Things to Do in Chubu, Japan

Lake Suwa

A Lake at 759 m Known for Its August 15 Fireworks and Onsen Town

Nagano's largest lake, about 16 km round, with the hot-spring town of Kami-Suwa on its eastern sh...

Michi-no-Eki Utsukushigahara Kogen

Japan's highest roadside station, open only from spring to autumn

At the end of the Venus Line, this station sits at roughly 1,930 m on the Utsukushigahara plateau...

Mount Amagi

The Izu Peninsula's Highest Ridge, Walked Through Beech and Rhododendron

Not one peak but a range in the middle of the Izu Peninsula, on Japan's list of 100 Famous Mounta...

Hamamatsu Castle

Tokugawa Ieyasu’s early career gives Hamamatsu Castle its historical focus. A reconstructed keep ...

Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens

Shabani the Gorilla, Koalas and a 1937 Glasshouse in East Nagoya

Nagoya's big zoo and botanical garden on a hill in Chikusa Ward: Shabani the western lowland gori...

Hotakadake

Hotakadake: Japan's Third-Highest Peak, Two Days from Kamikochi

A horseshoe of rock peaks around the Karasawa cirque, topped by Okuhotaka at 3,190 m, the highest...

Japan Monkey Park

Meitetsu's hillside amusement park outside Inuyama

An old-school amusement park on a wooded hill east of Inuyama, with a coaster that runs through t...

Michi-no-Eki Ito Marine Town

A seaside onsen and dried fish on the Izu coast

A roadside station and harbour stop beside Ito Sunrise Marina on Route 135. Day-trip onsen baths ...

Sunpu Castle Park

In central Shizuoka, moats and reconstructed gates outline the castle where Tokugawa Ieyasu spent...

Lake Motosuko

The Clear Western Lake Whose View of Fuji Is on the 1,000-Yen Note

The westernmost and deepest of the Fuji Five Lakes; the local tourism association calls its water...

Lake Yamanakako

The Highest and Largest of the Fuji Five Lakes, Where the Winter Sun Sets on the Summit

The largest of the Fuji Five Lakes and, at about 980 metres, the highest, on the east side of Mou...

Mount Ontake

Mount Ontake: A Ropeway to 2,150 m and a Summit Open Only in Summer

A 3,067-meter active volcano on the Nagano and Gifu border, the second-highest volcano in Japan a...

Okazaki Castle

The Castle Where Tokugawa Ieyasu Was Born, Rebuilt in 1959

Tokugawa Ieyasu, the man who founded the Tokugawa shogunate, was born in this castle. The concret...

Yahiko Shrine

Bow Twice, Clap Four Times at Echigo's First Shrine Below Mount Yahiko

The first-ranked shrine of the old Echigo province, at the foot of 634 m Mount Yahiko, whose summ...

Michi-no-Eki Donguri-no-Sato Inabu

Rice-flour bread and a hot spring in the Aichi hills

A mountain stop on Route 153 in Inabu, the far northeast corner of Toyota city. People queue for ...