Shrines

Outside of where Tsukiji Market once stood, these memorials honor the spirits of the fallen fish, shrimp, and eggs used for nigiri.

A well-worshipped shrine to the Virgin Mary nestled inside the last of Zagreb’s historic gates.

It is intended to take one back to a stripped-down simplicity, to spend extended time both inside and out, and absorb the natural drama of the Upper Rio Grande Valley.

A replica of an ancient alien-like idol humorously represents spectacles in a corner of this shrine complex.

This one-of-a-kind shrine is dedicated to a girl who was too beautiful for her own good.

The lesser-known eastern counterpart to Kyoto’s famous fox shrine.

A cluster of 18th-century temples with an underground shrine.

Associated with Japanese folklore's most eminent sorcerer, this slab of rock is said to be both a blessing and a curse.

A rare public effigy of “the Embracing Kangiten,” the erotic Japanese equivalent of Hindu god Ganesha.

The alleged site of the months-long imprisonment of a Japanese prince.

A lone torii arch stands on a coastal rock where a deity is said to have landed.

Haunted by a giant white snake, this pond is said to bring the rain and pubic hair.

At a museum dedicated to the millenia-old rites and art of Buddhism, the Buddha's reputed tooth is held as an object of worship.

On the roof of the oldest department store in Tainan stands a Shinto shrine dating back to the 1930s.

Once upon a time in Kamakura, a five-headed dragon fell in love with an Indian water goddess.

Once the site of medieval pilgrimage for its healing powers, this well was lost and later rediscovered.

A relatively young Buddhist temple on hilltop, dedicated to a statue relocated from Mount Atago.

This shrine commemorates the site of the first known Catholic mass in the United States.