UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Japan
Japan has 27 UNESCO World Heritage sites. Most are not one place but several: Ancient Kyoto alone is 17 temples, shrines and a castle across three cities. Here every place we cover is listed under the inscription it belongs to.
Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara
Cultural site, inscribed 1998 · 8 places · UNESCO listing
Photo: Saigen Jiro / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
Gangoji
Japan's Oldest Temple with 1,400-Year-Old Roof Tiles
A World Heritage temple and one of Japan's oldest, where remarkably some original roof tiles from...
© 663highland / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Kofuku-ji
Nara's Five-Story Pagoda and National Treasure Hall
World Heritage temple with Japan's second-tallest wooden pagoda (50m). The National Treasure Hall...
Photo: Mont Blank rich / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
Todai-ji
Todai-ji Temple
A UNESCO World Heritage temple housing the world's largest bronze Buddha statue inside the larges...
Photo: Saigen Jiro / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
Kasuga Taisha
Kasuga Grand Shrine
Ancient Shinto shrine set in a primeval forest, famous for thousands of stone and bronze lanterns.
Toshodai-ji
Ganjin's Legacy and the Finest Nara-Period Architecture
A World Heritage temple founded in 759 by the Chinese monk Ganjin, whose Golden Hall is widely re...
Yakushi-ji
Ancient Temple of Healing with the Frozen Music Pagoda
A World Heritage temple and one of the Seven Great Temples of Nara, celebrated for its elegant Ea...
Heijo Palace Site
UNESCO Imperial Palace Ruins with Reconstructed Gate and Hall
The ruins of the imperial palace of the Nara-period capital, a UNESCO World Heritage Site with a ...
Kasugayama Primeval Forest
The Old Shrine Forest Behind Kasuga Taisha, and a Stone Road to the 12th-Century Cave Buddhas
The forest on Mount Kasuga behind Kasuga Taisha, kept as the shrine's sacred ground since hunting...