This temple was built by Oda Nobuhide (father of Oda Nobunaga) as a family temple for the Oda Clan. This is the temple where Oda Nobunaga famously showed up at his father’s funeral wearing an improper costume and threw incense powder at his father’s spiritual tablet.

It is said that Toku...

The Taiseiji Temple was founded in the year 750, and enshrines Fudo-myo (Acala), who was decided on by the monk who founded Todaiji Temple. At that time, the temple was called the Fudoin Temple and was supported by the host of Iwaki Castle, and therefore, the temple was extremely prosperous.

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The Sengakuji Temple, which sits in the center of Tokyo surrounded by skyscrapers, belongs to the Soto Zen Buddhism sect and is one of the major temples of Soto Zen Buddhism in Tokyo. The temple is also a famous location of the Akou Incident. In the U.S., the group of samurai is better known as T...

Located right by Tokyo Tower, which is a famous symbol of Japan, is the Zojoji Temple. This temple is one of the only temples that has a grand enough presence to hold their own next to the iconic tower. The temple was founded by a man named Yuyoshoso and acts as the center of the Jodo School of B...

The Yakuoji Temple was founded between 1261-1262. The sacred object of the temple (called “goshintai” in Japanese) is of Yakushi Nyorai (Bhaisajyaguru; the Buddha of healing and medicine), which was made by a monk named Saicho. Since its creation, the temple has survived a long history of over 75...

The Okuninotama Jinja Shrine, located in its current location of Huchushi, Tokyo, was founded during the period of the 12th emperor Suiko and enshrines the deity called Okuninota no okami. It is said that the deity revitalized the area of Musashinokuni (former name of the current west side of Tok...

The Suga Shrine, located in Oyama Town in the Tochigi prefecture, has a long history of 1,070 years. Fujiwara no Hidesato, who was a samurai of the shrine, prayed every day to the shrine’s deity, Susanonomikoto, asking for victory in his attempt to suppress a revolt caused by Taira no Masakado. A...

The Atago Shrine was built under orders of Tokugawa Ieyasu to enshrine a deity of fire protection. Ieyasu made the order at the same time he created the Tokugawa government over Edo (former name of Tokyo). The fire kami (deity), named Kagutsuchi, comes from Japanese mythology. The shrine is locat...

The name, “Shizuoka Sengen Jinja Shrine,” is a collective name referring to three different shrines, the Kanbe Shrine, Asama Shrine, and Otoshimiya Shrine. Since their creation, all three of these shrines have been highly respected by the government and all samurai, and thus, they were awarded the p...

This temple, originally called the “Jakuseiji Temple,” was built by a monk, with financial support from the father of Matsudaira Chikauji’s wife, in 1367. Matsudaira Chikauji was the father of Tokugawa Ieyasu. The Matsudaira family, the ancestors of the Tokugawa family, were “dogos.” A “dogo” is ...