Temples are the places of worship in Japanese Buddhism. Virtually every Japanese municipality has at least one temple, while large cultural centers like Kyoto have several thousands of them.
Temples store and display sacred Buddhist objects, and some of them used to or still function as monasteries. Structures typically found at Japanese temples are:
Main hall
The sacred objects of worship, such as statues, are displayed in the main hall. In Japanese, main halls are usually called kondo, hondo, butsuden, amidado or hatto.
The pagoda, a structure that has evolved from the Indian stupa, usually comes with three (sanju no to) or five (goju no to) stories. Pagodas store remains of the Buddha such as a tooth, usually in form of a representation.
Example: Three storied pagoda of Kofukuji in Nara.
Gates
Gates mark the entrance to the temple grounds. There is usually one main gate, and possibly several additional gates, for example, along the temple's main approach.
Most cemeteries in Japan are Buddhist and are located at a temple. The Japanese visit their ancestors' graves on many occasions during the year, especially during the obon week, the equinoctial weeks and the anniversaries.
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