Naritasan Shinsho-ji

Quite possibly the most beautiful place I've been in my life. The vast amount of temples and shrines were unbelievable, and the gardens, lakes, and waterfalls were absolutely stunning. The temple grounds are free to enter, and you could easily spend a whole day wandering about the place. I did anyway! Would highly recommend it to anyway who wants to see real Japan and not the tourist trap places. If I could give it 10 stars, I would.

We had a layover at the airport and took a train in from the airport (so easy and inexpensive). Wandered from train station down beautiful shopping street full of food and wares and ended up at the extensive temple area. It is amazing. Lots of locals and pilgrims. Attached to a beautiful park and garden also. Such a beautiful afternoon spent in a sacred spot.

My favourite shrine over my whole Japan trip, we visited many across Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo.

It’s quite beautiful and it’s the various buildings and landscape, it’s not crowded at all and was free to enter.

It’s a great place to see if you’re waiting for your flight out of narita airport. The train from the airport is about 15 minutes to narita station and the walk was about 15-20 minutes. It is a decent incline and there was some stairs to walk through while in the shrine.

Very nice place to visit while in Narita, there's lots of shrines, temples, and pagodas. Great place to go for walks, lots of food and shops around the area as well. Definitely your go-to place if you're in Narita for a layover or a visit. Though with that said, expect the place to be crowded with tourists.

Naritasan, located between Narita Airport and Tokyo is a place you should consider including in your itinerary.
Naritasan Omotesando is a shopping street with buildings from Edo period, with food and souvenirs.
At the bottom of the street you will find Shinsho-ji Temple, with a truly stunning garden located behind the temples, which for me was the main attraction :)

Loved visiting Shinsho-ji Temple in Naritasan.

Top tip - Come straight here by train from Narita/outside of town (unless you are driving), walk along Naritasan Ometesando (shopping street), then walk up to the first tier of the Temple but ignore the shrines.

First make make your way, up and around to the beautiful park at the back of these shrines, explore around and then arrive back at the main shrine area again. Enjoy!

It's a magnificent temple with magnificent architecture that dates back many centuries. When visiting Narita, this place is definitely worth seeing.

We walked to the temple from Narita rail station, and it was pretty convenient.

The Naritasan Temple is my best like place to go when I was at Narita area. When I visit Tokyo, I used to stay one night at one of the airport hotels at the Narita Airport area. I always visited this temple next morning , then head to Tokyo in the afternoon.
This temple has over thousand years of history . It's also one of the biggest Temple + Park in Japan.
The Goma (Homa) Ritual 護摩 is a secret art of Shin Esoteric Buddhism , The Fire of the Goma rite symbolizes the wisdom of Fudo-myo-o 不動明王. The fire worship ceremony is worth to visit . Usually 4 times a day , 9am, 11am, 1pm & 3pm.
Usually , I will walk through the street which are different shops on both side, have lunch in one of the restaurants. You can reach the Narita Station , also the hotels pick up are there. Then I will go back to the hotel to pick up my luggage and take the hotel shuttle to go to the airport or the train station.
This is the place I highly recommend when you can spend one night at the Narita Airport.

went here during my layover in narita, well worth it. so beautiful and peaceful. i went before 10am so it was really quiet, but crowds picked up the later it got. free english tour guides offer their services if you want, but i didn’t have enough time to take their offer.

Large temple complex, with a very nice park. The buildings were grand in scale and crafted in true artistic style. The staff were friendly and very helpful. After visiting the temples, we walked through the woods and pond. It was peaceful and charming. there was a small waterfall completely made the grounds magical and a zen like sounds of the crashing down. The falls filled a creek that flow into the pond. The entire temple grounds began our week long tour of Japan, and met our high expectations. Definitely worth a visit.

One of the nicest temple I have visited in Japan. It is in such a huge compound, and it is not as crowded as other famous shrines/temple.

Recommend to go early to explore, and be prepared to walk alot

This is a great temple to visit if you want to experience Japanese culture. You can get a free bus from hotels near Narita Airport to JR Narita station. It takes around 10-15 minutes walk from the station to Narita san. You can enjoy looking around many local shops alongside the pathway to Narita san.

Did not expected this place to be so huge. Highly recommended for all of you to stop by this temple instead of just leaving right after eating Unagi-don.

A Buddhist temple in Narita city, it’s close to Airpott also. Narita temple each of year there are so many people come to play and player for good money fortune and good marriage

Absolutely gorgeous place to visit! You can easily spend 4-5 hours here just roaming around and admiring the beauty of it! We didn’t pay any entrance fee. Around temples there are cute little local shops but make sure you have cash. Temples are close by Narita station (1km=15 mins walk).

Traditional temple you have to visit when you have free time at Narita airport. You can walk here from Narita station.

Visited 2nd week of May 2023

In my opinion, this is by far the best temples that I have been in Japan. A must visit in Narita!

We arrived at the complex at 3pm, and it seems like the souvenir stores are already packing up. Upon arrival, you will be welcomed by the stunning main entrance called Somon (which has the vibes straight up from Ghibli studios). The staircase at Niomon gate is too steep and it also have washing area below it.

The Three-storey Pagoda displays an intricate detail on the other face of the roof.

As tourists, we felt the solemnity and serenity of the place. The rotunda near Shakado gate displays a variety of beautiful and colorful flowers.

We had the chance to enter the Komyodo Hall (shoes must be taken off before entering), and it has a heavy feeling walking around inside, and when we stumble upon the history of the building where it was built in 1700s, so maybe (just for me) it carries the emotions of all the prayer intentions from 300+ years ago.

We continued to roam around and stopped at a washing area. Further inside, we saw the Great Peace Pagoda, which we missed the chance to enter inside. But the view from outside was already magnificent.

We did enjoy our journey walking from Narita Station to Naritasan. We get to see and be amused by the potted flowers beside the road, passed through Seiso Tunnel and got to enjoy the neighbourhood around Naritasan.

Plus points: clean toilets & ramps for PWD / Elderly

The most spectacular and impressive collection of Shrines and Temples I've ever seen in my life. We were so awed by the number and history of the countless structures in this complex we came back again today.

We had awesome visits with awesome vibes into it. Spiritual high as well.

Amazing place. Awestruck for hours. So much to see and admire.