Japan

Classic landmarkTaitō, Tokyo

Sensō-ji

Beneath the great lantern of the Kaminarimon: where Edo charm meets Tokyo's everyday bustle

Classic landmarkChūō, Osaka

Dōtonbori

Under the neon of the Glico Running Man: the ultimate food battlefield for 'eating yourself bankrupt in Osaka'

Classic landmarkNara, Nara

Nara Park

An ancient capital where 1,200 sacred deer roam: the thousand-year Heijō-kyō guarded by deer and the Great Buddha

Classic landmarkHimeji, Hyōgo

Himeji Castle

'White Heron Castle', spreading its wings: Japan's first castle to become a World Cultural Heritage Site

Classic landmarkYamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures

Mount Fuji

Japan's sacred 3,776-m peak, the 'once in a lifetime' place to greet the sunrise

Classic landmarkFurano, Hokkaido

Furano

Lavender fields and the Patchwork Road: a purple dream of northern summer

Classic landmarkOtaru, Hokkaido

Otaru Canal

A canal at night lit by gas lamps: a romantic dusk in a northern port town

Classic landmarkNaha, Okinawa

Shuri Castle

The vermilion palace of the Ryukyu Kingdom: the soul of Okinawa reborn from fire

Classic landmarkHatsukaichi, Hiroshima

Itsukushima Shrine

A great torii that 'floats' on the sea at high tide: a mythical world between the tides

Classic landmarkShirakawa, Gifu

Shirakawa-gō

A snow-country fairy tale of thatched gasshō-zukuri roofs: a farming poem within a World Heritage Site

Trending spotMinato, Tokyo

teamLab Borderless Azabudai

'A museum without a map': light flowing, merging and being reborn in a borderless space

Classic landmarkShibuya, Tokyo

Shibuya Crossing

Three thousand people cross on a single green light: urban performance art at the world's busiest crossing

Trending spotKamakura, Kanagawa

Kamakura-Kōkōmae Station crossing

Straight out of the 'Slam Dunk' opening: a three-panel manga of train, sea, sky and level crossing

Trending spotKawagoe, Saitama

Kawagoe 'Little Edo'

'Little Edo, thirty ri away': a kimono stroll through kura-style streets and the Bell of Time

Trending spotNikkō, Tochigi

Edo Wonderland Nikkō Edomura

Back to Edo: a day's 'costume life' as a ninja, oiran or samurai

Trending spotFujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi

Kawaguchiko Lawson photo spot

A convenience store framed with Mount Fuji: the most magical-realist 'Japanese postcard'

Trending spotFuji, Shizuoka

Fuji Dream Bridge (Yume no Ōhashi)

Steps that seem to lead straight to Mount Fuji: a road bridge 'to the sky'

Trending spotShirakawa, Gifu

Shirakawa-gō Light-Up

Warm lights in a gasshō village on a snowy night: a fairy tale on just four nights a year

Trending spotIne, Kyoto

Ine Funaya boathouses

'Japan's most beautiful village': Kyoto by the sea, with boats on the ground floor and homes above

Trending spotMiyazu, Kyoto

Amanohashidate

'A dragon soaring to heaven' seen between your legs: the sandbar wonder of one of Japan's three great views

Trending spotTakamori, Kumamoto

Kamishikimi Kumanoimasu Shrine

An approach of mossy stone lanterns: one step into the otherworld of 'Hotarubi no Mori e'

Trending spotMitoyo, Kagawa

Chichibugahama Beach

'Japan's Uyuni': a sky mirror on the tidal flats at low tide

Classic landmarkShibuya, Tokyo

Meiji Jingū

A 700,000-m² 'urban forest' in the middle of the city, a tranquil sanctuary of Shinto culture

Trending spotYamanouchi, Nagano

Jigokudani Monkey Park

Snow monkeys in hot springs: the world's only 'monkey spa'

Trending spotMishima, Fukushima

Tadami Line · First Tadami River Bridge

A railway poem of snow country: the postcard view of a train crossing the Tadami River

Trending spotBiei, Hokkaido

Blue Pond, Biei

Cobalt-blue water and dead trees: a dreamscape chosen as a Mac wallpaper

Trending spotNakijin, Okinawa

Kouri Island: Heart Rock

The heart-shaped rock of the 'Island of Love' and Kouri blue

Hidden gemTowada, Aomori

Oirase Stream

Fourteen kilometres of moss and waterfalls: a poem walked upstream through virgin forest

Hidden gemYasugi, Shimane

Adachi Museum of Art

Ranked 'Japan's number-one garden' for twenty-three years running: a living landscape scroll

Hidden gemIyo, Ehime

Shimonada Station

An unstaffed little station facing the Iyo Sea: waiting here for a tangerine-coloured dusk

Hidden gemChino, Nagano

Mishaka Pond

The model for Higashiyama Kaii's 'Green Echo': fresh green reflected in an acidic pond

Hidden gemŌtsuki, Kōchi

Kashiwajima

'Boats floating in the air': a hidden sea in Shikoku as clear as Okinawa's

Hidden gemMiyoshi, Tokushima

Iya Valley and the Vine Bridge

One of Japan's three great hidden regions: crossing a swaying vine bridge into the legend of the fleeing Heike

Classic landmarkMinato, Tokyo

Tokyo Tower

The 333-m 'red tower of Shōwa', an undying romantic beacon for generations of Japanese

Hidden gemTakachiho, Miyazaki

Takachiho Gorge

Columnar joints in the land of myth: rowing a boat to gaze up at Manai Falls

Hidden gemFukuyama, Hiroshima

Tomonoura

The harbour that inspired Hayao Miyazaki: the jōyatō lantern of an Edo-period 'tide-waiting port'

Hidden gemSemboku, Akita

Nyūtō Onsen

A tour of seven hot springs: milky secret baths under thatched roofs

Hidden gemTotsukawa, Nara

Tamaki Shrine

'You can't get there unless the gods call you': an ancient World Heritage shrine above a sea of clouds

Hidden gemTakahashi, Okayama

Fukiya Furusato Village

Birthplace of 'Japan Red': a copper-mining town dyed red with bengara

Hidden gemŌda, Shimane

Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine

The silver silence of a World Heritage Site: cycling through a street of samurai residences

Hidden gemIchinoseki, Iwate

Geibikei Gorge

In the boatman's song: a river trip through one of Japan's 100 landscapes

Hidden gemWhere Gunma, Fukushima and Niigata meet

Oze

Wetlands of skunk cabbage: walking the boardwalks into the birthplace of Japanese nature conservation

Hidden gemKagoshima

Yakushima

The thousand years of the Jōmon Sugi: meeting 'Princess Mononoke' in a moss forest

Regional favouriteChiyoda, Tokyo

Akihabara Electric Town

An 'Electric Town' that 'changed careers' from post-war electrical black market to otaku mecca — the spiritual homeland of anime and manga devot…

Classic landmarkHigashiyama, Kyoto

Kiyomizu-dera

The courage of 'jumping off the stage at Kiyomizu', where the ancient capital looks back over a thousand years

Regional favouriteNaka, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture

Yokohama Chinatown

With more than 160 years of history, the largest Chinatown in Japan and Asia, where ten gates hold up a 'little China'. Chinese compradors who c…

Regional favouriteNaka, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture

Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse

Bonded warehouses from the end of the Meiji era reborn as Minato Mirai's most romantic cultural and shopping landmark. Two red-brick buildings s…

Regional favouriteKamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture

Great Buddha of Kamakura

A giant bronze Buddha that has sat in the open air for more than 700 years — the second-largest Buddha statue in Japan. 11.3 m tall and weighing…

Regional favouriteKamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture

Hase-dera, Kamakura

A 'temple of flowers' facing Sagami Bay, enshrining a 9.18-m Eleven-Headed Kannon. In early summer more than 40 varieties of hydrangea cascade d…

Regional favouriteFujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture

Enoshima

A sacred island in Sagami Bay, born of the legend of 'the heavenly maiden and the five-headed dragon', with shrines, gardens, a lighthouse, cave…

Regional favouriteTaitō, Tokyo

Ameyoko, Ueno

A downtown Tokyo 'bazaar' that grew out of the post-war black market: 400 shops squeezed under the elevated railway make a street-life symphony.…

Regional favouriteChūō, Sapporo, Hokkaido

Ōdōri Park, Sapporo

A 1.5-km 'green carpet' running through the city centre, the grand stage of Sapporo's festivals all year round. Laid out in 1871 as a firebreak,…

Theme parkUrayasu, Chiba Prefecture

Tokyo Disney Resort

Asia's first Disney resort: the classic fairy tales of the 'Land' and the globally unique romance of the 'Sea', with just a wall between them. T…

Theme parkKonohana, Osaka

Universal Studios Japan

Asia's first Universal Studios, an adrenaline park where 'movies meet games'. Super Nintendo World (a world first in 2021, expanded with 'Donkey…

Regional favouriteKōya, Ito District, Wakayama Prefecture

Mount Kōya (Kōyasan)

The sacred home of Shingon esoteric Buddhism founded by Kōbō Daishi Kūkai: the whole mountain is a temple, and nights in temple lodgings and the…

Classic landmarkKita, Kyoto

Kinkaku-ji

A three-storey pavilion clad in gold leaf, a Pure Land reflected in the Mirror Pond

Regional favouriteNachikatsuura, Wakayama Prefecture

Kumano Nachi Taisha

A site of primal faith where the waterfall itself is the divine body: Japan's highest single-drop waterfall at 133 m, framed with a vermilion th…

Regional favouriteChūō, Kumamoto

Kumamoto Castle

One of Japan's three great castles, built by Katō Kiyomasa: the sharp curve of its 'musha-gaeshi' stone walls, and a keep reborn after the earth…

Regional favouriteNaka, Nagoya

Nagoya Castle

The 'pinnacle of early-modern castles', ordered built by Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1610: golden shachihoko gleam against the sky, and the painted panel…

Regional favouriteHigashiyama, Kyoto

Hanamikōji, Gion

A stone-paved geisha district where geiko and maiko brush past, the 'miyabi' (refined elegance) in the glow of machiya lanterns asks every trave…

Regional favouriteNakagyō, Kyoto

Nishiki Market

Four hundred years as 'Kyoto's Kitchen': 390 m of arcade packed with Kyoto vegetables, tamagoyaki and the calls of old shops — a living museum o…

Regional favouriteDazaifu, Fukuoka Prefecture

Dazaifu Tenmangū

Where Sugawara no Michizane, god of learning, rests in peace: the legend of the flying plum and 6,000 plum trees weave a thousand years of cultu…

Regional favouriteMinamiyamate, Nagasaki

Glover Garden

The former home of the Scottish merchant Glover looks down over Nagasaki harbour, its group of exotic Western houses telling stories of Japan's …

Regional favouriteKagoshima

Sakurajima

An island living alongside an active volcano, just 15 minutes by ferry, where volcanic ash nourishes giant Sakurajima daikon weighing up to 45 k…

Regional favouriteYufu, Ōita Prefecture

Yufuin Onsen

A rural hot-spring village at the foot of Mount Yufu, with morning mist on Lake Kinrin and the shops of Yunotsubo Kaidō — the number-one place t…

Fireworks festivalTaitō and Sumida, Tokyo

Sumidagawa Fireworks Festival

July 25, 2026

Japan's oldest fireworks festival, with about 300 years of history on the river in old Edo: about 20,000 shells light up the night sky over Asak…

Classic landmarkFushimi, Kyoto

Fushimi Inari Taisha

A vermilion tunnel woven from ten thousand torii: the god of commerce, guarded by fox messengers

Fireworks festivalNagaoka, Niigata Prefecture

Nagaoka Fireworks Festival

August 2, 2026

One of Japan's three great fireworks displays, themed on remembrance, recovery and peace: the giant 'shōsanjakudama' and the 'Phoenix fireworks …

Fireworks festivalDaisen, Akita Prefecture

Ōmagari National Fireworks Competition

August 29, 2026

First among Japan's three great fireworks competitions, where the country's top fireworks makers compete side by side — with Japan's only 'dayti…

Fireworks festivalOsaka, Osaka Prefecture

Yodogawa Fireworks

October 17, 2026

Kansai's most popular water-city fireworks, reflected in the Yodo River; in recent years it has moved to autumn.

Fireworks festivalAtami, Shizuoka Prefecture

Atami Marine Fireworks

Famous seaside fireworks held more than ten times a year: the 'bowl-shaped' bay, surrounded by mountains on three sides, makes the sound roar li…

Fireworks festivalHatsukaichi, Hiroshima Prefecture

Miyajima Underwater Fireworks

A dreamlike display where hemispherical 'underwater fireworks' rise from the sea against the Great Torii of Itsukushima Shrine, a World Heritage…

Fireworks festivalTsuchiura, Ibaraki Prefecture

Tsuchiura National Fireworks Competition

November 7, 2026

The only one of Japan's three great fireworks competitions held in one of the three big metropolitan areas — an autumn contest where about 800,0…

Fireworks festivalSuwa, Nagano Prefecture

Lake Suwa Festival Fireworks

August 15, 2026

Held on 15 August, the main day of Obon: about 40,000 shells rise from the lake, and the natural acoustics of the surrounding mountains make it …

Fireworks festivalOsaka, Osaka Prefecture

Tenjin Matsuri dedication fireworks

July 25, 2026

The climax of Tenjin Matsuri, one of Japan's three great festivals: about 100 boats parade on the Ōkawa while about 3,000 offering fireworks lig…

Fireworks festivalIse, Mie Prefecture

Ise Jingū Hōnō National Fireworks Festival

July 18, 2026

Japan's only competitive fireworks display offered to Ise Jingū, with about 50 selected fireworks makers from across the country competing on th…

Summer festivalAomori

Aomori Nebuta Matsuri

August 2 – 7, 2026

Eastern Japan's greatest night festival: giant warrior lanterns about 5 m tall and 9 m wide parade through the city centre to cries of 'Rassērā!…

Classic landmarkUkyō, Kyoto

Arashiyama Bamboo Grove

A 'tunnel of light' with sun filtering through the bamboo, its rustling chosen among the '100 Soundscapes of Japan'

Summer festivalAkita

Akita Kantō Matsuri

August 3 – 6, 2026

A balancing feat at one of Tōhoku's three great festivals: 'kantō' poles about 12 m long, weighing 50 kg and hung with 46 lanterns, are balanced…

Summer festivalSendai

Sendai Tanabata Matsuri

August 6 – 8, 2026

Japan's largest Tanabata festival: giant washi Tanabata decorations hang in the arcaded shopping streets stretching for kilometres from Sendai S…

Summer festivalKyoto

Kyoto Gion Matsuri

July 1 – 31, 2026

First among Japan's three great festivals: Yasaka Shrine's festival, going back more than 1,150 years, sees 33 yamahoko floats — 'mobile art mus…

Summer festivalOsaka

Osaka Tenjin Matsuri

July 24 – 25, 2026

One of Japan's three great festivals, the thousand-year-old festival of Osaka Tenmangū: the 'rikutogyo' land procession by day, about 100 boats …

Summer festivalTokushima

Tokushima Awa Odori

August 11 – 15, 2026

A 400-year-old 'fools' dance' — 'the dancers are fools and the watchers are fools; if we're all fools, we might as well dance' — tens of thousan…

Summer festivalKōchi

Kōchi Yosakoi Festival

August 9 – 12, 2026

The 'youngest national festival', born in 1954: dancers hold naruko clappers, with music and costumes completely free, and about 200 teams dance…

Summer festivalFukuoka

Hakata Gion Yamakasa

July 1 – 15, 2026

A 'men's festival' with more than 780 years of history: at 4:59 a.m. on 15 July, kakiyama floats weighing about a tonne charge some 5 km to crie…

Summer festivalGujō, Gifu Prefecture

Gujō Odori

July 11 – September 5, 2026

One of Japan's three great Bon dances and on UNESCO's intangible heritage list: 'step into the circle and you're a dancer'. The whole town dance…

Summer festivalGoshogawara

Goshogawara Tachineputa

August 4 – 8, 2026

The 'tallest' of Aomori's three great Nebuta festivals: giant three-dimensional lanterns about 23 m tall and weighing about 19 tonnes (about sev…

Classic landmarkChūō, Osaka

Osaka Castle

Toyotomi Hideyoshi's 'castle of the realm': Sengoku drama beneath roofs with golden shachi

FoodHiroshima, Japan

Hiroshima okonomiyaki

Layers of batter, cabbage, pork and noodles — after the atomic bomb, it was what kept Hiroshima fed.

FoodFukuoka, Japan

Hakata tonkotsu ramen

Milky pork-bone broth, very thin noodles, and kaedama — a refill of noodles.

FoodOsaka, Japan

Osaka takoyaki

Invented by an Osaka street vendor in 1935, it became synonymous with the 'city of flour foods'.

FoodKyoto, Japan

Kyoto kaiseki

From the simple meal of the tea ceremony to the pinnacle of Japanese cuisine, devoted to the seasons and to tableware.

FoodTokyo, Japan

Edomae sushi

Today's nigiri sushi began as Edo's street 'fast food'.

Classic landmarkChiyoda, Tokyo, Japan

East Gardens of the Imperial Palace (site of Edo Castle)

Edo Castle, built by Ōta Dōkan in 1457, later became the residence of the Tokugawa shoguns; today the Honmaru area is open free as a garden.

Classic landmarkKanazawa, Ishikawa

Higashi Chaya District, Kanazawa

Edo's geisha district across the Asano River: latticed teahouses, stone paving and a thin layer of gold leaf.

FoodHakata, Fukuoka

Nakasu yatai, Fukuoka

The last stronghold of Japan's yatai culture: ramen, oden and toasts with strangers by the river at dusk.

Classic landmarkNagasaki, Nagasaki

Nagasaki Peace Park

11:02 a.m., 9 August 1945: an atomic bomb exploded 500 m above this ground.

Classic landmarkNagasaki, Nagasaki

Dejima

For two centuries of national seclusion, Japan's only window on the West: a small fan-shaped artificial island.

Classic landmarkSendai, Miyagi

Zuihōden

The mausoleum of Date Masamune, the 'One-Eyed Dragon': colourful Momoyama-style buildings deep in a cedar forest.

Classic landmarkNakagyō, Kyoto

Nijō Castle

The Tokugawa shogunate's base in Kyoto: the Edo shogunate began here, and ended here.

Classic landmarkNara, Nara

Tōdai-ji

The Great Buddha cast with the resources of a whole nation by Emperor Shōmu: the world's largest bronze Vairocana, seated in a huge wooden hall.

Trending spotNaoshima, Kagawa

Naoshima

An art island in the Seto Inland Sea: Tadao Andō's architecture, Monet's water lilies at the Chichu Art Museum, and light on the sea.

Classic landmarkIzumo, Shimane

Izumo Taisha

The shrine of Ōkuninushi, god of good relationships: a giant shimenawa rope and the myth of 'handing over the land'.

Classic landmarkIse, Mie

Ise Grand Shrine

Japan's foremost shrine, dedicated to Amaterasu: cross the Uji Bridge into two thousand years of forest and prayer.

Classic landmarkHakodate, Hokkaido

Goryōkaku, Hakodate

A Western-style star fort: stage of the last battle of the Boshin War, filled with cherry blossom in spring.

Classic landmarkTakayama, Gifu

Hida-Takayama

The machiya streets of 'Little Kyoto' and the only surviving Edo-period intendant's office, hidden among the mountains of Hida.

Classic landmarkMatsumoto, Nagano

Matsumoto Castle

A black-walled National Treasure keep, one of only 12 original castle keeps left in Japan, backed by the Northern Alps.

Classic landmarkHakone, Kanagawa

Hakone

A natural barrier on the Tōkaidō: the torii in Lake Ashi, the Edo checkpoint, and Mount Fuji when the sky is clear.

Classic landmarkNaka, Hiroshima

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and the Atomic Bomb Dome

After 6 August 1945, the only building left standing near the hypocentre: a ruin that reminds the world of peace.

Classic landmarkKanazawa, Ishikawa

Kenroku-en, Kanazawa

The daimyō garden of the million-koku Kaga domain: the Kotoji lantern and snow-roped pines, with a different face in every season.

Classic landmarkNikkō, Tochigi

Nikkō Tōshō-gū

Where Tokugawa Ieyasu rests: the dazzling Yōmeimon gate, the Sleeping Cat and the Three Wise Monkeys, hidden in a forest of towering cedars.

NightlifeJapan (nationwide) (Shinjuku Omoide Yokochō)

Izakaya

Japan after work: a draught beer, a few small dishes and a 'kanpai' across the counter with friends.

FestivalChiyoda, Tokyo (Kanda Myōjin)

Kanda Matsuri

One of Edo's three great festivals: a day-long procession of the hōren and mikoshi through Kanda, Nihonbashi and Akihabara, then a weekend of ne…