Most Beautiful Scenic Temple & Shrine?

For my next trip, I'd like to go to some of the more scenic temples and shrines that have a lot of natural beauty with them. There are many famous places with lots of tourists, like at Miyajima, Nikko, Yamadera, Kyoto, Nara, and so on, but I am looking for more off the beaten trail places with some natural beauty and scenery, or at least some outstanding design or architecture, along the lines of Udo Shrine in Miyazaki, Yutoku Inari in Saga, Mitsumine in Saitama, Unpenji in Kagawa, etc.

It doesn't matter where in Japan they are...I'll try and include as many as practical in my next or future trip.

Any suggestions? Thanks.

I would suggest Osorezan in Aomori. Specially if you can stay there overnight you can enjoy the temple and surroundings in the evening and early morning nearly alone. I think you can also go hiking from there:

https://bicycletraveljapan.blogspot.com/2017/10/day-13-hakodate-to-oma...

The temples on the Kii Katsura pilgrimage trail should also fit your expectations. (If you are male, no women allowed)

I also bought once a booklet (in Japanese) with the 100 best shrines & temples in Japan. I haven�ft been to many of them also because a good number is in quite hard to reach.

Enjoy planning your trip!

Taikodani Inari Shrine in Tsuwano
Yutoku Inari Shrine in Saga

There are so many, and I have photographed over a hundred. The first one that comes to my mind is Onomichi's Temple Walk - specifically the 3 story pagoda of Tenneiji temple. These temples are on a hillside overlooking the Seto Inland Sea. So if you look at it at the right angle, you will see the Seto Inland Sea in the background, and maybe even the Onomich Bridge. What makes this pagoda special is that there is a steep hill next to it which you can climb up/down and see the pagoda from all angles top to bottom (instead of just looking up from the ground level), with Seto Inland Sea and bridges in the background. Very photogenic. https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3475.html

I was also impressed by Osorezan (I finally managed to visit a couple of months ago).

Also try Tsukubusuma Shrine (Chikubu-shima) in Lake Biwa. It is a long time since I last visited, but combined it with Hikone Castle as a day trip from Kyoto.

I'm going to third Osorezan, though when I was there in Fall '09 there were more foreign tourists than one would think because there is still a US military base in Misawa and people on the base sometimes drive to Osorezan. Make sure you visit the onsen at Osorezan.

When I went to Haguro-san in April '09 it didn't have a lot of foreign tourists. I thought the 5 storied pagoda and the stairs going to the main part of the temple were quite scenic.

If you're going to Kyoto again, I felt like Nagaoka Tenman-Gu was quite attractive, especially when the azalea are in bloom. They're over 150 years old. And while listed on this website unlike Nagaoka Tenman-gu, Yoshimedera doesn't seem to get quite the number of tourists it should. Supposedly it is amazing for koyo but it is also equally beautiful for hydrangea. It feels worlds away from the rest of Kyoto.


Good luck!

I think it's pretty picturesque the pagoda of Seigantoji with Nachi no Taki waterfall in the background.

Also I love that impressive steep uneven stone stairway leading to the historical Kamikura Shrine on top of Mount Kamikura which offers a nice overview of Shingu City and the Pacific Ocean.

Eihei-ji in Fukui Prefecture is one of my personal favourites. It's nestled within a thickly forested hillside, so there's natural beauty in spades - and there's also much to appreciate in the architecture (particularly the network of long wooden stairs and corridors that link the different parts of the compound).

https://withinstrikingdistance.wordpress.com/2016/05/06/field-report-a...

Cheers.

I'll second Chikubu Island and Eiheiji Temple.

The Dewa Sanzan are also great experiences. Gyokusenji near Hagurosan has a beautiful garden.

In Kyoto, Gioji Temple is small but really nice and of the few times I've been there, it's never been crowded.

Kibitsu Shrine and the Kibi Plains in Okayama are unique. Also Sogenji Temple is pretty and kind of surreal as a temple with so many non-Japanese priests.

Eihoji Temple in Tajimi (Gifu Prefecture) has a scenic bridge.

Sanbutsuji Temple in Misasa, Tottori.

The Obama temple pilgrimage temples.

Heisenji Hakusan Shrine and the Echizen Daibutsu in Katsuyama are good.

The 3 Koto Sanzan temples plus Eigenji in Shiga Prefecture are worthwhile.

Chomeiji Temple in Omihachiman is really nice, too.

Natadera wasn't crowded when I visited.

The temples on the Noto peninsula are not likely to be crowded and look great, although I haven't been there.

Togakushi Shrine in Nagano is a great hike.

Mitakidera in Hiroshima.

Daisenji and Ogamiyama Shrine in Daisen.

Ryuzoji Temple in Yamaguchi has a waterfall and nice atmosphere.

Shimane Prefecture is full of very old, historic shrines and rarely are they crowded.
Hamada City's two main temples, Ikoji and Manpukuji are really nice Sesshu temples.