Japan has roughly 80,000 Buddhist temples and 80,000 Shinto shrines, and most travellers leave unsure which is which. Quick rule: torii gate (vermilion or wooden) means Shinto shrine; sanmon two-story gate means Buddhist temple. Shrines have rope-and-paper shimenawa, fox/dog statues, and wooden ema prayer plaques. Temples have incense burners, tatami main halls, and pagodas. Both welcome visitors; both have small rituals worth knowing.
Visiting etiquette in 30 seconds
Shinto shrine: bow once at the torii on entering. At the chozuya purification trough: rinse left hand, then right, sip water from the left, rinse the ladle. At the offering box: drop a ¥5 coin (lucky), bow twice, clap twice, bow once more. Don't walk down the centre of the path — that's the gods' lane.
Buddhist temple: bow at the gate. Rinse hands at the chozuya. At the main hall: light incense if available, drop a coin, bow once (no clapping at temples). Take shoes off if entering a tatami room.
The unmissable ten
- Senso-ji (Tokyo) — the city's oldest temple, 06:00 dawn light is magical.
- Meiji Jingu (Tokyo) — forest shrine in the centre of the city.
- Fushimi Inari (Kyoto) — 10,000 vermilion torii gates winding up the mountain.
- Kinkaku-ji (Kyoto) — the Golden Pavilion reflected in its pond.
- Kiyomizu-dera (Kyoto) — wooden stage suspended over the hillside.
- Todai-ji (Nara) — world's largest wooden building, 15-metre Great Buddha inside.
- Itsukushima (Miyajima) — the floating torii at high tide.
- Tosho-gu (Nikko) — over-the-top lacquered shrine, the “see no evil” carving.
- Koyasan (Wakayama) — sacred Buddhist mountain, temple lodging available.
- Izumo Taisha (Shimane) — Japan's oldest Shinto shrine, the matchmaker.
Quieter alternatives
- Skip Kinkaku-ji, visit Ginkaku-ji — the “Silver Pavilion” (never silvered) is a quieter walk through a moss garden.
- Skip Kiyomizu-dera at noon, go at 06:30 — opens before the day-trippers.
- Yanaka temples (Tokyo) — 70+ small temples in Tokyo's old shitamachi quarter, no tour groups.
- Sanjusangen-do (Kyoto) — 1,001 wooden statues in a hall the length of a football pitch. Open at 08:00; quiet for the first hour.
- Adashino Nenbutsu-ji (Arashiyama) — 8,000 stone Buddhas tucked into a quiet corner of Kyoto's bamboo district.
Temple lodging (shukubo)
About 50 temples in Japan accept overnight guests, typically including vegetarian shojin-ryori dinner and 06:00 monk-led morning service. Best concentration: Koyasan (Wakayama), with 50+ shukubo and the centerpiece Okunoin cemetery walk at night. ¥10,000–18,000/night including meals.
