Temples in Japan

This compact temple is filled with garlands of colorful balls that represent restrained monkeys.

In a shopping arcade, a modernized temple deeply tied to feudal Japan’s prominent warlords.

In the former treasury of a popular temple, a rare sculptural depiction of Kannon’s diverse avatars.

This surreal thumbs-up monument commemorates a shiatsu legend.

A single block in this stone staircase to the temple is mysteriously always wet.

Here lies Hattori Hanzō, a samurai who is remembered as a legendary ninja in today’s popular culture.

Feast your eyes on the centuries-old statues of the judges of hell.

A rare public effigy of “the Embracing Kangiten,” the erotic Japanese equivalent of Hindu god Ganesha.

The alleged site of the months-long imprisonment of a Japanese prince.

All that remains of Okinawa's royal temple are a restored gateway and a tall banyan tree.

Associated with one of Japan's most famous fairy tales, this temple is home to a statue purportedly brought from the undersea palace of the Dragon God.

An eclectic temple with Chinese architecture, Korean lion-dogs, an Indian god and a legendary 700-year-old tree.

The only natural gorge in metropolitan Tokyo, with lots of greenery and ancient burial chambers.

A relatively young Buddhist temple on hilltop, dedicated to a statue relocated from Mount Atago.

A mountaintop shrine-temple guarded by a horde of half-demon priests.

Home to 800-year-old zen basin, a 400-year-old pilgrim’s path, and a century-old industrial grotto.