Located at the northernmost edge of Japan, Hokkaido is a land surrounded by magnificent nature. There you can savor seafood and mountain-specific foods cultivated in grand nature, along with various other gourmet foods. Fresh crab, shrimp and salmon from the northern seas, along with fresh mutton barbecue, Asahikawa ramen characterized by its soy sauce taste, and numerous other vivid-looking delicious dishes can be enjoyed there. Hokkaido also offers the lavender fields at Furano, impressive streets at Otaru, the night scenery of beautiful Hakodate, and many other scenic spots as well. The snow festival held every February in Sapporo, where the streets are filled with more than 200 huge snow statues, is the highlight. Moreover, Hokkaido is dotted at various points with ski slopes and hot springs, allowing you to savor its rich nature and tasty foods in ways that vary with the four seasons.
Clock tower
The clock is designated an important cultural property by the government, and has been tick-tacking the time for more than a century. The beautiful sounds of its bells impressed renowned authors back in the Taisho era (1912-1926).
Historical Museum of Hokkaido
A comprehensive historical museum established to commemorate Hokkaido’s centennial.
A food theme park for Hokkaido ramen where you can enjoy delicious ramen dishes from the four major areas of Hokkaido’s ramen culture (Sapporo, Asahikawa, Hakodate and Kushiro).
Multi-language leaflets can be downloaded at:
Abashiri Prison is where vicious criminals were once incarcerated and from which escape was considered the most difficult. It remains the best-known prison in Japan. This museum allows you to examine conditions in the prison, along with its history.
Located in the northeastern Japan, the Tohoku region includes the six prefectures of Aomori, Akita, Iwate, Miyagi, Yamagata, and Fukushima. The Shirakami-Sanchi beech forest in the Shirakami Mountains that span the prefectures of Aomori and Akita is registered as a World Heritage site, and allows you to experience the wondrous world of nature with all your body. The foot of the Zao mountain range located along the border between Miyagi and Yamagata is home to many ski slopes and hot springs. Zao and other parts of Tohoku offer a great number of hot springs and ski slopes typifying Japan to refresh both your mind and body. You can enjoy not only fresh fish and shellfish from off the Sanriku coast in Iwate Prefecture, but also Kitagata ramen from Fukushima Prefecture, ox tongue from Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture, and other foods peculiar to the local area. Tohoku also offers many scenic spots that allow you to get in touch with local history and culture, including Hirosaki Castle in Aomori Prefecture, Aizu Wakamatsu Castle in Fukushima Prefecture, Hiraizumi in Iwate Prefecture, and Kakunodate in Akita Prefecture. Yamagata Prefecture is also home to the Shonai area, the setting for Okuribito, a film that received an Oscar for best foreign film in the USA.
Shirakami Mountains
The Shirakami Mountains that span the prefectures of Aomori and Akita generally refer to a vast mountainous region that encompasses 130,000 hectares. In December 1993, this mountain range was designated a World Heritage site. The virgin natural forest of beech trees—largely untouched by human influence—is one of the world’s largest forests.
Zao Hot Spring
The Zao mountain range generally refers to the Ou mountain range that spans the prefectures of Yamagata and Miyagi. Above all, Zao Hot Spring on the side of Yamagata features a full array of facilities where you can stay and play, including nearby ski slopes and many hot spring inns. During winter, you can see soft rime—an art of nature created from coniferous trees (Abies mariesii Mast) covered in snow and ice.
Ryusendo Cave is designated a natural monument of Japan. This cave spans more than 2,500 meters of known explored area. An underground lake of cobalt blue is among the most transparent lakes in the world.
Wakamatsu Castle ruins (Tsurugajo Castle)
The symbol of Aizu Wakamatsu-shi in Fukushima Prefecture. The present castle tower was restored in 1965 and houses a hometown museum that exhibits important cultural assets of the country and other historic artifacts.
Located in the eastern part of the Japanese archipelago, this region is home to Tokyo, the capital of Japan, along with the prefectures of Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa, and Yamanashi. Tokyo includes Ginza, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Akihabara and other districts that serve as sources of leading-edge fashion and information. Tokyo is also an international city combined with Asakusa, Ryogoku and other old areas that retain traditional Japanese culture. The Tokyo metropolitan area is quite crowded and includes Yokohama having the largest Chinatown in Japan and impressive red-bricked warehouses, Tokyo Disneyland in Chiba Prefecture, The Railway Museum in Saitama Prefecture, and various other sightseeing spots that will satisfy your curiosity. The Kanto region also offers many scenic spots that symbolize Japan, such as Kusatsu Hot Spring in Gunma Prefecture—one of Japan’s three greatest hot springs—along with Kairakuen in Ibaraki Prefecture, one of Japan’s three best traditional gardens, and Nikko Toshogu in Tochigi Prefecture, where Tokugawa Ieyasu, who established the Edo era, is enshrined. You can enjoy splendid mountain scenery at Hakone in Kanagawa Prefecture, Nagatoro in Saitama Prefecture, and in the area spanning Yamanashi and Shizuoka Prefectures that surrounds Mt. Fuji. The region also offers many delicious foods including the dumplings of Utsunomiya in Saitama Prefecture, along with the wines and fruits of Yamanashi Prefecture, and the delicious seafood of Boso in Chiba Prefecture.
Asakusa
Asakusa, the royal road to sightseeing in Tokyo, is an enjoyable location where you can find the amusing crowdedness at Senso-ji (the oldest temple in Tokyo), along with Nakamise-dori, the street leading to the temple. Asakusa is rich in clothing, sundries, foods, and other Japanese souvenirs.
Kairakuen
Kairakuen is one of Japan’s three greatest parks, together with Kenrokuen in Kanazawa and Korakuen in Okayama. The park was created in 1842 by Tokugawa Nariaki, the ninth feudal lord of Mito-han (a feudal area that encompassed today’s Ibaraki Prefecture). This Japanese park allows visitors to enjoy beautiful natural scenery and strolling throughout the four seasons, including Japanese plum in spring, green mosochiku bamboo in summer, and crimson foliage in autumn.
Nikko
One sightseeing spot not far from Tokyo and loved by many people is Nikko in Tochigi Prefecture. It is full of places worthy of seeing, such as the World Heritage site of Toshogu Shrine, the powerful Kegon Falls, and Chuzenji Lake where you can enjoy the surrounding scenery while aboard a tour boat.
Located in the middle of Mt. Haruna in Gunma Prefecture, Ikaho Hot Spring allows you to enjoy not only its high-quality hot springs but also the unique impressions of a hot spring district with a sloped street of stone steps more than four centuries old. This stone-stepped street is flanked by inns, hotels, and souvenir shops.
The Railway Museum
Located in the middle of Mt. Haruna in Gunma Prefecture, Ikaho Hot Spring allows you to enjoy not only its high-quality hot springs but also the unique impressions of a hot spring district with a sloped street of stone steps more than four centuries old. This stone-stepped street is flanked by inns, hotels, and souvenir shops.
The hina (doll) festival is held on March 3 with special hina dolls on display in each household, wishing for the sound growth of their daughters. The large hina festival at Katsuura-shi in Chiba Prefecture is very famous, with as many as 1,200 hina dolls arranged along the 60 stone steps of Tomisaki Shrine.
This town retains the remnants of the Kamakura Shogunate established by Minamoto no Yoritomo. Kamakura is home to Tsurugaoka Hachimangu and other Buddhist temples and shrines, along with many other historic sites. The Shonan shoreline extends just outside the town where you can enjoy sunbathing and surfing.
Hokushinetsu and Chubu region
The Hokushinetsu and Chubu region includes the nine prefectures of Niigata, Toyama, Ishikawa, Nagano, Gifu, Fukui, Shizuoka, Aichi, and Mie. Aichi Prefecture has played a very important role in Japanese history, and by visiting Nagoya Castle and Inuyama Castle (a national treasure), you can get in touch with the history and culture of a long gone era. The region offers an abundance of fresh seafood from fishery ports typical of Japan, including those along Toyama Bay in Toyama Prefecture facing the Sea of Japan, Wakasa Bay in Fukui Prefecture, Suruga Bay in Shizuoka Prefecture facing the Pacific Ocean, and Ise Bay in Mie Prefecture. Niigata Prefecture is one of Japan’s leading rice-growing areas where you can savor Japan’s staple food of rice as well as sake (Japanese rice wine). Moreover, the region offers solemn mountainous scenery here and there, including Mt. Fuji which spans the prefectures of Shizuoka and Yamanashi, along with the Tateyama mountain range in Toyama Prefecture, the Hida mountain range in Gifu Prefecture, and Mt. Yatsugatake in Nagano Prefecture. The ski slopes built in those mountainous areas allow you to enjoy skiing while viewing the splendid natural scenery. This region is also home to one of Japan’s three most famous gardens—Kenrokuen in Ishikawa Prefecture—along with Zenkoji Temple in Nagano Prefecture, Ise Jingu Shrine in Mie Prefecture, the World Heritage site of Shirakawa-go in Gifu Prefecture, and many other scenic spots.
The Watanabe residence (the mansion of an affluent farmer)
The Watanabe residence, designated an important cultural asset by the government, features a main house of about 1,600 square meters situated in a residential area of about 10,000 square meters, and allows you to imagine the gorgeous lifestyle of an affluent farmer during the Edo era.
One of Japan’s three greatest gardens, Kenrokuen is so named because of the six scenic spots there. This round-tour type of garden is fashioned with teahouses and lanterns, colored with carefully cultivated plants, and features other attractions as well.
Certified as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site, Shirakawago is a quiet mountain village consisting of about 110 wooden houses of the gasshozukuri style peculiar to this region. During weekends every January and February, houses are lit up to offer fantastic views of the streets reflected on the pure-white snowy scenery.
Eiheiji Temple—the head temple of the Sotoshu sect of Buddhism—is a Zen temple founded in 1244 by Dogen, a famous Zen Buddhist monk. A site area as large as 330,000 square meters contains Shichido Garan, the center for spiritual training, along with more than 70 buildings invoking a solemn presence amid huge trees of Japanese cedar. Eiheiji Temple is known as one of Japan’s largest temples.
Spanning the prefectures of Yamanashi and Shizuoka, Mt. Fuji is Japan’s highest mountain at 3,776 meters. Mt. Fuji is one of Japan’s three greatest spiritual mountains, among Japan’s 100 most famous mountain views, counted among Japan’s greatest 100 sites for good geological features, and designated as part of the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park.
Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology
This museum preserves and utilizes a former Toyota factory as part of Japan’s industrial heritage. The premises house the Textile Machinery Pavilion, Automobile Pavilion, Technoland, and a steam engine. The history of group industry and technology is presented in an easy-to-understand manner with human operators demonstrating the operation of actual machinery.
The region includes the prefectures of Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo, Nara, Shiga, and Wakayama. The prefectures of Kyoto and Nara are home to the former ancient capitals of Heiankyo, Heijokyo and other ancient capitals, and offer various interesting sightseeing spots that retain the remnants of those former centers of politics and culture. Among the representative ones are Kinkakuji Temple in Kyoto Prefecture and Todaiji Temple in Nara Prefecture. Moreover, Osaka (Japan’s second largest city) is home to Shinsaibashi, Namba and many other active districts in which old town merchant culture is deeply rooted. The three hallowed ground sites and approaches in the Kii mountains spanning the prefectures of Wakayama, Nara, and Mie (in the Hokushinetsu and Chubu region) are registered as World Heritage sites, and offer many cultural and historic structures. There you can enjoy a variety of diverse foods, including the soy milk skin of Kyoto Prefecture, takoyaki of Osaka Prefecture, Kobe beef of Hyogo Prefecture, Omi beef of Shiga Prefecture, and the oranges of Wakayama Prefecture. You can also find major scenic attractions to satisfy your curiosity, including Universal Studios Japan in Osaka Prefecture, Osaka Castle, Himeji Castle in Hyogo Prefecture (a World Heritage site and a national treasure), and Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture, Japan’s largest lake.
Kyoto Gion Festival
One of Japan’s three greatest festivals, Kyoto Gion Festival is known for its gorgeous, extravagant flair and lasting as long as a month. The highlight of the festival is the tour of 32 floats conducted on July 17. Among them, 29 floats are designated as important corporeal folk cultural assets.
Himeji Castle
Himeji Castle—a World Cultural Heritage site and a national treasure—is a great chalky castle of which Japan boasts on an international level. Given the beauty of its castle walls coated with white plaster, the castle is also known as “Shirasagi Castle.”
This facility is the best place for ninja art and boasts of the world’s leading materials about the art. The premises contain a ninja house, ninja art experience hall and ninja tradition building, along with a “ninja art experience square,” where men disguised as ninja demonstrate their art. Here you can purchase a variety of ninja goods.
Known for its Great Buddha of Nara, Todaiji Temple is a representative temple from the Nara era. Daibutu-den (Hall of the Great Buddha) imparts an overwhelming presence as the world’s largest wooden building.
Osaka Minami (Shinsaibashi and Dotombori)
Osaka is a city famous for eating and known as a place for kuidaore (literally meaning “eating until you faint”). Above all, the area collectively known as Minami (including Shinsaibashi, Dotombori and surrounding areas) is crowded with restaurants offering okonomiyaki (the local specialty), along with meat and fish dishes, as well as non-Japanese cuisine.
Adventure World
Located in Shirahama in Wakayama Prefecture, this theme park combines a zoo with an aquarium and an amusement park. This is the only place in Japan where giant pandas are kept. It offers safari tours, dolphin shows, and other attractions.
The Chugoku region and Shikoku region face each other across the Seto Inland Sea. The Chugoku region includes the prefectures of Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, and Yamaguchi; the Shikoku region includes the prefectures of Kagawa, Ehime, Tokushima, and Kochi. The Chugoku region is home to Miyajima in Hiroshima Prefecture and Iwami Ginzan (“Silver Mine”) in Shimane Prefecture (both registered as World Heritage sites), Izumo Taisha Shrine (a national treasure) in Shimane Prefecture, Okayama Korakuen (one of Japan’s three greatest gardens) in Okayama Prefecture, and numerous other sightseeing spots combining solemn and mysterious beauty with cultural value. Among other offerings of these regions are the puffer fish of Yamaguchi Prefecture, okonomiyaki of Hiroshima Prefecture, the peaches of Okayama Prefecture, the oranges of Ehime Prefecture, bonito of Kochi Prefecture, sanuki udon of Kagawa Prefecture, and other local foods reflecting local characteristics. The Awa Dance Festival of Tokushima Prefecture held every August is a grand festivity where performers dance and walk around the streets while calling out and providing musical accompaniment. The enthusiasm of locals envelops the entire atmosphere. The Tottori Sand Dunes of Tottori Prefecture, Akiyoshidai of Yamaguchi Prefecture, Naruto Whirling Waves of Tokushima Prefecture, and many other splendid scenic spots created by the grandeur of nature are also abundant. Setouchi International Art Festival 2010 will also be held next year, combining the beautiful islands of Seto Inland Sea with modern art.
Tottori Sand Dunes
The Tottori Sand Dunes, 16 kilometers east to west and 2.4 kilometers south to north, offer beautiful wind-swept patterns and sand scenery often called works of art by nature, along with animals and plants peculiar to sand dunes, and other features offering diverse appeal.
Tamatsukuri Hot Spring
As the oldest hot spring district in Japan, the Tamatsukuri Hot Spring district features classy hot spring inns along the Tamayu River that offer a relaxed atmosphere. Located near the cities of Matsue and Izumo, this district is also recommendable for overnight lodging after sight-seeing in the surrounding areas.
Okayama Korakuen
One of Japan’s three greatest parks, Okayama Korakuen has a total area of 133,000 square meters. The park is a rinsen kaiyu-style garden (literally meaning “circuit-style woods and a pond”) and believed to be the only park in Japan to have retained its original image as gardened during the Edo era.
Located in southwest Japan, this region includes the seven prefectures of Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Oita, Miyazaki, Kumamoto, and Kagoshima. Given its geographical characteristic as a volcanic zone, the region is home to Mt. Aso in Kumamoto Prefecture with one of the world’s largest calderas, Sakurajima with its majestic scenery, Unzen Hot Spring in Nagasaki Prefecture, Beppu Hot Spring and Yufuin Hot Spring in Oita Prefecture, Kurokawa Hot Spring in Kumamoto Prefecture, and many other popular hot springs. The region offers an abundance of seafood, mountain-specific foods and other foodstuffs, thereby allowing you to savor tastes peculiar to the localities, such as Watson pomelo and chicken dishes of Miyazaki Prefecture, Saga beef of Saga Prefecture, black pork of Kagoshima Prefecture, and horse meat of Kumamoto Prefecture. Hakata Dontaku (in Fukuoka Prefecture) held each May is a very impressive festival where gorgeously clad people dance and parade. Moreover, the region also offers sites for producing characteristic pottery, including Arita-yaki and Imari-yaki of Saga Prefecture, Hasami-yaki of Nagasaki Prefecture, and Satsuma Kiriko of Kagoshima Prefecture. Among the other highlights are Dazaifu Tenmangu in Fukuoka Prefecture, where the god of learning is enshrined, along with Oura Tenshudo (a national treasure) in Nagasaki Prefecture and the island of Yakushima (a World Heritage site) in Kagoshima Prefecture.
Yatai (food stalls) of Fukuoka
In the devastated city of Fukuoka after World War II, simply constructed food stalls emerged and became established as a local specialty. There you can enjoy ramen, oden and other dishes for the common people at low prices. Another source of joy here is the interaction with locals.
Saga Prefecture is famous for its abundant craft centers for porcelain. Above all, Arita-shi (the site for Arita-yaki) is dotted with numerous pottery shops and has a sister city relationship with the German city of Meissen , which is famous for its Meissen pottery.
Nagasaki Kunchi
This grand festival is held by Suwa Taisha Shrine, where the guardian god for citizens is enshrined. Typical of a place active in international exchange since olden times, Nagasaki is crowded with people enjoying Ja Odori (“dragon dance”), Kujira no Shiofuki (“spouting of a whale”), Taikoyama (Kokkodesho), Oranda Manzai, and other spiritual dances and performances inspired by Portugal, The Netherlands, China, and other parts of the world.
Beppu, Jigoku Meguri (“Hell Tour”)
The various sources of grotesque scenes abundantly present in Beppu-shi are called jigoku (”hell”). Depending on the content of a hot spring, people can see hot springs in blue, red, white and various other colors, along with intermittent springs and other characteristic hot springs.
Located just offshore Miyazaki Prefecture, Aoshima is a small island only 1.5 kilometers in circumference. However, it is home to a total of 226 higher plants such as tropical and subtropical plants indigenous to the island. The island is surrounded by odd rock formations called oni no sentakuita (“devil’s washboard”).
Kumagawa Kudari (Kuma River Rafting)
This is quite a thrilling boat ride negotiating the Kuma River, one of Japan’s rapidest streams, by relying solely on the skills of the boatman maneuvering the boat. The Kuma River is also a well-known place for outdoor sports where in recent years you can enjoy rafting and other outdoor sporting activities.
Jomonsugi (Yakushima Island)
The island of Yakushima is located about 60 kilometers south of the Osumi Peninsula in Kagoshima Prefecture. The place is home to a volunteer plant called jomonsugi, which is Yaku sugi (Yaku cedar) more than 2,700 years old. In addition to jomonsugi, the entire island is so beautiful as to warrant registration as a World Natural Heritage site, thus attracting an incessant flow of tourists from all over the world.
The region consists of 160 islands, both large and small, and is located at the southwestern edge of the Japanese archipelago. Given its subtropical climate zone, the region is warm year-round and surrounded by the sea, and therefore developed a unique culture.
Okinawa also offers many aspects of its characteristic cuisine. You can enjoy goya champuru (bitter gourd stir fry), a fried version of goya (a cucurbitaceous vegetable), along with mimiga (pig ears), and other dishes peculiar to Okinawa. You can enjoy watching the beautiful sea and sunbathing on the beaches, and yet another way to enjoy Okinawa is diving to interact with coral reefs and other forms of marine life. At Shuri Castle you can get in touch with the history of Okinawa, along with innumerable other attractions including the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium, where you can see powerful images of whale sharks and manta in super-huge aquariums. Shisa—a charm against evil—and other sundries are ideally suited as souvenirs.
Okinawa World
This is Okinawa’s largest theme park and also offers one of the largest calcareous caves in Japan. You can also experience practicing traditional craftwork in Okinawa.
Ryukyu Mura (Ryukyu Village)
This is a model village where you can see how things were during the Ryukyu era. The village features folk dwellings and stone monuments designated as corporeal cultural assets of Japan, and you can also savor dance, music and other arts from Ryukyu.
Shuri Castle
Located at an elevation of 120 to 130 meters at Shuri, in Okinawa’s capital of Naha, Shuri Castle was the former home of the king of the Ryukyu kingdom. In 2000, it was registered as a World Heritage site.
