tennō-ji
Buddhism

Tennō-ji

Sakaide, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan

Temple 79 Tennō-ji in Sakaide is named for the body of an emperor — Sutoku, exiled after the Hōgen Disturbance of 1156 and dead in Sanuki in 1164....

Tennōji Temple
Buddhism

Tennōji Temple

Taito City, Tokyo, Japan

Tennōji Temple (天王寺) is an active Nichiren Buddhism sacred place in Tokyo. The record is grounded in an exact Google Place ID, nearby coordinates, institutional or...

Showing 433-480 of 545 sites

Key questions

Japan sacred-site questions

What sacred sites can I explore in Japan?

Pilgrim Map lists sacred places in Japan across living worship sites, heritage landmarks, pilgrimage destinations, and culturally significant landscapes. The current guide lists 545 sites organized by region and tradition.

Which traditions are represented in Japan?

The most represented traditions include Buddhism, Shinto, Shingon Buddhism, Christianity, Shinto / Buddhism, Tendai Buddhism.

How should I plan a sacred-site visit in Japan?

Start with regional clusters, compare nearby places on the map, then open individual site pages for coordinates, etiquette, and sacred context where available.

Can I view Japan sacred sites on a map?

Yes. Switch to map view to compare geographic clusters, then open individual site pages for coordinates, visiting context, and related places.