Nishiarai-Daishi Temple

This off-the-beaten-path temple is famous for its peony gardens (April) and its wart-curing shrine, but it’s also a great place for seasonal festivals and markets that are not at all touristy. No matter what time of year you go, there will definitely be something worth seeing.

Nishiarai Daishi is a full-service Buddhist temple that has great festivals year-round. These giant carp flags are flying from mid-April to May 5th, for Childrens' Day. — Nishiarai Daishi is a full-service Buddhist temple that has great festivals year-round. These giant carp flags are flying from mid-April to May 5th, for Childrens’ Day.

Don't miss the peonies as big as dinner plates, blooming from mid-late April! Each plant gets its own red parasol, to shade it from the sun. — Don’t miss the peonies as big as dinner plates, blooming from mid-late April! Each plant gets its own red parasol, to shade it from the sun.

The fragrant herbaceous peonies take over when the tree peonies are done, and are just as beautiful.

There's a nice little stroll garden here too, especially cool and relaxing when it's hot out. — There’s a nice little stroll garden here too, especially cool and relaxing when it’s hot out.

This inari fox shrine is one of the most charming of its sort I've ever seen. — This inari fox shrine is one of the most charming of its sort I’ve ever seen.

NISHIARAI DAISHI TEMPLE MAP

And just for fun, here are the eleven strangest shrines in Tokyo, with all the inside scoop on how to enlist the resident gods’ superpowers.

Click here for more

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Jonelle Patrick is the author of five novels set in Japan

For three hundred years, a missing tea bowl passes from one fortune-seeker to the next, changing the lives of all who possess it…**read more**

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