Remember where eachgoshuin came from.
Keep every goshuin with its shrine or temple and its visit date — from your first, or from a book filled years ago.
One goshuin bookRecord as many goshuin in it as you like
- No sign-in
- No advertising
- One purchase
- Records stay on the device
iPhone with iOS 16.4 or later · available on the App Store
When this helps
Whether you are about to receive your first goshuin or already own several books, these are the three troubles this app is built around.
Weeks later, the page will not say where it is from
A goshuin is brush-written and dated in a Japanese era, while your phone uses the Western calendar. Unless the name of the place and the visit date are kept with the photo, the page alone often cannot tell you either.
The photos and the book are apart
A row of photos cannot answer which book, and which page of it, holds the goshuin from a given day.
A phone change takes it away
You changed phones and several books of records were gone. Restoring was up to the app, and no copy stayed in your hands.
From photos to a ledger
From picking the photos to seeing them settle into books and pages. You never retype a date one record at a time.
Import several photos at once
Just pick them from your photo library. The app only receives the photos you chose in the iOS photo picker, and never asks for permission to read the whole library.
The capture date becomes the starting value
Imported photos arrive in the order you shot them, each with its capture date filled in. Even when you photographed the pages later, the next step takes them back to the dates on the pages.
2023.04.09
Fix the visit date in its Japanese era afterwards
Keep the Japanese era written on the goshuin, and fix the visit date photo by photo, or give the photos you select the same visit date at once. Adding them to a book also follows the day you visited.
Apr 9, Reiwa 5 (2023)
Add them to a book and its pages
Choose a book and the page numbers are assigned for you. From then on you can ask which book, which page, when, and which shrine or temple each goshuin came from.
Adding imported photos to a book one at a time needs no purchase. “Add all to book” comes with Ledger Full.
Which book, which page
Page numbers are assigned for you in each book. From the second book on, one purchase of Ledger Full lets you make as many books as you like.
| 1 | Apr 9, Reiwa 5 (2023) | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Nov 23, Reiwa 5 (2023) | |
| 3 | May 5, Reiwa 6 (2024) | |
| 4 | Mar 30, Reiwa 7 (2025) |
Book 1Mihon-ji · bought here
1 page, Mihon-ji
2 page, Reimei-ji
3 page, Joraku-in
4 page, Mihon-ji
Book 2Reimei-ji · bought here
1 page, Reimei-ji
2 page, Joraku-in
3 page, Mihon-ji
4 page, Reimei-ji
Book 3Joraku-in · bought here
1 page, Joraku-in
2 page, Mihon-ji
3 page, Reimei-ji
4 page, Joraku-in
Three features that build a ledger even afterwards
Import photos in bulk and fix the visit dates afterwards
Pick several photos from your library and they line up in Imported photos with each capture date filled in. Fix the visit date in its Japanese era, photo by photo or by giving the photos you select the same date at once, before adding them to a book and its pages.
A ledger of books and pages
Each book (its cover, the shrine or temple you bought it at, its start date) gets page numbers assigned for you, and rows move up or down. One shrine or temple can hold several goshuin, each photo with its own visit date.
An encrypted backup that survives a phone change
Records and photos are saved where the standard iOS backup reaches them. You can also export a backup file encrypted with a passphrase and import it on the new phone.
What the screens look like
These are the real app screens. Every goshuin, shrine and temple in them is a fictional sample.
Imported photos: the capture date starts it off, then you fix the visit date 
Book detail: page numbers are automatic, and rows move up or down 
Backup: the last export time and the encrypted export
Pricing
One book needs no purchase. A second book and beyond, “Add all to book” for imported photos, and PDF / CSV export come with one purchase of Ledger Full.To keep each paper goshuin book as its own book in the app, you need Ledger Full from the second book on.
No sign-in
No sign-in, no account registration
No advertising
No advertisements are shown
One purchase
A one-time payment in the iOS app
Records stay on the device
Records are saved on the device and never sent anywhere
What you can use without a purchase
No purchase
- One goshuin bookRecord as many goshuin in it as you like
- Importing photosAdded to a book one at a time, saved with the visit date, the shrine or temple, and your note
- Japanese-era visit datesEnter and sort by Reiwa, Heisei, Showa, Taisho and Meiji
- Several goshuin per shrine or templeEach photo can have its own visit date
- SearchFind by the name of the shrine or temple, its reading, or your note
- The standard iOS backupIncluded in iCloud Backup and Quick Start
- Encrypted backup export and importMove your records and photos to a new phone in one file
- Visit plansLine up the shrines and temples you want to go to, and see the route in Google Maps in that order
- Pilgrimage lists in numbered orderShrines and temples you have records for are marked “Recorded”
Ledger Full
The price shown in the App Store
The App Store shows the final price.
- A second book and beyond (no limit)Keep your goshuin in separate books
- “Add all to book” for imported photosAdd two or more imported photos to a book and its pages at once
- PDF / CSV exportPrint your records or open them in a spreadsheet
- Cover patternsChoose a cover from six patterns such as seigaiha waves and asanoha hemp leaves
- Look backYour records by year, month, book and tag, the monthly trend, a map of the prefectures you’ve recorded, and the places you visit most
- TripsGather the shrines and temples you visited in a row into a trip, and look back on it with the route map and your visit photos
- “Apply all at once” for suggestions from photosApply the dates and shrines or temples read from photos to two or more photos at once
- Icon colourChoose your Home Screen icon from six colours such as indigo, ink black and matcha
- Your own pilgrimage listsPut the shrines and temples you choose in your own order, such as a Seven Lucky Gods tour or local pilgrimage sites, with “Recorded” on the ones you have records for
- There is no subscription
- This purchase is valid only in this app
Frequently asked questions
- Can I add goshuin from years ago afterwards, all at once?
- Yes. Pick several photos from your photo library and they line up in Imported photos, each with its capture date as the starting visit date. Fix the visit date photo by photo, or give the photos you select the same visit date at once, then add them to a book and its pages. Adding imported photos to a book one at a time needs no purchase. “Add all to book” comes with Ledger Full (an in-app purchase).
- Can I enter the visit date in a Japanese era?
- Yes. You can enter Reiwa, Heisei, Showa, Taisho and Meiji, and your list of records and search results are ordered by the Japanese-era visit date. When you add photos to a book together afterwards, they are given pages in the order you visited. When one shrine or temple gave you several goshuin, each photo keeps its own visit date.
- I own several goshuin books. Can I keep them apart?
- Yes. Each book (its cover, the shrine or temple you bought it at, its start date) gets page numbers assigned for you, and rows move up or down. The first book needs no purchase and takes as many entries as you like; from the second book on, one purchase of Ledger Full lets you make as many books as you like. However many paper goshuin books you own, you can put them all into one book without a purchase; to keep each paper book as its own book, you need Ledger Full.
- Can I pick a shrine or temple from a list?
- Yes. You can search the list of shrines and temples across Japan bundled with the app (from Wikidata) by name, reading or place, and pick one. The Map tab shows the ones in view as pins, and you can start a record from a pin. A shrine or temple missing from the list can be added by typing its name, and once saved it is suggested next time. The search happens on the device, and what you type is never sent anywhere.
- Can I record a visit where I received no goshuin?
- Yes. You can keep any number of visits for each shrine or temple, each with a date and a note, and you can record a visit even if you do not remember the date. On the shrine or temple’s screen, visits and goshuin are listed together, newest date first, so you can check on the spot when you last went. Visits are included in the encrypted backup you export and import.
- Can I also keep photos of the grounds or amulets from the day I visited?
- Yes. Each visit can keep up to four visit photos, such as the grounds, amulets or the view that day. Pick them from your photo library or take them with the app’s camera (a photo you take is not saved to your photo library). They are kept apart from your goshuin photos, so they never mix into your goshuin records or a book’s pages. They need no purchase, are saved only on the device, and are included in the encrypted backup file.
- Can I plan a visit by lining up the shrines and temples I want to go to in the order I will go?
- Yes. Make a visit plan and line up the shrines and temples you want to go to in the order you will go. You can make one before you have set a date. You can reorder them by hand, or have them ordered starting from the first one, with each next one chosen as the shrine or temple nearest in a straight line to the one before it. “Directions in Google Maps” shows the route in Google Maps in that order. Only the places’ locations and their order are passed to Google Maps, and the app does not use your current location, either to make the plan or to show the route. Making a plan, adding shrines and temples and seeing the route need no purchase. “Make this day a trip”, which gathers that day’s records into a trip you can look back on with the route map, comes with Ledger Full (an in-app purchase).
- Can I use it to record a pilgrimage circuit?
- Yes. The pilgrimage circuits bundled with the app open as pilgrimage lists with the sites in numbered order, and the row of each shrine or temple you have a goshuin or visit record for shows “Recorded”. “Recorded” comes from records of shrines and temples you picked from the app’s list of shrines and temples; one you saved by name only gets it too once you link it to the one in that list. The order of the sites is built from Wikidata and bundled with the app, and opening the lists and recording need no purchase. Making your own pilgrimage list, with the shrines and temples you choose in your own order, such as a Seven Lucky Gods tour or local pilgrimage sites, comes with Ledger Full (an in-app purchase). The app does not show how many of the sites have records, or what proportion.
- Is there a limit on how many I can record?
- There is no limit on the number of entries. Even the one book you can use without a purchase records as many goshuin as you like. Photos are saved scaled to about 2,048px on the long edge. A photo recorded through “Add a goshuin” or “Shoot pages” also keeps an editing copy of up to 4,096px on the long edge on the device, so that its cropping and corrections can be redone later, which uses about 2–4 MB more storage per entry.
- Is it a one-time purchase? Is there a monthly payment, or advertising?
- A one-time payment in the iOS app. There is no subscription. No advertisements are shown. The purchase adds a second book and beyond, “Add all to book” for imported photos, and PDF / CSV export. Adding imported photos to a book one at a time needs no purchase.
- Do I need an account, or to sign in?
- No sign-in, no account registration. The app does not ask for an email address either. Records are saved on the device, so nothing you read or write ever depends on a membership.
- Which devices can I use it on?
- It runs on iPhone with iOS 16.4 or later. There is no iPad-specific layout. It does not sync between devices, so your records are on the phone you use. When you change phones, you can move the records and photos in one file encrypted with a passphrase.
- Does it need access to my whole photo library?
- No. When you pick from your photo library, the app only receives the photos you chose in the iOS photo picker (the system picker). It never asks for permission to read the whole library.
- Does it ask for location permission?
- Only when you press Current location on the Map or Records screen, and only “While Using the App” — never when you open the app or save a record. Your location is used only to move the map there and to list nearby shrines and temples, nearest first; it is never saved or sent anywhere, and the app uses no address search. Where a shrine or temple stands is optional: pick it from the list, or tap the map to drop a pin.
- Where is my data saved?
- All of it on the device you use. There is no server and no account, and records and photos are not sent anywhere. There are settings that send the developer a record of where the app stopped (a crash report) and how the app is used, and in newer versions both start out as “send”. You can stop them in Settings at any time, and what is sent carries no goshuin record and no photo.
- What do I do when I change phones?
- Records and photos are saved where the standard iOS backup reaches them (iCloud Backup and Quick Start). You can also export a backup file (.goshuin) encrypted with a passphrase and import it on the new phone. The goshuin records and photos already in a book move with this file, and so do imported photos not yet in a book. An older version of the app may not be able to import a file exported from a newer version, or may not bring all of it back, so install the latest version from the App Store on the new phone. The Ledger Full purchase is not inside this file, but on the new phone, with the same Apple ID, “Settings → Restore purchase” brings it back.
- Can I return it or get a refund?
- The in-app purchase is handled by Apple’s App Store. Because of the nature of digital content, a purchase cannot be cancelled once it is confirmed, and refunds follow Apple’s rules.
- How long has it been available?
- It has been on the App Store since September 10, 2026. It runs on iPhone with iOS 16.4 or later. When you need a second book or another paid feature, you buy Ledger Full once.
- Is there an Android version?
- Only the iOS version is published today. An Android version would come after it, and because the app has no accounts, a purchase there is expected to be separate from the iOS one.
Read the guides first
Each guide is useful with or without the app.
- How to collect goshuin in Japan: a before-you-go checklist
A checklist for a first goshuin trip: one book, the official information to check for each shrine or temple, the order of visit and request, what to do with a pre-written sheet, and how to record each goshuin on the day.
- Senso-ji goshuin: where to go, when the desk is open, and what to prepare
Where Senso-ji gives its goshuin (Yogodo Hall), the hours the temple publishes, the two goshuin on offer and what to prepare — each fact tied to the temple’s own website and the date it was checked.
- Which temple or shrine is this goshuin from? How to check
How to work out which temple or shrine a goshuin came from: read the brush writing and the smaller writing beside it, convert the Japanese-era date, use your own photos and itinerary, then check a candidate against its official page — without guessing.
Published on the App Store
iPhone with iOS 16.4 or later is all you need. One book takes no purchase, so you can start recording right away.
- Requirements
- iPhone with iOS 16.4 or later
- What the purchase covers
- You buy Ledger Full once, when you need a second book or another paid feature. This purchase is valid only in this app.