Featured Guides
Themed guides to help you get more out of visiting shrines.
Setting Up a Kamidana at Home | Placement, Enshrinement, and Recommended Altar Fittings
A photo guide for anyone newly welcoming a kamidana (home Shinto altar) into their home: how to choose a miyagata (altar shrine), where to place it, how to arrange the altar fittings, and the daily worship etiquette. We also introduce recommended altar fittings that are easy to find.
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12 Shrines That Enshrine Japan's Real Historical Figures
From Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu to Takeda Shingen, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Uesugi Kenshin, Date Masamune, and the legendary swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, we introduce twelve shrines that enshrine real historical figures as kami — actual samurai, statesmen, and modern-era leaders, not mythological gods. Knowing their life stories first makes each visit far more meaningful.
Featuring 12 shrines →
9 Unmanned Shrines Insiders Can't Stop Talking About
We introduce nine mysterious shrines that have no resident priest — standing deep in the mountains or on remote islands, far from any town — yet continue to draw visitors who can't stay away.
Featuring 9 shrines →
10 Mysterious Legends Passed Down at Japan's Shrines
From the month when Japan's deities gather at Izumo to the legend of Abe no Seimei's shikigami spirits, we introduce ten shrines carrying strange, faintly chilling legends that still linger in the air today.
Featuring 10 shrines →
10 Famous Shrines for Enmusubi (Relationship Luck)
From Izumo Taisha to Tokyo Daijingu, we introduce ten shrines renowned across Japan for their blessings of enmusubi and good relationships.
Featuring 10 shrines →
6 Shrines Famous for Money Luck
From Kamochi Jinja, whose auspicious name has made it a sensation, to Imamiya Ebisu Jinja, famed for business prosperity, we introduce six shrines known for their blessings of financial luck and business success.
Featuring 6 shrines →