# Travel Destinations | Japan Voyage Travel

- [Shitennoji](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/shitennoji): Osaka, Temple. Japan's oldest officially administered Buddhist temple, founded in 593 AD by Prince Shotoku, featuring a classic garan layout with a five-story pagoda.
- [Koyasan Okunoin](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/koyasan-okunoin): Wakayama, Temple. The most sacred site on Mount Koya, featuring Japan's largest cemetery along a mystical forest path to Kobo Daishi's mausoleum.
- [Gangoji](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/gangoji): Nara, Temple. A World Heritage temple and one of Japan's oldest, where remarkably some original roof tiles from its Asuka-period founding over 1,400 years ago remain in use today.
- [Ginkaku-ji](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/ginkaku-ji): Kyoto, Temple. A Zen temple famed for its elegant Silver Pavilion and meticulously raked sand garden reflecting moonlight.
- [Ryoan-ji](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/ryoan-ji): Kyoto, Temple. UNESCO World Heritage Zen temple with the famous rock garden of 15 stones on white gravel. From any angle, one stone is always hidden. Philosophers have argued about it for centuries.
- [Kofuku-ji](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/kofuku-ji): Nara, Temple. World Heritage temple with Japan's second-tallest wooden pagoda (50m). The National Treasure Hall has the Ashura statue from the 8th century, with three faces and six arms. Pagoda under restoration until 2030s.
- [Osorezan (Mount Osore)](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/osorezan-mount-osore): Aomori, Temple. Osorezan (Mount Osore) in Mutsu, Aomori is one of Japan's three most sacred places alongside Mount Koya and Mount Hiei. The barren volcanic landscape of sulfurous vents, a crater lake, and colorful mineral deposits creates an otherworldly atmosphere. Bodaiji Temple on site hosts the famous Itako mediums festival in July. Open May to October only.
- [Echizen Daibutsu](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/echizen-daibutsu): Fukui, Temple. Japan's tallest seated Buddha statue (17m) inside a massive five-story pagoda temple complex, rivaling Nara's Daibutsu in scale.
- [Sanjusangendo](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/sanjusangendo): Kyoto, Temple. 120-meter-long hall with 1,001 life-size gilded Kannon statues standing in rows. Hard to process that many Buddhas at once.
- [Horyu-ji](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/horyu-ji): Nara, Temple. A UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most important temples in Japan, Horyu-ji contains the oldest surviving wooden structures in the world, dating from the 7th century. Founded by Prince Shotoku in 607 AD, the temple complex houses an extraordinary collection of Buddhist art and architecture spanning over 1,400 years.
- [To-ji](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/to-ji): Kyoto, Temple. A World Heritage Site founded in 796, home to Japan's tallest wooden pagoda at 55 meters and a beloved monthly flea market on the 21st.
- [Toshodai-ji](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/toshodai-ji): Nara, Temple. A World Heritage temple founded in 759 by the Chinese monk Ganjin, whose Golden Hall is widely regarded as the finest surviving example of Nara-period architecture.
- [Senso-ji](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/senso-ji): Tokyo, Temple. Tokyo's oldest and most visited temple, where a 700-kilogram red lantern marks the entrance to centuries of Buddhist tradition in the heart of Asakusa.
- [Daitoku-ji](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/daitoku-ji): Kyoto, Temple. A vast Rinzai Zen temple complex in northern Kyoto with over 20 sub-temples, many featuring exceptional dry landscape rock gardens and historic tea rooms.
- [Hiraizumi](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/hiraizumi): Iwate, Temple. In the 12th century Hiraizumi was the political and cultural centre of northern Japan, and two of its temples, Chuson-ji and Motsu-ji, are part of the UNESCO World Heritage listing. Chuson-ji's Konjikido (Golden Hall), covered entirely in gold leaf, is a masterpiece of Pure Land Buddhist art. Motsu-ji's Pure Land garden represents the idealised Buddhist paradise on earth.

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Source: [Travel Destinations | Japan Voyage Travel](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations?destination_type=temple)
Last updated: 2026-11-07