Country guide
Japan
Japan's sacred geography layers Shinto shrine landscapes, Buddhist temple networks, mountain ascetic practice, island pilgrimage, and urban devotional sites.
508 sacred sites across 43 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.
Buddhism · Shikoku
Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage
四国八十八ヶ所霊場
Eighty-eight temples around an island, a circuit walked beside Kūkai across thirteen centuries.
88 mapped places in Japan · 88-station pilgrimage
Buddhism · Kansai
New Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage
新西国三十三所
A modern Kansai Kannon circuit organized in 1932 to make the old route walkable for working pilgrims.
38 mapped places in Japan · 33 numbered stations + auxiliary places
Buddhism · Kansai
Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage
西国三十三所
The oldest Kannon circuit in Japan — thirty-three temples across western Honshu, walked since the eighth century.
36 mapped places in Japan · 33 numbered stations + auxiliary places
Buddhism · Kantō
Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage
秩父三十四観音霊場
Thirty-four temples in a single Saitama valley — the third leg that makes the Hyakkasho complete.
34 mapped places in Japan · 34-station pilgrimage
Buddhism · Kantō
Bandō Sanjūsankasho Pilgrimage
坂東三十三観音霊場
Thirty-three temples to Kannon across the eastern plain, a circuit of compassion shaped by twelfth-century warriors and walked still.
33 mapped places in Japan · 33-station pilgrimage
Buddhism · Chūgoku
Chūgoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage
中国三十三観音霊場
A modern Kannon circuit across western Honshu, established in 1981 to honor temples that lay outside the great medieval routes.
29 mapped places in Japan · 33-station pilgrimage
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Explore Japan region by region
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Traditions
Physical forms
Dates connected to Japan
Upcoming festivals, feast days, and pilgrimages tied to Japan. Add any to your calendar, or see the full observance calendar.
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Kamiari-sai (Festival of the Gods)
Nov 29 – Sun, Dec 6, 2026Festival
Izumo Taisha (Izumo Grand Shrine)
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Related Japan guides
Showing 481-508 of 508 sites in this country guide
Ushijima Shrine
Sumida City, Tokyo, Japan
Ushijima Shrine (牛嶋神社) is an active Shinto sacred place in Tokyo. The record is grounded in an exact Google Place ID, nearby coordinates, institutional or reference...
Washinoki Stone Circle
Mori, Hokkaido, Japan
Beneath a highway tunnel in southwestern Hokkaido lies Japan's largest stone circle, a 4,000-year-old Jomon burial site that was nearly destroyed by modern construction....
Yabo Tenmangu Shrine
Kunitachi, Tokyo, Japan
Yabo Tenmangu Shrine (谷保天満宮) is an active Shinto sacred place in Tokyo. The record is grounded in an exact Google Place ID, nearby coordinates, institutional or reference...
Yakuō-ji
Minami, Tokushima Prefecture, Japan
Yakuō-ji, Temple 23 of the Shikoku 88, is the canonical yakuyoke-no-tera — the misfortune-warding temple — of the pilgrimage....
Yakuri-ji
Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan
Yakuri-ji clings to the western slope of Mt. Goken at 375 metres, the eighty-fifth temple of the Shikoku circuit....
Yakuriji Temple, Yakuri
Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan
Temple 85 on the Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage, Yakuriji sits high on Mount Goken, the Mountain of Five Swords, whose dramatic peaks thrust skyward like divine blades....
Yakushi-ji
Nara, Nara Prefecture, Japan
Yakushi-ji, stands in Nara. At Yakushi-ji, Hossō Buddhism guides custody. Prayer at Yakushi-ji addresses Yakushi Nyorai with Nikkō and Gakkō Bosatsu....
Yakushima Island
Yakushima, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan
Yakushima rises from the sea like a world apart. This small island off the southern tip of Kyushu receives so much rain that locals say it rains 35 days a month, and from...
Yasaka-ji
Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, Japan
Yasaka-ji is the forty-seventh temple of the Shikoku pilgrimage and one of its most layered....
Yasaka-jinja Shrine
Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan
Protection from disruptive forces at the sacred threshold of Gion. Yasaka-jinja Shrine remains an active Shinto shrine....
Yashima-ji
Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan
Yashima-ji crowns the mesa of Yashima, 293 metres above the Seto Inland Sea, and is the eighty-fourth temple of the Shikoku circuit....
Yasukuni Shrine
Chiyoda City, Tokyo, Japan
Yasukuni Shrine (靖國神社) is an active Shinto sacred place in Tokyo. The record is grounded in an exact Google Place ID, nearby coordinates, institutional or reference...
Yokei-ji
Setouchi, Okayama Prefecture, Japan
Yokei-ji crowns Ueterasan, a low hill above the rice plains of Setouchi City. Founded in the eighth century and long affiliated with the Tendai school, the temple holds...
Yōkoku-ji
Kyoto Prefecture, Japan
Yōkoku-ji — known to most Kyotoites as Yanagidani Kannon — joins three rare devotional layers in one Nishiyama mountainside: a hibutsu Eleven-faced Thousand-armed Kannon...
Yokomine-ji
Saijō, Ehime Prefecture, Japan
Yokomine-ji clings to the northern slope of Mt. Ishizuchi, the highest peak in western Japan, at roughly 750 m elevation....
Yoshimine-dera
Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan
Yoshimine-dera is station 20 on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, a Tendai Buddhism temple in Kyoto dedicated to Senju Kannon....
Yoyogi Hachiman-gu Shrine
Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
Yoyogi Hachiman-gu Shrine (代々木八幡宮) is an active Shinto sacred place in Tokyo. The record is grounded in an exact Google Place ID, nearby coordinates, institutional or...
Yubunezawa Stone Circle
Takizawa, Iwate Prefecture, Japan
Four thousand years ago, Jomon peoples of northern Japan established this ground exclusively for the dead and for ceremony....
Yuga Shinto Shrine, Kurashiki
Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, Japan
Yuga Shrine rises on Mount Yuga in Okayama, where massive sacred rocks have been venerated for over 2,000 years....
Yushima Seido
Bunkyo City, Tokyo, Japan
Yushima Seido (湯島聖堂) is an active Confucian tradition sacred place in Tokyo. The record is grounded in an exact Google Place ID, nearby coordinates, institutional or...
Yushima Tenjin Shrine
Bunkyo City, Tokyo, Japan
Yushima Tenjin Shrine (湯島天満宮) is an active Shinto sacred place in Tokyo. The record is grounded in an exact Google Place ID, nearby coordinates, institutional or reference...
Yūten-ji
Meguro City, Tokyo, Japan
Yūten-ji (祐天寺) is an active Jōdo-shū Buddhism sacred place in Tokyo. The record is grounded in an exact Google Place ID, nearby coordinates, institutional or reference...
Zenjibu-ji
Nankoku, Kochi Prefecture, Japan
Zenjibu-ji rests on the cliff-edge of Hachiyō-san — Eight-Petalled Lotus Mountain — above Urado Bay....
Zenko-ji
Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan
Zenko-ji, stands in Nagano. At Zenko-ji, Nonsectarian Buddhism under Tendai and Jōdo custodianship guides custody....
Zenrakuji
Kōchi, Kochi Prefecture, Japan
Zenrakuji stands beside Tosa Shrine, the province's first-ranked Shintō shrine, on ground that originally hosted a syncretic kami-Buddha precinct founded by Kūkai....
Zentsū-ji
Zentsūji, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan
Temple 75 Zentsū-ji stands on the ground where Kūkai was born in 774. Founded by him in 807 on his return from Tang China, it is the head temple of the Zentsuji-ha school...
Zōjō-ji
Minato City, Tokyo, Japan
Zōjō-ji (増上寺) is an active Jōdo-shū Buddhism sacred place in Tokyo. The record is grounded in an exact Google Place ID, nearby coordinates, institutional or reference...
Zōshigaya Kishimojin-dō
Toshima City, Tokyo, Japan
Zōshigaya Kishimojin-dō (雑司ヶ谷鬼子母神堂) is an active Nichiren Buddhism sacred place in Tokyo....
Showing 481-508 of 508 sites
Previous pageKey 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 508 sites organized by region and tradition.
Which traditions are represented in Japan?
The most represented traditions include Buddhism, Shinto, Shingon Buddhism, Christianity, Tendai Buddhism, Kumano Shinto, Buddhism, and Shugendō.
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.