Temple · Narita (Omotesando)

Naritasan Shinshoji Temple 成田山新勝寺

One of Japan's great pilgrimage temples, founded in 940 and visited by about three million people over New Year. Booming goma fire rituals, an Edo-period three-storey pagoda and a 58 m Peace Pagoda, all a 15-minute walk from Narita Station and 10 minutes by train from the airport.

About

The head temple of the Shingon Chisan school's Naritasan sect enshrines a Fudo Myoo image said to have been carved by Kobo Daishi and brought east in 940 to pray for the end of Taira no Masakado's revolt. Climb the stone steps from the Niomon gate and the precinct opens into layers of history: the vast 1968 Daihondo (Great Main Hall) where the goma fire ritual is performed with drums and chanted sutras several times a day, the vermilion three-storey pagoda of 1712 with its carved and painted eaves, the older Shakado and Komyodo halls, and the 58 m Great Pagoda of Peace at the top of the hill. The temple has a centuries-old bond with the Ichikawa Danjuro kabuki line, whose stage name Naritaya comes from here, and on Setsubun in February celebrities, sumo wrestlers and actors throw beans from a stage. Entry to the grounds is free and nobody minds if you simply wander, but sitting in on a goma ritual is the experience that makes the trip.

Highlights

• Goma fire ritual in the Daihondo: taiko drums, chanting and a roaring sacred fire
• Three-storey pagoda (1712), an Important Cultural Property dripping with colourful carvings
• Great Pagoda of Peace, 58 m tall, at the top of the precinct
• Niomon gate and its giant guardian statues at the head of the stone steps
• Setsubun bean-throwing in February with kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers
• Direct path into the 165,000 m2 Naritasan Park behind the halls

Tips

• Goma rituals run on the hour roughly 9:00-15:00, with every slot used at weekends and fewer on weekdays; anyone may sit in at the back for free
• No photos inside the halls during rituals
• With a 5-hour-plus layover it is doable: about 10 min by Keisei or JR to Narita, then a 15 min walk down Omotesando
• Skip New Year (1-3 Jan) unless you want shoulder-to-shoulder crowds

Open in Google Maps · Info checked 2026-10-09

Nearby

• Wakamatsu HontenStay · 210 m away
• WAQOO NaritasanmonzenStay · 270 m away
• Narita Tourist Pavilion (Narita Kankokan)Museum · 310 m away
• KikuyaRestaurant · 320 m away
• HOUEI COFFEE Naritasan MonzenCafé & Sweets · 320 m away
• Naritasan ParkPark · 320 m away
• Miyoshiya (Narita)Café & Sweets · 320 m away
• Kawatoyo HontenRestaurant · 330 m away