Temples in Japan

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.

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.