Cape Soya
Japan's Northernmost Monument, With Sakhalin 43 km Offshore
The northern tip of Hokkaido's main island at 45 degrees 31 minutes 22 seconds north, marked by a...
Hizen Nagoya Castle Ruins
Hideyoshi's Short-Lived Base for the Invasions of Korea
Stone walls and a bare keep base on a headland north of Karatsu, all that is left of the castle T...
Kitadake
Kitadake: Japan's Second-Highest Peak, With No Cars at the Trailhead
At 3,193 meters, Kitadake in the Southern Alps is second only to Fuji, and the only place on eart...
Mount Asama
An Active Volcano Where the Alert Level Decides How Far You Climb
The 2,568-meter volcano that smokes behind Karuizawa, on the Nagano and Gunma border. The crater ...
Saruhashi Bridge
Saruhashi: The Pierless Monkey Bridge 31 Meters Above the Katsura River
A wooden-clad footbridge 30.9 meters long that crosses the Katsura River gorge about 31 meters ab...
Tobu Zoo
White tigers and a wooden coaster in one Saitama park
A zoo and amusement park rolled into one, about an hour from Tokyo on the Tobu line: around 120 a...
Toranomon Hills
Four Towers, a Deck Over Sakurada-dori and a Hibiya Line Station of Its Own
Mori Building's four-tower district in Toranomon, built between 2014 and 2023 and tied together b...
Yanbaru
Yanbaru: The Forested North of Okinawa Island, Home of the Okinawa Rail, Two Hours From Naha by Car
The hilly, forested north of Okinawa Island, spread over the villages of Kunigami, Ogimi and Higa...
Battleship Mikasa
Togo's 1905 Flagship, Set in Concrete at the Edge of Yokosuka
The British-built battleship that carried Admiral Togo Heihachiro at the Battle of Tsushima in 19...
Hakone Open-Air Museum
Henry Moore on the Lawn, Picasso Indoors and a 28-Meter Footbath
Japan's first open-air art museum, opened in 1969: about 120 sculptures spread over 70,000 square...
Hateruma Island
Japan's Southernmost Inhabited Island, Reached by an Open-Sea Boat That Often Doesn't Run
The southernmost inhabited island in Japan: about 440 people, sugarcane fields, the white sand of...
Michi-no-Eki Akita Port
A free 100-metre view from Akita's port tower
Port Tower Selion, 143 metres of glass at Tsuchizaki harbour, doubles as a roadside station. Ride...
Michi-no-Eki Himi
Fish market lunch and a foot bath on Toyama Bay
Himi Banya-gai is the outside market of Himi fishing port, built as a row of fishermen's huts. Co...
Michi-no-Eki Kashima
Ariake Sea mudflats on Route 207
Saga's first registered roadside station sits right on the Ariake Sea. At low tide the bay drains...
Michi-no-Eki Kyoda
Mozuku tempura where the expressway ends
Okinawa's first registered roadside station, on Route 58 just past Kyoda IC where the Okinawa Exp...