Nakayamadera Temple
A vivid blue five-story pagoda rises above Nakayamadera, a temple closely associated with prayers...
Narusawa Ice Cave
Steep Stairs Down to Year-Round Ice Under the Aokigahara Forest
A lava tube formed in the 864 eruption on Fuji's north side, kept at about 3°C so ice lasts all y...
Odawara Castle
Odawara’s reconstructed keep rises above moats, gates and a castle park close to the station. The...
Settsukyo Park
The Akutagawa River cuts through wooded hills north of Takatsuki, creating a gorge of rocky banks...
Shokasonjuku Academy
The Two-Room Village School in Hagi Where Yoshida Shoin Taught Ito Hirobumi
A small wooden schoolhouse in the grounds of Shoin Shrine in Hagi, where Yoshida Shoin taught for...
Ushiku Daibutsu
A monumental bronze Amida Buddha with interior worship spaces and observation windows, set in gro...
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...
Yamanaka Onsen
Basho's Nine-Day Stop, a Public Bath in Two Buildings and a 1.3 km Gorge Walk
One of the Kaga onsen towns, in the valley of the Daishoji River. The public bath, Kikunoyu, cost...
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...
Yuzuki Castle Ruins
Inside Dogo Park, Yuzuki preserves the moats and earthworks of the Kono family’s medieval strongh...
Akiyamago
Akiyamago: Thirteen Snowbound Hamlets Up the Nakatsu River, and a Riverbed You Dig Your Own Bath In
Thirteen hamlets strung about 20 km along the Nakatsu River gorge, five in Sakae village (Nagano)...
Chugu-ji
A Nunnery Beside Horyu-ji's Yumedono, Kept for One Dark Wooden Bodhisattva
A small nunnery right next to the Yumedono in Horyu-ji's east precinct. It is kept for its main i...
Doai Station
Doai Station: 462 Steps Up from a Platform Inside a Mountain Tunnel
An unstaffed JR Joetsu Line station whose down-line platform sits inside the Shin-Shimizu Tunnel,...
Hirauchi Kaichu Onsen
Yakushima's Sea-Rock Bath That Only Surfaces Around Low Tide
Two rock pools on the shore at Hirauchi, on Yakushima's south coast, where hot spring water rises...
Hoshi Onsen Chojukan
A One-Inn Hot Spring Where the Water Rises Through the Bath Floor, Four Buses a Day from Sarugakyo
Hoshi Onsen is a single wooden inn, Chojukan, at the foot of the Mikuni Pass. Its big bath, Hoshi...