UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Japan

Koyasan Okunoin

The most sacred site on Mount Koya, featuring Japan's largest cemetery along a mystical forest pa...

Kumano Nachi Taisha

Sacred Grand Shrine Beside Japan's Tallest Waterfall

One of the three Kumano Grand Shrines, perched on a mountainside next to Nachi Falls and Seiganto...

Kumano Kodo

Kumano Kodo Pilgrimage Trails

UNESCO-listed ancient pilgrimage trails through sacred mountains, linking grand shrines of the Ki...

Kumano Hongu Taisha

Head Shrine of 3,000 Kumano Shrines and Pilgrimage Endpoint

The head shrine of over 3,000 Kumano shrines across Japan, serving as the spiritual endpoint of t...

Mount Yoshino

Japan's most celebrated cherry blossom viewing site, with approximately 30,000 cherry trees cover...

Nachi Falls

Japan's Tallest Single-Drop Waterfall

Japan's tallest single-drop waterfall at 133 meters, a sacred site of the Kumano pilgrimage for o...

Kumano Kodo Iseji Route

Walking the ancient Iseji pilgrimage route connects you to over a thousand years of spiritual jou...

Kumano Hayatama Taisha

Vermilion Grand Shrine at the Mouth of the Kumano River

The third of the three Kumano Grand Shrines, known for its striking vermilion buildings and an 80...

Danjo Garan

Koyasan's Central Temple Complex and the Great Konpon Daito Pagoda

One of the two sacred centres of Koyasan, a sanctuary of halls and gates around the vermilion Kon...

Seiganto-ji

First Temple of the Saikoku Pilgrimage and the Pagoda Above Nachi Falls

The Tendai temple beside Kumano Nachi Taisha and the first stop of the Saikoku 33 Kannon pilgrima...

Kongobu-ji

Head Temple of Koyasan and Shingon Buddhism

The administrative head temple of the Koyasan Shingon school, known for its sweeping tiled roof, ...

Fudarakusan-ji

The Nachi Beach Temple Where Monks Set Sail, Sealed In, for Kannon's Paradise

A small Tendai temple by Nachi beach, a branch of Seiganto-ji, where monks once set out in small ...

Hana-no-Iwaya Shrine

A 45-Metre Rock by the Kumano Sea That the Shrine Calls Izanami's Grave, With No Hall in Front of It

A shrine in Kumano, Mie, with no main hall: what is worshipped is a rock face about 45 metres hig...

Jison-in

Kukai's Mother's Temple at the Foot of Koyasan, Where the Choishi-michi Begins

A small Shingon temple by the Kinokawa river where, by tradition, Kukai's mother lived out her li...

Kimpu Shrine

The Shrine at the Top of Yoshino's Okusenbon and the Tower Yoshitsune Is Said to Have Kicked His Way Out Of

A small, old shrine in the cedar woods of Okusenbon, the highest part of Mount Yoshino, to the go...

Kimpusen-ji

Yoshino's Zao-do Hall and the Blue Zao Gongen, Shown Only in Spring and Autumn

The head temple of Kimpusen Shugen Honshu, a Shugendo school, halfway up Mount Yoshino. Its main ...

Koyasan Choishi-michi

The 22 km Pilgrim Path to Koyasan, Counted Down by 180 Stone Markers

The old main pilgrim road up Koyasan, about 22 km from Jison-in in Kudoyama to the Konpon Daito, ...

Mount Sanjogatake

Sanjogatake and Ominesan-ji: the Shugendo Summit Closed to Women, Open 3 May to 23 September

The 1,719 m main peak of the northern Omine range, where Shugendo traces its beginning, with the ...

Niutsuhime Shrine

The Amano Shrine Whose Goddess, by Tradition, Gave Koyasan to Kukai

The main shrine of old Kii Province, in the quiet Amano basin below Koyasan. By the shrine's trad...

Tamaki Shrine

A Cedar-Wrapped Mountaintop Shrine at the Far End of Japan's Largest Village

A shrine just below the 1,076-meter summit of Mount Tamaki on the Omine Okugake pilgrimage route,...

Yoshimizu Shrine

The Yoshino Shoin Where Yoshitsune Hid, Go-Daigo Held Court and Hideyoshi Came for the Cherries

A small shrine on Mount Yoshino that was Yoshimizu-in, a monks' lodging of Kimpusen-ji, until the...

Yoshino Mikumari Shrine

Hideyori's 1604 Shrine to the Water God and Guardian of Children, High on Mount Yoshino

A shrine to the god who shares out the water, in the upper reaches of Mount Yoshino and part of t...