Discover Japan's Hidden Gems

Explore temples, shrines, castles, parks, and more

Shrine
Osaka

Osaka Tenmangu Shrine

Shrine to the God of Learning and Host of the Tenjin Matsuri

A shrine dedicated to Sugawara no Michizane, the deity of learning, and the site of the Tenjin Ma...

Osaka, Japan
Museum
Hokkaido

Sapporo Beer Museum

Japan's Only Beer Museum

Japan's only beer museum, housed in an atmospheric red-brick Meiji-era building with tastings ava...

Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
Park
Tokyo

Shinjuku Gyoen

Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden

Expansive national garden in central Tokyo blending Japanese, French, and English landscape styles.

Tokyo, Japan
Shrine
Miyazaki

Ama no Iwato Shrine

Cave Where the Sun Goddess Hid

Sacred shrine marking the cave where the sun goddess Amaterasu hid, plunging the world into darkn...

Takachiho, Miyazaki, Japan
Historic Site
Nagasaki

Glover Garden

A hillside open-air museum featuring Western-style residences from Japan's Meiji-era foreign sett...

Nagasaki, Japan
City
Yamaguchi

Hagi

A well-preserved Edo-era castle town on the Sea of Japan coast that produced many leaders of the ...

Hagi, Yamaguchi, Japan
City
Kumamoto

Hitoyoshi

Hidden Mountain Town of Samurai Heritage and Shochu

Remote mountain town known as the Little Kyoto of Kyushu, famous for its samurai heritage, ball s...

Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto, Japan
Theme Park
Nagasaki

Huis Ten Bosch

Huis Ten Bosch - Japan's Dutch Kingdom Theme Park

Japan's largest theme park recreating a Dutch town with canals, windmills, flower gardens, and se...

Sasebo, Nagasaki, Japan
Temple
Ehime

Ishite-ji

Shikoku's Most Visited Pilgrimage Temple

Temple #51 of the Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage and the most visited temple on the entire route, l...

Matsuyama, Ehime, Japan
Historic Site
Mie

Kumano Kodo Iseji Route

Walking the ancient Iseji pilgrimage route connects you to over a thousand years of spiritual jou...

Mie, Japan
Museum
Mie

Mikimoto Pearl Island

Island Where Cultured Pearls Were First Produced

A small island in Toba Bay where Kokichi Mikimoto first produced a cultured pearl in 1893, now a ...

Toba, Mie, Japan
Attraction
Akita

Oga Peninsula

The Oga Peninsula juts dramatically into the Sea of Japan, famous as the home of the Namahage, fe...

Akita, Japan
Attraction
Kagawa

Shodoshima

Shodoshima - Japan's Mediterranean Olive Island

The 'Olive Island' of the Seto Inland Sea, known for olive groves, centuries-old soy sauce brewer...

Kagawa, Japan
Island
Wakayama

Tomogashima

The 'Castle in the Sky' Island of Jungle-Swallowed WWII Fort Ruins

A cluster of uninhabited islands in the Kitan Strait off Wakayama, where overgrown Meiji-era gun ...

Wakayama, Japan
Castle
Okayama

Bitchu-Matsuyama Castle

The highest original castle in Japan at 430 meters elevation, a mountaintop fortress often shroud...

Takahashi, Okayama, Japan