Uchiko
Historic Town with a Kabuki Theater and Wax-Merchant Streets
A preserved town that prospered from vegetable-wax production, home to the restored Uchiko-za kab...
Yakushi-ji
Ancient Temple of Healing with the Frozen Music Pagoda
A World Heritage temple and one of the Seven Great Temples of Nara, celebrated for its elegant Ea...
Megijima
Setouchi Art Island Linked to the Onigashima Ogre Legend
A small island about 4 km off Takamatsu, associated with the Onigashima ogre-island legend and on...
Michi-no-Eki Awaji
Roadside station beside the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge, with terrace views and raw whitebait
The roadside station closest to the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge, on the north tip of Awaji Island, with ...
Myoko Kogen
A Mountain Resort with Waterfalls and Hot Springs
A scenic highland area at the base of Mount Myoko, known for the dramatic Naena Falls, natural ho...
Oga Peninsula
The Oga Peninsula juts dramatically into the Sea of Japan, famous as the home of the Namahage, fe...
Oirase Gorge
Oirase Mountain Stream
Pristine mountain stream flowing through ancient beech forest with countless waterfalls and moss-...
Oze National Park
Japan's most beloved highland marsh, with wooden boardwalks winding through vast alpine wetlands ...
Sakitsu Village
A Fishing Village Where Hidden Christians Saw Mary in Abalone Shells
A small fishing village on Amakusa Shimoshima whose Gothic church, built in 1934 with a tatami fl...
Takasaki Byakue Daikannon
A 42-Meter Goddess of Mercy Watching Over the City
A striking 42-meter white Kannon statue built in 1936, standing on a hilltop overlooking Takasaki...
Yoshimizu Shrine
The Yoshino Shoin Where Yoshitsune Hid, Go-Daigo Held Court and Hideyoshi Came for the Cherries
A small shrine on Mount Yoshino that was Yoshimizu-in, a monks' lodging of Kimpusen-ji, until the...
Egami Church
A White Wooden Church on Stilts in a Seaside Valley of Naru Island, Built with Savings from Kibinago Net Fishing
A small white wooden church with pale blue window frames, built in 1918 by Tetsukawa Yosuke for d...
Hokki-ji
Japan's Oldest Three-Storey Pagoda, Out in the Fields North-East of Horyu-ji
A small temple among fields on the north-east edge of Ikaruga. Its three-storey pagoda, finished ...
Inuyama Castle
One of only five National Treasure castles in Japan, with an original donjon dating to 1537.
Kimii-dera
Hillside Temple Known for Early Cherry Blossoms
A hillside temple founded in 770, the second stop on the Saigoku Kannon pilgrimage, reached by 23...