Temples in Japan

The peace and seclusion of Kyoto’s “Moss Temple” is no accident.

According to local legend, anyone who falls on these temple steps will turn into a cat.

The infamous 'Incident at Honnō-ji' brought an end to Oda Nobunaga’s attempt to unify a warring Japan.

This Buddhist temple may have the best example of a Pure Land garden in Japan.

A mountaintop Buddhist temple with panoramic views of Hiroshima.

These 33 Zen Buddhist temples were built to protect the nearby castle.

A grand Buddhist temple with Indian influences.

Though not uncommon in western Japan, this Buddha cut out of an ancient sarcophagus is the only example in central Tokyo.

This temple is home to a group of Buddha statues made from thousands of bones and ashes of the deceased.

Electricians pray for luck at this place where, according to legend, the god of thunder was once trapped.

Take a lick of the legendary homemade miso paste that protected this Buddhist temple’s scrolls from a fire centuries ago.

Considered the oldest intact wooden structure in Tokyo Prefecture, this impressive temple was built in 1407.

A quartet of temple guardian statues that allegedly cry at night for being forbidden from wrestling.

The eerie, tragic setting of one of Japan’s most popular ghost stories.

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.