First snowcap · 30 October 2026 The Japan Meteorological Agency confirmed Mt Fuji’s first snowcap of the 2026–27 winter on the morning of 30 October. See the visibility forecast →

Shrines & Temples

Shrines and temples worth the detour: quiet mountain halls, city sanctuaries, pilgrimage paths, and how to visit them respectfully.

Omikuji: How to Draw and Read a Japanese Fortune Slip

AUG. 17, 2026An omikuji is a paper fortune you draw at a Japanese shrine or temple. You pay a small o…READ

Why Is Mt Fuji a World Heritage Site? Faith, Art & the 25 Component Parts (2026)

JUL. 8, 2026Mt Fuji is a UNESCO cultural — not natural — World Heritage Site. A Fujiyoshida local ex…READ

Kinomiya Shrine Atami: The 2,000-Year-Old Great Camphor

JUN. 19, 2026Kinomiya Shrine, Atami: the 2,000-year-old great camphor, the walk-around-the-trunk ritu…READ

Udo Jingu: Miyazaki’s Shrine Inside a Sea Cave

JUN. 16, 2026Udo Jingu in Nichinan, Miyazaki — a vermilion shrine built inside a sea cave on the clif…READ

Aoshima & Aoshima Shrine: Miyazaki’s Island in the Sea Terraces

JUN. 16, 2026Aoshima is a subtropical shrine-island off Miyazaki, ringed by the Devil's Washboard roc…READ

Yakushiji Temple: Nara’s Twin-Pagoda World Heritage Site

JUN. 13, 2026Yakushiji in Nara's Nishinokyō is a World Heritage temple founded in 680 — its East Pago…READ

Okadera Temple: Asuka’s Flower Temple and Japan’s First Yakuyoke Site

JUN. 10, 2026Okadera (Ryūgaiji) in Asuka, Nara is Japan's first yakuyoke temple and Saigoku pilgrimag…READ

Murō-ji Temple 2026: Nara’s ‘Women’s Kōya’ and Its 1,200-Year Pagoda

JUN. 6, 2026Murō-ji, Nara's mountain 'Women's Kōya,' has a National Treasure five-story pagoda, spri…READ

Todai-ji & the Nara Deer 2026: Great Buddha, Hours & Day-Trip Tips

JUN. 5, 2026Nara's Todai-ji holds a 14.7 m bronze Great Buddha (eye-opening 752 AD) in one of the wo…READ

Gion Matsuri 2026: Yoiyama Dates, 33 Floats & Tsuki Hoko Guide

MAY. 28, 2026A Yoiyama night during Gion Matsuri 2024 — the Tsuki Hoko, the Naginata Hoko, the chochi…READ