Shrines & Temples1,460 entries

13,910 entries. Some places appear in more than one collection. Confirm visits with each facility.

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FIRST VISIT GUIDE

Learn how shrines and temples differ, then look at the photos

Start with the two explanations. Below them are photos and entries for shrines and temples across Japan.

1,460 entries / page 44 of 61

OkayamaShrines & Temples

Tsuyama

Nakayama Jinja

A tale of subduing a monkey deity survives in the Konjaku Monogatari. It is also a guardian of cattle and horses.

OkayamaShrines & Temples

Takahashi

Raikyuji

Its dry landscape garden by Kobori Enshu is a Place of Scenic Beauty. Great clipped masses of satsuki azalea stand for waves.

OkayamaShrines & Temples

Bizen

Hattoji

It once held eighty lodgings. Today a village of thatched houses remains.

OkayamaShrines & Temples

Nishiawakura

Wakasugi

A natural beech forest inside Hyono-sen Ushiroyama Nagisan Quasi-National Park. The faith in the headwaters survives here.

OkayamaShrines & Temples

Kurashiki

Yuga Jinja

It claims to be one of the three great gongen of Japan. A great torii of Bizen ware stands here.

OkayamaShrines & Temples

Soja

Bitchu Sojagu

It enshrines the 324 shrines of Bitchu Province together. The origin of the place name Soja.

OkayamaShrines & Temples

Kurashiki

Goryu Sonryuin

One of the head temples of shugendo. A three-storey pagoda stands here.

OkayamaShrines & Temples

Kasaoka

Konoshima

A miniature pilgrimage circuit that goes round the island.

HiroshimaShrines & Temples

Hatsukaichi

This shrine stands out over the sea because the island itself is the deity. No earthworks may be cut into a god's island, so they built on the water. A restriction of belief became, exactly as it is, a World Heritage view. Taira no Kiyomori is said to have given it its present form.

HiroshimaShrines & Temples

Hatsukaichi

Senjokaku

A hall Hideyoshi ordered built, left unfinished for over four hundred years. It has neither ceiling nor walls.

HiroshimaShrines & Temples

Fukuyama

Myooin

Both the main hall and the five-storey pagoda are National Treasures. The pagoda is held to be the fifth oldest in Japan.

HiroshimaShrines & Temples

Mihara

Buttsuji

The head temple of the Buttsuji branch of Rinzai Zen. Also known for its autumn colour.

HiroshimaShrines & Temples

Hiroshima

Mitakidera

A mountain temple with three waterfalls. Its tahoto pagoda was moved here from Wakayama to console the victims of the atomic bomb.

HiroshimaShrines & Temples

Fukuyama

Kibitsu Jinja (Bingo)

First shrine of Bingo Province. It enshrines the same Kibitsuhiko as the Kibitsu Jinja in Okayama, evidence of the old land of Kibi having been split into three.

HiroshimaShrines & Temples

Hatsukaichi

Otorii

It is not sunk into the seabed: it stands by its own weight alone. The upper shimaki and kasagi are box-like and packed with about seven tons of stones to make it heavy.

HiroshimaShrines & Temples

Hatsukaichi

Nobutai

The only Noh stage still standing over water. Its floor is built to resonate.

HiroshimaShrines & Temples

Hatsukaichi

Misen

Here stands the Kiezu-no-Reikado, where the fire Kukai lit has burned without going out for 1,200 years.

HiroshimaShrines & Temples

Hatsukaichi

Daishoin

The oldest temple on Miyajima. Five hundred rakan and turning prayer wheels line the approach.

HiroshimaShrines & Temples

Hiroshima

Hiroshima Gokoku Jinja

It stands on the site of Hiroshima Castle, known for the Carp praying for victory.

HiroshimaShrines & Temples

Onomichi

Senkoji

It looks down on the Onomichi channel. The Path of Literature runs down the hill.

HiroshimaShrines & Temples

Onomichi

Jodoji

Its main hall and tahoto pagoda are National Treasures. Ashikaga Takauji prayed here for victory.

HiroshimaShrines & Temples

Onomichi

Saikokuji

A giant straw sandal hangs at the gate. People pray here for strong legs.

HiroshimaShrines & Temples

Onomichi

Tenneiji

It was originally a five-storey pagoda; the top two storeys were removed to make it three.

HiroshimaShrines & Temples

Onomichi

Kosanji

Built in gratitude to a mother. Copies of the Yomeimon at Nikko and other buildings stand here, and it is called the Nikko of the west.