Nikko Toshogu
Nikko, Japan
Nikko lies about two hours north of Tokyo by train, and the Toshogu shrine is its centrepiece.
40 tickets & tours
By type
Best shinto shrines to visit worldwide
A Shinto shrine honours kami, the spirits of nature, ancestors and deified people, and it is entered through one or more torii gates marking the edge of sacred ground. Inside you find a stone basin for purification, guardian lion-dogs, the hall of worship where visitors pray and, behind it, the main sanctuary, which stays closed. Look also for sacred trees bound with straw rope, wooden ema plaques written with wishes, paper fortunes tied to racks, and the vermilion tunnels of torii at Inari shrines.
How to visit a Shinto shrine: torii, water and prayer — How to pass the torii, purify at the water basin, pray, take photos and buy charms at a Shinto shrine in Japan.
Fushimi Inari Taisha
Kyoto, Japan
There is nothing to buy to enter Fushimi Inari: the grounds and the mountain trails are open free of charge at all…
38 tickets & tours
Meiji Shrine (Meiji Jingu)
Tokyo, Japan
Meiji Jingu is free to enter and there is no ticket to buy for the shrine itself: you simply walk in from Harajuku or…
38 tickets & tours
Hakone Shrine
Hakone, Japan
Hakone Shrine does not sell entry tickets: the grounds and the main hall are open to everyone free of charge, and only…
7 tickets & tours
Nezu Shrine
Tokyo, Japan
Nezu Shrine is free to enter and open to anyone who walks in, so there is no ticket to buy;
7 tickets & tours
Asakusa Shrine
Tokyo, Japan
There is nothing to buy for Asakusa Shrine: it stands open and free inside the grounds of Senso-ji, Tokyo's oldest…
6 tickets & tours
Itsukushima Shrine
Miyajima, Japan
Itsukushima Shrine charges a small entrance fee, paid at the gate, and the island levies a visitor tax collected with…
5 tickets & tours
Ise Grand Shrine
Ise, Japan
Ise Jingu charges no entrance fee and sells no tickets: both main shrines and their forests are open to everyone during…
4 tickets & tours
Kamakura-gu Shrine
Kamakura, Japan
Kamakura-gu is a Shinto shrine with free access to its grounds, so there is nothing to book in order to visit;
4 tickets & tours
Sumiyoshi Taisha
Osaka, Japan
Sumiyoshi Taisha is a working Shinto shrine and costs nothing to enter: the grounds open at dawn, and there is no…
4 tickets & tours
Kasuga Taisha
Nara, Japan
Kasuga Taisha does not need a ticket booked in advance. The approach, the outer precinct and the lantern-lined paths…
3 tickets & tours
Takachiho Shrine
Takachiho, Japan
Takachiho Shrine has open grounds that you can walk into from the town at any hour, and there is no ticket to book in…
3 tickets & tours
Heian Shrine (Heian Jingu)
Kyoto, Japan
Entry to the courtyard of Heian Jingu is free, and there is nothing to book.
2 tickets & tours
Kifune Shrine (Kibune Jinja)
Kyoto, Japan
Kifune Shrine has no admission fee and nothing to reserve.
2 tickets & tours
Kitano Tenmangu
Kyoto, Japan
Kitano Tenmangu needs no ticket. The gates open to anyone from early morning, there is no admission charge for the main…
2 tickets & tours
Yasaka Shrine
Kyoto, Japan
Yasaka Shrine is open to everyone, at all hours and without charge, so there is nothing to buy in order to visit.
2 tickets & tours
Yasukuni Shrine
Tokyo, Japan
Yasukuni Shrine, in the Kudan district of central Tokyo just north of the Imperial Palace, is free to enter, and the…
2 tickets & tours
Arakura Fuji Sengen Shrine
Fujiyoshida, Japan
Arakura Fuji Sengen Shrine is free to enter at any hour, and the climb to its famous five-storey pagoda costs nothing…
1 ticket or tour
Hiyoshi Taisha
Otsu, Japan
Hiyoshi Taisha sells no tickets online. A modest admission fee is paid at the booth by the entrance to the inner…
1 ticket or tour
Hokoku Shrine, Osaka
Osaka, Japan
Hokoku Shrine is free to enter and has no ticket of its own.
1 ticket or tour
Izumo Taisha
Izumo, Japan
Izumo Taisha is an open shrine, so there is nothing you have to buy before you arrive: the gates, the long approach and…
1 ticket or tour
Kamigamo Shrine
Kyoto, Japan
Kamigamo Shrine is free to enter. You can walk through the torii gates, across the great lawn and up to the vermilion…
1 ticket or tour
Kamishikimi Kumanoimasu Shrine
Takamori, Japan
Kamishikimi Kumanoimasu Shrine is a small village shrine in the forest on the southern side of the Aso caldera, with no…
1 ticket or tour
Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine
Kawagoe, Japan
There is nothing to buy in advance for Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine itself.
1 ticket or tour
There is no dress code, though neat clothes and a quiet manner are expected and hats come off before the main hall. Bow at the torii and walk to the side of the central path, which is kept for the kami. At the basin, rinse the left hand, then the right, then the mouth from your cupped palm, never from the ladle. At the hall, drop a coin, bow twice, clap twice, pray and bow once more. Photography is fine outdoors but not inside the halls.
The finest in the catalogue are Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto, Meiji Shrine in Tokyo, Nikko Toshogu in Nikko, Itsukushima Shrine on Miyajima, Ise Grand Shrine in Ise and Kasuga Taisha in Nara, with its thousands of stone lanterns.