Shokoku-ji
Kinkaku-ji's Head Temple, With a Crying Dragon and Jakuchu Paintings
The head temple of Kinkaku-ji and Ginkaku-ji, just north of the Imperial Palace, with Japan's old...
Yayoi Kusama Museum
Kusama's Own Five-Floor Museum, Timed Tickets Only
The museum Yayoi Kusama founded in 2017 in a quiet corner of Shinjuku, showing her work in two ex...
Higashi Hongan-ji
A Free Giant Seven Minutes from Kyoto Station, With a Rope of Hair
Head temple of the Otani branch of Jodo Shinshu, with a Goei-do 76 metres wide that the temple co...
Nishi Hongan-ji
A Free Head Temple 15 Minutes from Kyoto Station, Open from 5:30
Head temple of the Hongwanji branch of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism, on this site since 1591. Entry is f...
Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum
Takarazuka’s Tezuka museum explores the imagination behind Astro Boy and other influential manga ...
Shibu Onsen
Nine Locked Bathhouses, a Key from Your Inn and a Towel to Stamp at Each One
A narrow, stone-paved onsen street in the Yokoyu valley with nine public bathhouses that are lock...
Taima-dera
Two Ancient Pagodas Under Mount Nijo and the Temple of the Taima Mandala
A temple at the foot of Mount Nijo in Katsuragi, and the only one in Japan where both of its anci...
Hakone Yumoto Onsen
Hakone's Gateway Onsen Town, Where the Romancecar Stops and Two Big Day Bathhouses Wait
Hakone Yumoto is the end of the line for the Odakyu Romancecar from Shinjuku, about 80 minutes ou...
Michi-no-Eki Asamushi Onsen
A fifth-floor hot spring bath above Mutsu Bay
The roadside station at Asamushi Onsen puts its public bath on the top floor, with glass looking ...
Okama Crater Lake
Zao's Acid Crater Lake, a Few Minutes from a Summit Car Park
A round crater lake about 325 m across at 1,550 m in the Zao range, inside the Miyagi side of the...
Shiretoko Five Lakes
Shiretoko Five Lakes: a Free Bear-Proof Boardwalk, or the Forest Trail With a Lecture or a Guide
Five small lakes in old forest about 14 km past Utoro, inside the Shiretoko World Natural Heritag...
Tokyo Sea Life Park
Bluefin Tuna Circling a Ring Tank Under a Glass Dome on Tokyo Bay, for 700 Yen
Tokyo's public aquarium in Kasai Rinkai Park, open since 1989 under a glass dome by architect Yos...
Ueno Zoo
Japan's First Zoo, Split Between a Hill and a Lotus Pond
Japan's oldest zoo, opened in 1882 inside Ueno Park, with about 3,000 animals of some 300 species...
Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum
Thirty Rescued Tokyo Buildings in Koganei Park, Ghibli Links Included
An open-air museum in Koganei Park where 30 historic buildings, from Edo-period farmhouses to a 1...
Hie Shrine
Escalators Up One Side, a Red Torii Tunnel Up the Other
A hilltop shrine in Nagatacho that guarded Edo Castle for the Tokugawa. Free to enter, open 6:00 ...