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.
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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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 337-384 of 545 sites in this country guide
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...

Obara Jinja Shrine
Fukuchiyama, Kyoto, Japan
Obara Jinja in rural Fukuchiyama receives families praying for childbirth. Across the river stands an ubuya, a small thatched structure once used in local birth customs....

Obitoke-dera Temple
Nara, Japan
Obitoke-dera in Nara is known for prayers for conception and safe childbirth. Its belly-band devotion and imperial associations are described by the city’s tourism service....

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....

Okazaki Shrine, Kyoto
Kyoto, Japan
Okazaki Shrine in Kyoto is known for prayers for conception and childbirth. Rabbit figures give the precinct a distinctive visual identity, connected locally with divine...
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...

Ōkubo-ji
Sanuki, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan
Ōkubo-ji is the eighty-eighth and final temple of the Shikoku circuit, set in a deep valley at 450 metres between Mt. Yahazu and Mt. Nyotai near the Tokushima border....

Ōkunitama Shrine
Fuchu, Tokyo, Japan
Ōkunitama Shrine (大國魂神社) is an active Shinto sacred place in Tokyo. The record is grounded in an exact Google Place ID, nearby coordinates, institutional or reference...

Okunoin
Koya, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan
Okunoin, stands in Koya. At Okunoin, Kōyasan Shingon Buddhism guides custody. Prayer at Okunoin addresses Kōbō Daishi Kūkai in eternal meditation....
Ōmi-dō
Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan
Ōmi-dō is the 25th Bandō station and the sole institutional Buddhist successor of Tsukuba Daigongen — the syncretic Shinto-Buddhist complex that fused Kannon devotion with...

Omiya Hachiman-gu
Suginami City, Tokyo, Japan
Omiya Hachiman-gu (大宮八幡宮) is an active Shinto sacred place in Tokyo. The record is grounded in an exact Google Place ID, nearby coordinates, institutional or reference...

Ōmori Katsuyama Stone Circle
Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, Japan
Three thousand years ago, the Jomon people positioned this stone circle with extraordinary precision: on the shortest day of the year, the setting sun descends directly...
Ongaku-ji
Chichibu, Saitama Prefecture, Japan
Ongaku-ji is the twenty-third station of the Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage — a Rinzai Zen temple of the Nanzen-ji branch whose name means 'music.' Founded by tradition...

Ono Shrine
Ichinomiya, Tokyo, Japan
Ono Shrine (武蔵國一之宮小野神社) is an active Shinto sacred place in Tokyo. The record is grounded in an exact Google Place ID, nearby coordinates, institutional or reference...
Ono-Terusaki Shrine
Taito City, Tokyo, Japan
Ono-Terusaki Shrine (小野照崎神社) is an active Shinto sacred place in Tokyo. The record is grounded in an exact Google Place ID, nearby coordinates, institutional or reference...

Onzan-ji
Komatsushima, Tokushima Prefecture, Japan
Onzan-ji, Temple 18 of the Shikoku 88, is the 'Temple of Gratitude.' It stands at the place where Kūkai's mother, Tamayori Gozen, became one of the first women admitted to...
Oshoro stone circle, Otaru, Hokkaido
Otaru, Hokkaido, Japan
On Hokkaido's coast near Otaru, the Oshoro Stone Circle stands as testimony to the spiritual lives of the Jomon people 3,500 years ago....

Osore-zan Boto-ji
Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture, Japan
Osorezan, the mountain of fear, rises as one of Japan's three most sacred mountains....
Oura Cathedral
Nagasaki, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan
Oura Cathedral, stands in Nagasaki. At Oura Cathedral, Roman Catholicism guides custody....
Ōya-ji
Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan
Ōya-ji, station 19 of the Bandō Sanjūsankasho, sits inside a natural rock-shelter overhang of Ōya tuff in Utsunomiya....
Ōyu Stone Circles
Kazuno, Akita Prefecture, Japan
On a plateau above the Oyu River in northern Japan, two stone circles have watched the summer solstice sun set along the same axis for 4,000 years....

Rakuhō-ji
Sakuragawa, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan
Rakuhō-ji is the 24th Bandō station, popularly known as Amabiki Kannon — the Rain-Drawing Kannon....

Reiyukai Shakaden Temple
Minato City, Tokyo, Japan
Reiyukai Shakaden Temple (霊友会釈迦殿) is an active Reiyukai sacred place in Tokyo. The record is grounded in an exact Google Place ID, nearby coordinates, institutional or...
Rendai-ji
Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, Japan
Rendai-ji crowns Mt. Yuga (270 m) above Kurashiki and serves as Chūgoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage station #6....

Rengeō-in (Sanjūsangen-dō)
Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan
Compassion multiplied along a hall of one thousand Kannon forms. Rengeō-in (Sanjūsangen-dō) remains an active Tendai Buddhism temple....

Rinnō-ji
Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan
Rinnoji Temple stands as the Buddhist heart of Nikko's sacred landscape, founded in 766 CE by Shodo Shonin....
Rokuharamitsu-ji
Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan
Rokuharamitsu-ji is station 17 on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, a Shingon Buddhism, Kūya nembutsu temple in Kyoto dedicated to Jūichimen Kannon....

Rokuon-ji (Kinkaku-ji)
Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan
A Buddhist reliquary of gold, reflection, rebuilding, and Zen custodianship. Rokuon-ji (Kinkaku-ji) remains an active Rinzai Zen Buddhism temple....
Ruri-ji
Hyogo Prefecture, Japan
Funakoshi-san Nankōbō Ruri-ji is the FINAL station of the New Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage....
Ryoan-ji
Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan
Ryoan-ji in Kyoto holds the world's most celebrated Zen rock garden. Fifteen stones rest on raked white gravel, arranged so that from any viewing point, one remains hidden....
Ryōzen-ji
Naruto, Tokushima Prefecture, Japan
Ryōzen-ji is Temple 1 of the Shikoku 88-temple pilgrimage in Naruto, Tokushima. Pilgrims begin their 1,200-kilometer circuit here, buying white robes, conical hats, and...

Ryūseki-ji
Chichibu, Saitama Prefecture, Japan
Ryūseki-ji is the nineteenth station of the Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage, a Sōtō Zen temple whose hall sits not on a foundation but on a single mass of conglomerate...

Ryusen-ji Temple (Meguro Fudoson)
Meguro City, Tokyo, Japan
Ryusen-ji Temple (Meguro Fudoson) (目黒不動尊 瀧泉寺) is an active Japanese Buddhism sacred place in Tokyo....
Ryūshō-in
Narita, Chiba Prefecture, Japan
Ryūshō-in — known locally as Namegawa Kannon — is the 28th station of the Bandō Sanjūsankasho pilgrimage, a Tendai temple set among rice fields outside Narita....

Ryuukou-ji
Uwajima, Ehime Prefecture, Japan
Ryūkō-ji is the forty-first temple of the Shikoku pilgrimage and one of its most visible cases of shinbutsu-shūgō, the older Japanese practice of holding kami and Buddha...

Ryūzō-ji
Yamaguchi, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan
Ryūzō-ji — Takitōzan Ryūzō-ji — is regarded as the oldest temple in Yamaguchi City, traditionally founded in 698 by En no Gyōja and 741 by Gyōki....
Showing 337-384 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.