Saigoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage Temples

A pilgrimage culture centered on Kiyomizu-dera in Higashiyama, Kyoto. Founded in 778, this ancient temple attracts approximately 2 million visitors annually. Its iconic stage overlooking the city and Avalokiteshvara devotion have made it one of Japan's premier pilgrimage destinations. The temple shopping street and surrounding temples create a quintessential Kyoto pilgrimage experience representing traditional Japanese temple touring.

Japan's oldest pilgrimage route visiting 33 Kannon temples across Kansai. Designated as Japan Heritage in 2019, it has gained popularity among young people alongside the goshuin stamp boom.

Traditional scroll paintings and woodblock prints depicting the Saigoku 33 Temples pilgrimage in the Kansai region. Developed from the Edo period onward as artistic visualizations of each temple's principal deity and pilgrimage scenes. Functioning as both pilgrim guidebooks and ukiyo-e artworks, they remain valued reference materials for contemporary pilgrims.

Pilgrimage to Ise Grand Shrine became a massive popular phenomenon in the Edo period with the saying 'once in a lifetime, visit Ise.' Including the Okagehyokocho street food culture and famous Akafuku mochi, it remains a spiritual travel touchstone for Japanese people today.

A sacred site of mountain worship comprising Mount Haguro, Mount Gassan, and Mount Yudono. With over 1,400 years of history as a training ground for Shugendo asceticism, the mountain monks in white robes and their austere practices preserve Japan's mountain ascetic traditions.

One of Japan's oldest pilgrimage circuits, visiting 33 Kannon sacred sites mainly across the Kinki region. Said to have been established in 718, it is known alongside the Shikoku Pilgrimage as one of Japan's two great pilgrimage routes. It was designated a Japan Heritage in 2019.

A successful anime pilgrimage case as the setting of 'Girls und Panzer.' Character panels line shopping streets, making it a model case of anime tourism revitalizing regional economies.