You’ve probably seen this temple before: Bright vermilion bridge. Pagoda roof. Mirror-still pond.
It’s part of a vast, sprawling complex covering the slopes of Mount Daigo, divided between the lower grounds (Shimo-Daigo) at the base and the upper grounds (Kami-Daigo) near the summit.
It’s a UNESCO World Heritage site.
And yet, when I visited recently, in the middle of a tourism boom, it was almost empty. Kyoto’s crowds were just a few train stops away.
That’s the Japan I love.
Not hidden. Not secret. Just waiting quietly for people willing to step off script.
And sometimes, it’s not even waiting to be seen: Across Japan, there are temples and shrines you’re not allowed to photograph:
📵 The Golden Hall at Chūson-ji in Tōhoku
📵 The living Buddhas of Dewa Sanzan
📵 Sacred spaces on Mount Kōya
And there's more. But they exist entirely outside the feed.
Places that will never go viral, because they’re not supposed to.
They ask for presence, not proof. Attention, not documentation. The kind of places you only really understand when you’ve given them enough time.
That’s the Japan I help you find. Not hidden. Not performative. Just real. And private enough to stay that way, for now.
If this way of travelling speaks to you, you can book a 30-minute consultation to talk things through