Zazen (seated meditation) in a Zen temple and shakyo, copying a sutra one character at a time, are temple experiences that let you calm your mind in the middle of your travels. Temples that welcome first-timers include Eiheiji, head temple of the Soto school; Engakuji and Kenchoji, among the Five Great Zen Temples of Kamakura; Tofukuji and Ryosokuin in Kyoto; and Yakushiji in Nara.
Zazen is a Zen practice of sitting quietly with your posture and breathing settled, while shakyo is the act of carefully copying a sutra following a model. Many temples hold zazen sessions and sutra copying open to the public, where you can take part while a monk explains how to sit and the etiquette involved.
Places introduced on official tourism sites of local governments and tourism associations. Check each official site for prices, hours and booking.
📍 Eiheiji, Yoshida District, Fukui
The head temple of the Soto school, offering a day-trip zazen experience you can join without a reservation. With advance booking, there is also an overnight zazen experience where you stay at the temple and join the morning service.
💡 Sutra copying is currently suspended, so plan your visit around the zazen experience.
📍 Kamakura, Kanagawa
A head temple of the Rinzai school in Kita-Kamakura holding a variety of zazen sessions, including the early-morning Gyoten Zazen-kai, sessions at the Koji-rin hall and evening sessions for beginners. You can also try sutra copying.
💡 The evening beginners' sessions require a reservation, so check how to apply on the official website.
📍 Kamakura, Kanagawa
The Zen temple ranked first among the Five Great Zen Temples of Kamakura. First-timers can join its regular zazen sessions in the Hojo hall without registering. It also offers copying of the Heart Sutra and other sutras.
💡 Latecomers cannot join, so head to the Hojo with plenty of time before the start.
📍 Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto
A sub-temple of Kenninji that accepts zazen bookings for individuals, groups and private sessions. You can also try sutra copying and the Yui-mamori experience, in which you write a wish and make an amulet.
💡 There is an English booking page, making it easy for overseas travelers to apply.
📍 Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto
A head temple of the Rinzai school famous for its autumn leaves, holding zazen sessions in the Zen hall early on Sunday mornings. A short Dharma talk follows the zazen.
💡 Places are first come, first served and groups are not accepted, so visit early in a small party.
📍 Nara, Nara
Its sutra copying hall is open daily, and individuals can copy sutras without a reservation. Chair seating and a full set of tools are provided, and you trace over a model, so it is easy to try even for first-timers.
💡 You can choose which sutra to copy, such as the Heart Sutra.
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At a kimono rental shop you pick a pattern you love, get dressed by the staff, and head straight out to stroll historic streets. Specialist shops cluster in towns with old streetscapes, temples and shrines, such as Asakusa in Tokyo, Higashiyama in Kyoto, the Higashi Chaya District in Kanazawa and Kamakura. Many shops also offer yukata in summer, so you can enjoy a different look each season.
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In a tea room you watch the host's otemae (tea preparation), enjoy wagashi (Japanese sweets) and matcha, and then try whisking matcha yourself. Beginners and overseas travelers can easily join in Uji, home of Uji tea, in Kyoto city, in Kanazawa with its deep-rooted tea culture, and in Ginza, Tokyo.
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Learn from wagashi artisans and instructors as you shape jo-namagashi (fine fresh confections) such as nerikiri (sweet bean paste confections) with your own hands. You can easily join in Kyoto and Kanazawa, where tea culture runs deep, and in Matsue and Izumo, known as wagashi towns.
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Under the guidance of chefs and instructors, you make nigiri and rolled sushi or hand-made soba noodles yourself and enjoy them on the spot. Classes are easy to join everywhere, from city-center studios in Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto to soba country such as Togakushi in Nagano and Nikko in Tochigi.
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Using a brush and ink, you practice your favorite kanji or your own name on hanshi practice paper, then write a final copy on shikishi (a decorative square board). Studios in Ginza and Yushima in Tokyo and in a Kyoto machiya townhouse welcome beginners and overseas travelers, while in Nara and Kumano, Hiroshima, you can also get hands-on with making the ink and brushes that calligraphy depends on.
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Arrange seasonal flowers and branches in a vase and discover a uniquely Japanese sense of beauty through ikebana. You can try it at places that welcome beginners and overseas travelers, including Ikenobo at Rokkakudo in Kyoto, considered the birthplace of ikebana, the Sogetsu Kaikan in Tokyo and small studios in Osaka.
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In the regions where artisans have handed down their skills, you can try pottery, indigo dyeing, gold leaf application, Edo Kiriko cut glass and papermaking with your own hands. From Mashiko and Arita ceramics to Edo Kiriko in Tokyo, Kanazawa gold leaf, Mino washi and Tokushima indigo, workshops and public facilities around Japan welcome first-timers.
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Use your whole body to beat taiko drums large and small, and feel the sound and rhythm resonate deep in your chest. Besides dedicated studios in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, you can try it on Sado Island, home base of the taiko performing group Kodo, and in Hamamatsu, home to a long-established taiko maker.
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A shukubo is lodging for pilgrims visiting a temple or shrine, where you can savor shojin ryori (Buddhist vegetarian cuisine), join the morning service and experience a day in a place of prayer. You can stay in long-standing centers of faith such as Koyasan in Wakayama, Mt. Hiei in Shiga, Zenkoji and Togakushi in Nagano, and Mt. Haguro of the Dewa Sanzan in Yamagata.
Place information is based on official tourism sites of local governments and tourism associations and on each place’s official site. Experiences and availability may change.
Checked: 2026-10-16
