Country guide
Japan sacred sites
One of the clearest countries in the atlas for combining pilgrimage routes, local temple networks, and major heritage destinations. Move between route logic and place logic.
Pilgrimage routes
6 circuits on Pilgrim Map. Each one threads many sites into one journey.
Kantō
Bandō Sanjūsankasho Pilgrimage
Thirty-three temples to Kannon across the eastern plain, a circuit of compassion shaped by twelfth-century warriors and walked still.
33 of 33 stations published
Shikoku
Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage
Eighty-eight temples around an island, a circuit walked beside Kūkai across thirteen centuries.
88 of 88 stations published
Kansai
Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage
The oldest Kannon circuit in Japan — thirty-three temples across western Honshu, walked since the eighth century.
36 of 33 stations published
Kansai
New Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage
A modern Kansai Kannon circuit organized in 1932 to make the old route walkable for working pilgrims.
38 of 33 stations published
Kantō
Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage
Thirty-four temples in a single Saitama valley — the third leg that makes the Hyakkasho complete.
34 of 34 stations published
Chūgoku
Chūgoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage
A modern Kannon circuit across western Honshu, established in 1981 to honor temples that lay outside the great medieval routes.
29 of 33 stations published
Representative sites
A short selection of Japanese sacred places from the atlas.
Akechi-ji (明智寺)
Yokoze, Japan
Akechi-ji (明智寺) in Yokoze, , Japan.
Akyū Ruins
Hara, Nagano Prefecture, Japan
Six thousand years ago, the Jomon people gathered here to tend sacred fires beneath the gaze of Mount Tateshina. At the heart of their ceremonial ground stood a single stone, deliberately aligned toward the mountain they venerated. Today the ruins lie buried beneath a highway, preserved for eternity—but above them, a quiet forest holds the memory of what once made this ridge a place where worlds could meet.
Amanoiwato Shrine
Takachiho, Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan
In a forested gorge in Kyushu's Takachiho region, pilgrims have gathered for centuries at the cave where Amaterasu, the sun goddess and ancestress of Japan's Imperial line, hid from the world. The darkness that fell when she withdrew—and the wild dance that drew her back—gave birth to kagura, the sacred performance tradition still enacted here through winter nights. Priests guide visitors to view the cave, while nearby, stone cairns rise by the thousands where eight million kami once gathered.
An'yō-in (安養院)
Kamakura, Japan
An'yō-in (安養院) in Kamakura, , Japan.
Anao-ji (穴太寺)
Kameoka, Kameoka, Kyoto, Japan
Anao-ji (穴太寺) in Kameoka, Kameoka, Kyoto, Japan.
Anko-ji
Japan
Anko-ji in , , Japan.
Anraku-ji (安楽寺)
Kamiita, Kamiita, Tokushima, Japan
Anraku-ji (安楽寺) in Kamiita, Kamiita, Tokushima, Japan.
Anraku-ji (安楽寺)
Yoshimi, Japan
Anraku-ji (安楽寺) in Yoshimi, , Japan.
Asuka-dera
Asuka, Nara Prefecture, Japan
In a quiet valley surrounded by rice fields, Japan's oldest surviving Buddha statue has watched from the same location for over 1,400 years. Asuka-dera marks where Buddhism transformed from a foreign import to an established Japanese institution. When the Soga clan built this temple in 588 CE using Korean craftsmen, they created Japan's first full-scale Buddhist complex. The Great Buddha's face bears the scars of fire and time—half original bronze, half later repair—yet continues to receive devotees at the birthplace of institutional Buddhism in Japan.