# Travel Destinations | Japan Voyage Travel - [Enjo-ji](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/enjo-ji): Nara, Temple. A temple in Ninnikusen, in the hills east of Nara city on the old Yagyu road, with a late Heian pond garden and a seated Dainichi Nyorai that Unkei signed in 1176, probably in his twenties. It is his earliest known signed work and a National Treasure. Getting there means a Nara Kotsu bus that runs only about seven times a day. - [Jison-in](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/jison-in): Wakayama, Temple. A small Shingon temple by the Kinokawa river where, by tradition, Kukai's mother lived out her life because women were barred from Koyasan. Women still leave breast-shaped ema here. The 180th stone of the Koyasan Choishi-michi stands on the steps up to Niu Kanshofu Shrine just above it, and the temple is one of the component parts of the Kii Mountain Range World Heritage property. Free; 20 minutes on foot from Kudoyama Station. - [Yoshiminedera Temple](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/yoshiminedera-temple): Kyoto, Temple. Yoshiminedera spreads across Kyoto’s western hills, with terraced temple paths, wide city views and the remarkable spreading Yuryu pine. Seasonal flowers reward the climb, but reaching this mountain temple now requires more planning than older bus guides suggest. - [Hozan-ji](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/hozan-ji): Nara, Temple. A working temple of prayer halfway up Mount Ikoma, where people come to ask Kangiten, known locally as Shoten-san, for luck in business. Its halls sit right under the Hannya-kutsu, a sheer rock face where En no Gyoja is said to have trained. Ride the Ikoma Cable Car, opened in 1918, to Hozanji Station, then walk about 10 minutes up the stepped approach. Entry is free. - [Jiko-in](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/jiko-in): Nara, Temple. A small Zen temple in Yamato-Koriyama built in 1663 by the tea master and local lord Katagiri Sekishu, laid out as one long tea gathering from the gate to the tea rooms. The 1,000 yen entry includes a bowl of matcha in the thatched shoin, looking over a clipped garden toward the Yamato basin. The view now takes in a fair amount of suburb, and it is cash only. - [Yata-dera](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/yata-dera): Nara, Temple. Properly Kongosen-ji, a temple halfway up Yatasan in the Yata hills west of Yamato-Koriyama, known locally as Yata no Jizo-san. In June it is the hydrangea temple: about 10,000 plants of some 60 kinds flower on the slope and a 700 yen fee applies. The rest of the year it is free and quiet, but direct buses run only four or five times a day. - [Asuka-dera](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/asuka-dera): Nara, Temple. A small hall in the fields of Asuka on the site of the temple Soga no Umako began in 588. Inside sits the bronze Asuka Daibutsu, about 2.75 m tall, which the temple dates to 609 and calls Japan's oldest Buddha statue. It was badly damaged in a fire in 1196 and is patched, but you can stand a few metres away and photograph it, which almost no other old temple allows. Entry is 500 yen. - [Kawasaki Daishi](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/kawasaki-daishi): Kanagawa, Temple. Heiken-ji, founded in 1128 and known as Kawasaki Daishi, is a head temple of Chisan Shingon Buddhism where people come to ward off bad luck. Entry to the grounds is free, and it is an 8-minute walk from Kawasaki-Daishi Station on the Keikyu Daishi Line. - [Rakan-ji Gohyaku Rakan](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/rakan-ji-gohyaku-rakan): Shimane, Temple. Two caves cut into a rock face across the stream from Rakan-ji in Omori, each holding 250 small seated stone arhats, with a stone Buddha trinity in a third cave between them. They were finished in 1766 to console the spirits of people who died working the silver mine, and are one of the 14 component parts of the Iwami Ginzan World Heritage Site. A short stop of 20 to 30 minutes, right by the Omori bus stop, 500 yen, and no photos inside. - [Ushiku Daibutsu](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/ushiku-daibutsu): Ibaraki, Temple. A monumental bronze Amida Buddha with interior worship spaces and observation windows, set in grounds outside Ushiku. - [Matsuo-dera](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/matsuo-dera): Nara, Temple. A Shingon temple on Mount Matsuo at the south end of the Yata hills, which by its own account was founded in 718 and is Japan's oldest temple for warding off bad luck. Okadera in Asuka makes a similar claim to be the first. The 1337 main hall is an Important Cultural Property, the grounds are free, and in May the flower field becomes a free rose garden. The catch is the 2.4 km uphill walk from the bus stop. - [Soji-ji](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/soji-ji): Kanagawa, Temple. One of the two head temples of Soto Zen, founded in 1321 on the Noto Peninsula and moved to Tsurumi in Yokohama in 1911. The grounds are free, and a monthly English zazen session costs 500 yen with no booking needed. - [Kairyuo-ji](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/kairyuo-ji): Nara, Temple. A small temple in the north-east corner of what was Empress Komyo's palace, a couple of minutes from Hokke-ji. Its West Golden Hall holds a five-storey pagoda 4.01 metres tall, listed as a National Treasure building and, the temple says, the smallest such pagoda in Japan. The Kamakura-period Eleven-faced Kannon in the main hall is normally behind a curtain and opened in spring and autumn. - [Chugu-ji](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/chugu-ji): Nara, Temple. A small nunnery right next to the Yumedono in Horyu-ji's east precinct. It is kept for its main image, a seventh-century camphor-wood bodhisattva sitting with one leg crossed over the other and a fingertip at its cheek. Entry is 600 yen and half an hour is plenty, but do not rush the statue. - [Kiyoshikojin Seicho-ji Temple](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations/kiyoshikojin-seicho-ji-temple): Hyogo, Temple. A climbing shopping street leads to Kiyoshikojin, where Buddhist worship meets devotion to the guardian of fire and the household hearth. The approach and wooded temple grounds make a rewarding walk from the Hankyu Takarazuka line. Page 8 of 9. Previous page: https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations.md?destination_type=temple&page=7 Next page: https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations.md?destination_type=temple&page=9 --- Source: [Travel Destinations | Japan Voyage Travel](https://travel.japanvoyage.jp/travel_destinations?destination_type=temple&page=8) Last updated: 2026-10-20