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Shinto Shrines

Hiroshima Torii Itsukushima Jinja Torii Meiji Shrine, Tokyo
Torii at Hiroshima (AllPosters.com); torii at Itsukushima (AllPosters.com); torii at Meiji Shrine, Tokyo (GFDL).

Shinto is the native religion of Japan and Shinto shrines (Japanese: jingu) are the dwelling places of the kami. Kami are gods or spirits that represent objects or concepts like trees, rivers, the sun, rocks, food, and fertility. Humans also become kami after they die, and are revered as ancestors by their surviving family. Important people, like emperors, are revered as kami by many.

In Japan and Japanese communities around the world, people visit Shinto shrines to pay their respects to the kami, to pray or request a favor, and to celebrate festivals and life events. Each shrine contains a sacred object representing the kami, which is not normally viewed by anyone. During festivals the kami is taken out in procession to show it the outside world.

The most well-known architectural aspect of the Shinto shrine is the torii, a symbolic gate that marks the entrance to the sacred area surrounding the shrine. The most sacred shrines in Shinto are those at Ise Jingu. There are thousands of Shinto shrines in Japan. Below is an index of some of the most notable, listed by city.



  • Dazaifu
    • Dazaifu Tenmangu - first shrine dedicated to Tenjin

  • Fujiyoshida
    • Sengen Shrine - Shrine of Mount Fuji

  • Hakone
    • Hakone Shrine - Hakone's most famous shrine

  • Ise

  • Izumo
    • Izumo Taisha – second most important shrine in Japan

  • Kamakura
    • Tsurugaoka Hachimangu - most important shrine of Kamakura.
    • Zeniarai Benten – shrine for "money laundering," in a good way

  • Kanazawa
    • Oyama Shrine - Shrine dedicated to a former local lord

  • Kotohira
    • Kompirasan – popular hillside shrine
  • Kyoto
    • Fushimi Inari Shrine – famous for its torii
    • Heian Shrine – modeled after the imperial palace
    • Yasaka Shrine – home of the Gion Festival

  • Tokyo
    • Meiji Shrine – dedicated to the kami of Emperor Meiji
    • Yasukuni Shrine – dedicated to the war dead

  • Miyajima
    • Itsukushima Shrine - famous for its large torii standing in the ocean

  • Nikko
    • Nikko Toshogu - mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu
    • Futarasan Shrine - shrine of the kami of three of Nikko's sacred mountains

  • Osaka
    • Sumiyoshi Taisha - Osaka's most prominent shrine

  • Yamaguchi
    • Yamaguchi Daijingu - a small version of the Ise shrines

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