Located in Tounomine Mountains, famous for their amazing cherry blossoms and red leaves, the main hall (Important Cultural Heritage) and the vermilion-lacquered main building are stunningly impressive. The 17-meter tall Thirteen-Story Pagoda is the only example of a wooden 13-storied pagoda found in Japan. It was restored in 1532 during the Muromachi Period. With green leaves, azaleas, hydrangeas, and pure white snow, it offers a variety of elegant expressions throughout the four seasons. But the shrine is most exceptionally beautiful in the autumn when the shrine and the pagoda are nicely "dressed-up" with red and golden leaves.

The oldest three-story pagoda (National Treasure) is well-balanced and retains the characteristics of the Asuka Period, such as columns with entasis. Because the location of the tower and the main hall is opposite to that of Horyuji Temple, it is called the Hoki-ji-style Cathedral Arrangement. In the autumn, the cosmos bloom around the temple, making it look as if the ancient Five-Story Pagoda is floating in pale-pink seawater.

Cosmos flowers: September

Kinpusen-ji Temple is the pinnacle of Shugendo, a Shinto-Buddhist cult devoted to rigorous training, ascetic practices and mountain worship. The temple is said to have begun when its founder spent one thousand days in practice and received a vision or impression of Shugendo leader Zao Gongen, and after carving that image into the trunk of a cherry tree, the worship at this place began. The 34-meter tall Zao-do is a large-scale wooden building next to Todaiji Temple, and is now registered as a World Heritage. "Kinpusan" means a string of mountains that starts in Yoshino and they have been sacred mountains for ages. Its symbol is the Zao-do. The temple's main three statues, Kongo-zao-gongenzo, are not on display and are usually kept inside the shrine.

This is a former Kinpusen-ji Temple monk's residence. The shrine is the oldest Shoin architecture in the irimoya-style, along with the beautiful hiwadabuki roof, which is made from cypress bark. You can also see "Yoshitsune Senpukunoma (the room of Yoshitsune who hid himself in refuge)," "Benkei-Shiannoma" (the room of Benkei), and "Godaigo's Gyokuzanoma" (The Godaigo Throne Room). Among these, the Godaigo's Gyokuzanoma is astonishingly elegant and elaborate in the detail of the Momoyama style. It is said that Toyotomi-Hideyoshi had this room renovated in order to hold a cherry blossom viewing party. In the autumn, the shrine is gorgeously arrayed in red leaves.

Located at the top of Yoshino Mountain, the shrine worships the Deity of water. Because the name Mikumari sounds like "mikomori" (pregnant), it is more popular as a shrine that bestows fertility and easy delivery. The main shrine shows the elegance of the Kasuga style (three-span construction that support the right and left sides of one-span construction, called Ikkenyashiro).

This shrine, which is nestled amidst ancient cedar and cherry trees, serves as the gateway to the deepest part of the Yoshino Mountain range. It is cool even in the summer. The shrine is said to worship the local deities of the Yoshino Mountains. The shrine has a "Yoshitsune hiding tower." Legend says that Minamoto no Yoshitsune stayed there and hid himself. Kinpu-Jinja Shrine is a Shugendo holy place. Therefore, practitioners start from here to undergo and complete a rigorous course of ascetic training.