Quick Answer
Japan has roughly 80,000 Shinto shrines and about 76,500 Buddhist temples — together, more places of worship than the country has convenience stores. Add churches and other groups and there are about 178,150 registered religious corporations nationwide (the government's latest count). Stranger still, the number of reported adherents across all faiths adds up to more than Japan's entire population, because most Japanese people are counted as both Shinto and Buddhist. The famous sites travelers know — Meiji Jingu, Fushimi Inari, Sensoji — are a tiny fraction of the total. Here are the numbers, where they come from, and where to find the quiet ones.
Cite this page: Tabilane. "Japan Shrine & Temple Statistics: By the Numbers (2026)." tabilane.com. https://tabilane.com/japan-shrine-temple-statistics
Shrines and temples by the numbers
Japan's religious landscape is dominated by two traditions that have coexisted for over a thousand years: Shinto (the indigenous "way of the gods," centered on jinja shrines) and Buddhism (imported from the Asian mainland in the 6th century, centered on tera temples). The Agency for Cultural Affairs (Bunka-chō) counts them every year in its Religious Yearbook (Shūkyō Nenkan), based on the national Religious Statistics Survey.
| Religious system | Registered corporations | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Shinto (shintō-kei) | ~84,000 | Overwhelmingly jinja shrines, plus a small number of Shinto-sect churches |
| Buddhist (bukkyō-kei) | ~76,500 | Tera temples across all schools |
| Christian (kirisutokyō-kei) | ~4,800 | Catholic and Protestant churches |
| Other / miscellaneous (shokyō) | ~13,000 | New religions and unclassified groups |
| Total | ~178,150 | Agency for Cultural Affairs, 2024 survey year (published in the 2025 Religious Yearbook) |
To put that in perspective: Japan has around 56,000 convenience stores — so the country's shrines alone outnumber its konbini, and shrines plus temples nearly triple them. (For the retail side of that comparison, see our Japan Convenience Store Statistics.)
One important caveat: these figures count religious corporations — legally registered entities. Thousands of tiny roadside shrines, household altars, and unstaffed halls are not separately incorporated, so the "true" number of sacred structures in Japan is almost certainly higher than the official tally.
Shinto shrines — how many, and what kinds
The Shinto figure deserves one clarification. Of the roughly 84,000 Shinto-system religious corporations, the great majority are jinja shrines — commonly rounded to about 80,000 shrines — while the Association of Shinto Shrines (Jinja Honchō) directly administers around 78,000 of them. Thousands of smaller shrines operate outside that association, and countless tiny roadside shrines are not separately registered at all.
Most of Japan's shrines belong to a handful of large "families," each dedicated to a particular deity (kami) and headed by a grand head shrine (sōhonsha). While exact counts vary by source, the largest networks are enormous:
| Shrine network | Deity / theme | Approx. branch shrines | Head shrine |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hachiman | War, protection | ~40,000 | Usa Jingu (Ōita) |
| Inari | Rice, prosperity | ~30,000 | Fushimi Inari Taisha (Kyoto) |
| Tenjin / Tenmangu | Learning | ~10,000+ | Dazaifu / Kitano Tenmangu |
| Ise / Shinmei | Sun goddess Amaterasu | ~18,000 | Ise Jingu (Mie) |
| Kumano | Nature, pilgrimage | ~3,000 | Kumano Sanzan (Wakayama) |
The Inari network is the one most travelers meet first: the thousands of vermilion torii gates at Fushimi Inari Taisha mark the head shrine of some 30,000 Inari shrines across the country. If you have seen a small fox statue guarding a shrine gate, you have seen Inari.
The great wooden torii at the forest entrance to Meiji Jingu, Tokyo — the shrine draws Japan's largest New Year crowds. (Image: Nightcrafter via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.)
Buddhist temples — counts and major sects
Japan's roughly 76,500 Buddhist temples are spread across several major schools, each with its own head temples, rituals, and architecture. The largest traditions include:
- Pure Land (Jōdo / Jōdo Shinshū) — the most followed schools, emphasizing devotion to Amida Buddha.
- Zen (Sōtō and Rinzai) — meditation-centered, and the source of much of what the West associates with "Japanese aesthetics." Kyoto's Daitokuji is a sprawling Rinzai Zen complex.
- Shingon and Tendai — esoteric schools centered on mountain monasteries such as Kōyasan and Hieizan.
- Nichiren — founded in 13th-century Japan around the Lotus Sutra.
Unlike shrines, which are largely open-air and free to enter, many temples charge a small admission fee to their gardens or main halls, which helps fund upkeep of the historic buildings.
Where they are — shrines by prefecture
Shrines are not distributed evenly. Rural prefectures with deep agricultural histories tend to have far more shrines per capita than big cities. By the Agency for Cultural Affairs' prefecture-level counts, Niigata consistently ranks as the prefecture with the most Shinto shrines — over 4,600 — followed by Hyōgo (~3,800) and Fukuoka (~3,400), all historically agrarian regions. Tokyo, despite its size, has comparatively few — a reminder that shrine density tracks old rice-farming communities more than modern population.
The most-visited — hatsumode and annual figures
The gap between "how many exist" and "how many people actually visit" is huge. A handful of famous sites absorb millions of visitors, especially during hatsumode, the first shrine or temple visit of the New Year.
| Site | Type | Location | Reported New Year (hatsumode) visitors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meiji Jingu | Shrine | Tokyo | ~3 million+ |
| Naritasan Shinshoji | Temple | Chiba | ~3 million |
| Kawasaki Daishi | Temple | Kanagawa | ~3 million |
| Sumiyoshi Taisha | Shrine | Osaka | ~2 million+ |
| Tsurugaoka Hachimangu | Shrine | Kanagawa | ~2 million+ |
(Figures are reported estimates; in recent years many sites have stopped publishing official crowd counts, so treat these as approximate.)
Beyond the New Year, Tokyo's Sensoji — the city's oldest temple — draws on the order of 30 million visitors a year, making it one of the most-visited religious sites on Earth. These crowds are exactly why so much of Japan's sacred beauty is best experienced away from the headline names.
The Kaminarimon and its giant lantern at Sensoji, Asakusa — Tokyo's oldest temple sees crowds year-round, not just at New Year. (Image: Kakidai via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.)
More adherents than people
Japan's religious statistics contain a famous paradox: more people belong to religions than actually live in the country. In the latest survey, religious groups reported roughly 175 million adherents in total, against a national population of about 124 million.
| Religious system | Reported adherents (2024) |
|---|---|
| Shinto | ~86 million |
| Buddhism | ~80 million |
| Christianity | ~1.9 million |
| Other | ~6.4 million |
| Total | ~175 million (vs. ~124 million population) |
The overlap is the explanation: Shinto counts ujiko (shrine parishioners) and Buddhism counts danka (temple-affiliated households), and the vast majority of Japanese are counted by both. Rather than a sign of unusually intense devotion, the numbers reflect how Shinto and Buddhist practice are woven into ordinary life — a shrine visit at New Year, a Buddhist funeral, a neighborhood festival — more as inherited custom than as exclusive belief.
The oldest and the UNESCO-listed
Japan's temples and shrines include some of the oldest surviving structures anywhere:
- Hōryū-ji (Nara) preserves what are considered the world's oldest wooden buildings, dating to the 7th century.
- Shitennō-ji (Osaka), founded in 593, is regarded as one of Japan's first state-sponsored Buddhist temples.
- Ise Jingu (Mie), Shinto's most sacred shrine, is ritually rebuilt from scratch every 20 years in the shikinen sengū tradition; the current cycle of rituals runs toward its completion around 2033, so the buildings are ancient in design but perpetually new in material.
Hōryū-ji near Nara, whose pagoda and main hall rank among the world's oldest surviving wooden buildings. (Image: Michael Gunther via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.)
Many of the most important sites carry UNESCO World Heritage status, including the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (a group of temples and shrines such as Kiyomizu-dera and Kinkaku-ji), the monuments of Ancient Nara, the Shrines and Temples of Nikkō, the sacred sites of the Kii Mountain Range (Kumano and Kōyasan), the temples of Hiraizumi, and Itsukushima Shrine with its "floating" torii. Iwate's Chūson-ji at Hiraizumi is one such listed treasure well off the standard tourist track.
Shrine vs temple — how to tell them apart
Because Shinto and Buddhism blended for centuries, the two can look similar — but a few cues make it easy:
- Gate: a shrine is entered through a torii (a simple two-post gate); a temple through a sanmon (a larger roofed gate), often flanked by guardian statues.
- What's enshrined: shrines house kami (Shinto deities), often with no visible image; temples house Buddhist images and statues.
- How you pay respects: at a shrine you bow, clap (typically twice), and bow again; at a temple you press your palms together silently, without clapping.
If you plan to visit either, our guide to shrine and temple etiquette walks through the steps so you can participate respectfully.
Sources & methodology
The counts on this page are drawn primarily from the Agency for Cultural Affairs' Religious Yearbook (Shūkyō Nenkan) and Religious Statistics Survey (published via Japan's official e-Stat portal), supplemented by the Association of Shinto Shrines (Jinja Honchō) for shrine-network figures, UNESCO's World Heritage List for heritage designations, and individual shrine and temple announcements for visitor numbers. All facility counts reflect registered religious corporations as of the most recent survey (data as of end-2024, published in the 2025 Religious Yearbook); visitor figures are reported estimates and can vary year to year. Where sources disagree, we give a rounded range rather than a false-precision single number.
Image credits: Cover — the senbon-torii tunnel at Fushimi Inari Taisha, Kyoto, by Jason Zhang (CC BY-SA 3.0). In-text images are credited in their captions. All images via Wikimedia Commons.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many shrines are in Japan?
Japan has roughly 80,000 Shinto shrines — part of about 84,000 Shinto-system religious corporations counted by the Agency for Cultural Affairs (the Association of Shinto Shrines directly administers around 78,000). Counting tiny unregistered roadside and household shrines, the real figure is higher.
How many Buddhist temples are in Japan?
About 76,500 Buddhist temples are registered nationwide, spread across schools such as Pure Land, Zen, Shingon, Tendai, and Nichiren.
What is the most-visited shrine or temple in Japan?
For New Year hatsumode, Meiji Jingu in Tokyo typically draws the most worshippers (around 3 million). Year-round, Sensoji temple in Asakusa sees roughly 30 million visitors.
What is the oldest temple in Japan?
Shitennō-ji (593) is often cited as Japan's oldest state temple, while Hōryū-ji in Nara holds the world's oldest surviving wooden buildings.
Why do religious adherents outnumber Japan's population?
Because Japanese religious identity is not exclusive. Most people take part in both Shinto and Buddhist practices, so they are counted by both — pushing total reported adherents to about 175 million, well above the country's ~124 million population.
What's the difference between a shrine and a temple?
A shrine (Shinto) is entered through a torii gate and honors kami; a temple (Buddhist) is entered through a roofed gate and houses Buddhist images. You clap at shrines, but not at temples.
Experience them without the crowds — Japan's quiet lanes
The real lesson in these numbers is one of abundance: with more than 150,000 shrines and temples between them, Japan offers far more sacred beauty than the three or four sites that appear in every guidebook. You do not have to queue behind thousands of people to feel it.
For the quiet end of the spectrum, wander the temple lanes that locals actually use — like Tokyo's neighborhood temples or the atmospheric temple walk through Yanaka — where centuries-old halls sit on ordinary streets, and you may have the incense and the stillness to yourself.
This is the fourth in our "Japan by the numbers" data series. See also: Onsen Statistics, Overtourism Statistics, and Convenience Store Statistics.