Sacred Spaces in Japan

An eclectic temple with Chinese architecture, Korean lion-dogs, an Indian god and a legendary 700-year-old tree.

A long-worshipped mountain, considered a "power spot" and suspected to be an ancient pyramid by some.

This statue of Buddha has a distinctive hairstyle meant to represent an unfathomably long period of meditation.

In 806, Kobo Daishi began meditating on Mount Misen. The Buddhist monk lit this holy fire, which has been kept burning for 1,200 years.

A shrine dedicated to the sacred white snakes of Iwakuni, whose albinism has been passed down for generations.

Home to the world's oldest wooden building.

Only the face remains of this giant Buddha statue, which is said to be a source of luck for students.

A temple made famous by Japanese Buddhist monks who sacrificed themselves at sea.

Rows of stone statues are dressed up to mourn children that are lost before birth.

This isolated Japanese mountain village untouched by time showcases unique and stunning traditional architecture.

A deserted island in southwest Japan that once sheltered persecuted Christians.

This ancient shrine has been rebuilt every 20 years since the eighth century.

The statue's head is one of the few fragments of the original Urakami Cathedral to survive the atomic bomb.

A remarkable lava formation encloses a line of Buddhist statues that can't be accurately counted, according to local mythology.

A 14th-century European chapel sticks out of the facade of a Japanese hotel.

A Catholicism-themed restaurant where sacrilege is on the menu.