Japan

Mt. Asama

Komoro, Nagano Prefecture, Japan

Mount Asama rises at the border of Nagano and Gunma Prefectures, Japan's most active volcano on Honshu....

Mt. Aso

Minamiaso, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan

Mount Aso rises at the heart of Kyushu, its vast caldera containing farms, towns, and one of Japan's oldest shrines—all within the rim of a volcano that last erupted in...

Mt. Atago

Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan

Rising 924 meters above Kyoto, Mount Atago has guarded the ancient capital from fire for over 1,300 years....

Mt. Bandai

Inawashiro, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan

Mount Bandai rises in Fukushima as a transformed sacred peak. Called 'rock ladder to the sky' in ancient times, the mountain was reshaped by an 1888 eruption that created...

Mt. Chokai

Yuza, Yamagata Prefecture, Japan

Rising 2,236 meters at the border of Yamagata and Akita Prefectures, Mount Chokai has drawn mountain worshippers since ancient times....

Mt. Fuji

Fujinomiya, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan

Mount Fuji rises 3,776 meters in nearly perfect symmetry—a form so iconic it has come to represent Japan itself....

Mt. Haku

Hakusan, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan

Blanketed in snow for much of the year, Mount Haku—the White Mountain—has drawn pilgrims for over thirteen centuries....

Mt. Ishizuchi

Saijo, Ehime Prefecture, Japan

Mount Ishizuchi stands as the highest peak in western Japan and one of the Seven Sacred Mountains....

Mt. Iwaki

Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, Japan

Rising 1,625 meters above Aomori Prefecture, Mount Iwaki dominates the Tsugaru region as its highest peak and spiritual guardian....

Mt. Kaimon

Ibusuki, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan

At the southern tip of Kyushu, Mount Kaimon rises in such perfect conical form that locals call it 'Satsuma Fuji.' This 924-meter peak has drawn worshippers since ancient...

Mt. Katsuragi

Gose, Nara Prefecture, Japan

The Katsuragi Mountains are where Japanese mountain mysticism was born. In 634 CE, En no Gyoja—the legendary founder of Shugendo—entered the world at the foot of these...

Mt. Nantai

Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan

Mount Nantai rises 2,486 meters above the sacred landscape of Nikko, its near-perfect volcanic cone worshipped as the physical body of a kami since before recorded history....

Mt. Omine (Mount Sanjō)

Tenkawa, Nara Prefecture, Japan

Mount Omine is the headquarters of Shugendo—Japan's tradition of mountain asceticism—and perhaps its most intensely sacred site....

Mt. Ontake

Otaki, Nagano Prefecture, Japan

Japan's second highest volcano has drawn pilgrims for over a thousand years. White-robed devotees still purify under waterfalls before ascending Mount Ontake, following...

Mt. Yoshino

Yoshino, Nara Prefecture, Japan

Mount Yoshino is where Japanese mountain mysticism was born. In the 7th century, the ascetic En no Gyoja achieved spiritual awakening here and founded Shugendo—the path of...

Munakata Taisha

Munakata, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan

Munakata Taisha, stands in Munakata. At Munakata Taisha, Shinto guides custody. Prayer at Munakata Taisha addresses Tagorihime, Tagitsuhime, and Ichikishimahime....

Musashi Kokubunji

Kokubunji, Tokyo, Japan

Musashi Kokubunji (武蔵国分寺) is an active Shingon Buddhism sacred place in Tokyo. The record is grounded in an exact Google Place ID, nearby coordinates, institutional or...

Musashi Mitake Shrine

Ome, Tokyo, Japan

Musashi Mitake Shrine (武蔵御嶽神社) is an active Shinto sacred place in Tokyo. The record is grounded in an exact Google Place ID, nearby coordinates, institutional or...

Myoho-ji

Suginami City, Tokyo, Japan

Myoho-ji (妙法寺) is an active Nichiren Buddhism sacred place in Tokyo. The record is grounded in an exact Google Place ID, nearby coordinates, institutional or reference...

Myōshin-ji

Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan

A vast Rinzai head temple ordered around training and lineage. Myōshin-ji remains an active Rinzai Zen Buddhism, Myōshin-ji school temple....

Nachi Falls

Nachikatsuura, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan

Nachi Falls, stands in Nachikatsuura. At Nachi Falls, Kumano Shinto and Shugendō guides custody....

Nagao-ji

Sanuki, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan

Nagao-ji is the eighty-seventh of the eighty-eight Shikoku temples — the second-to-last, set in the open Nagao district of Sanuki under an enormous camphor canopy....

Nago-ji

Tateyama, Chiba Prefecture, Japan

Nago-ji — Fudaraku-san Nago-ji — is the 33rd and final station of the Bandō Sanjūsankasho, set on a forested mid-slope of Mt. Nago in Tateyama, Chiba....

Nakaenoshima

Hirado, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan

Nakaenoshima, stands in Hirado. At Nakaenoshima, Hidden Christian tradition guides custody. Prayer at Nakaenoshima addresses Christian martyrs and the sacred water used by....

Nakayama-dera

Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan

Nakayama-dera is station 24 on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, a Shingon Buddhism — Nakayama branch temple in Hyogo dedicated to Jūichimen Kannon....

Namiyoke Shrine

Chuo City, Tokyo, Japan

Namiyoke Shrine (波除神社) is an active Shinto sacred place in Tokyo. The record is grounded in an exact Google Place ID, nearby coordinates, institutional or reference...

Nan'endō (Kofuku-ji)

Part of Kofuku-ji

Nara, Nara Prefecture, Japan

Nan'endō (Kōfuku-ji) is station 9 on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, a Hossō school temple in Nara dedicated to Fukūkenjaku Kannon....

Nankōbō

Imabari, Ehime Prefecture, Japan

Temple 55 of the Shikoku henro is the only one of the 88 whose name ends in 'bō' — priest's lodging — a vestige of its origin as a sub-temple of the great Bekku Ōyamazumi...

Nanzen-ji

Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan

Imperial retreat transformed into a head temple of Rinzai Zen. Nanzen-ji remains an active Rinzai Zen Buddhism, Nanzen-ji school temple....

Nariai-ji

Miyazu, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan

Nariai-ji is station 28 on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, a Hashidate Shingon-shū temple in Kyoto dedicated to Shō Kannon....

Naritasan Shinsho-ji

Narita, Chiba Prefecture, Japan

Naritasan Shinsho-ji, stands in Narita. At Naritasan Shinsho-ji, Shingon Buddhism, Chisan school guides custody. Prayer at Naritasan Shinsho-ji addresses Fudō Myōō....

Negoro-ji

Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan

Negoro-ji stands at 365 metres on the slopes of Mt. Aomine, deep in the cedar forest of the Goshikidai plateau....

Nezu Shrine

Bunkyo City, Tokyo, Japan

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

Nichirin-ji

Daigo, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan

Nichirin-ji sits on the eighth station of Mt. Yamizo, the highest peak in Ibaraki....

Nikkō Tōshō-gū

Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan

Nikko Toshogu is the mausoleum and shrine of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the warlord who unified Japan and founded a dynasty that ruled for 300 years of peace....

Ninna-ji

Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan

Imperial memory and Shingon practice among Omuro’s late cherries. Ninna-ji remains an active Shingon Buddhism, Omuro school temple....

Nishi Hongan-ji

Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan

A vast congregational home for hearing the Dharma of Amida. Nishi Hongan-ji remains an active Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism, Hongwanji-ha temple....

Nishiarai Daishi

Adachi City, Tokyo, Japan

Nishiarai Daishi (西新井大師 總持寺) is an active Shingon Buddhism sacred place in Tokyo....

Niukanshofu Shrine

Kudoyama, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan

Niukanshofu Shrine (丹生官省符神社) is the shrine immediately associated with Jison-in at the beginning of the Choishi-michi approach.

Niutsuhime Shrine

Katsuragi, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan

Niutsuhime Shrine (丹生都比売神社) is a major shrine of the Kii sacred landscape connected with Koyasan and reached on a documented branch or detour from Choishi-michi.

Nofuku-ji

Hyogo Prefecture, Japan

Nōfuku-ji, founded by Saichō in 805 CE on his return from Tang China, is one of the oldest Tendai temples in the Hyōgo region....

Nogi Shrine

Minato City, Tokyo, Japan

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

Nosaka-ji

Chichibu, Saitama Prefecture, Japan

Nosaka-ji, twelfth station of the Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage, is a Rinzai Zen temple of the Nanzen-ji branch formed by the 1741 merger of an older Kannon-dō with...

Ōji Inari Shrine

Kita City, Tokyo, Japan

Ōji Inari Shrine (王子稲荷神社) is an active Shinto sacred place in Tokyo. The record is grounded in an exact Google Place ID, nearby coordinates, institutional or reference...

Oji Shrine

Kita City, Tokyo, Japan

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

Oka-dera

Asuka, Nara Prefecture, Japan

Oka-dera is station 7 on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, a Shingon-shū Buzan-ha temple in Nara dedicated to Nyoirin Kannon....

Okadera Buddhist Temple, Asuka

Asuka, Nara Prefecture, Japan

In the ancient village of Asuka, Okadera Temple shelters Japan's largest clay statue—an 8th-century Nyoirin Kannon standing 4.85 meters tall....

Okinoshima Island, Japan

Munakata, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan

In the waters between Japan and Korea lies an island so sacred that women may never set foot on it, men may visit only one day per year after nude ocean purification, and...