Spread along Kobe’s sparkling waterfront, Kobe Harborland encompasses shopping, dining, entertainment, and more. The bustling, attraction-packed area is one of the Japanese city’s most-popular destinations for locals and visitors alike.
Lake Kawaguchi’s Maple Corridor (Momoji-kairo) is a row of beautiful maple trees framing either side of a canal. When the weather’s clear, line up the views properly and you can enjoy the sight of Mt. Fuji in the background and picturesque red leaves in the foreground. An annual leaf-viewing festival is held here in October and November.
This peaceful park in Fukuoka is centered on a large lake with islands through the middle. Joggers can be seen running around the paths, while other visitors sit to watch the birds gliding on the water. The Ukimi Pavilion adds color to the lake’s shores with its distinctive red railing, while the Ohori Park Japanese Garden is secluded on the park’s southern edge.
A sprawling seaside park on the coast of north Okinawa’s Motobu Peninsula, the Ocean Expo Park is a legacy site from the Expo ’75 World’s Fair. In keeping with the ocean theme of the fair, the park is best known for its marine attractions such as the Churaumi Aquarium, which for many is the star sight.
Fuji Oishi Hana Terrace, on the northern shore of Lake Kawaguchi, beside Oishi Park, is a small shopping, dining, and landscaped garden complex. The herb and flower gardens are a pleasant place to sit with a drink or snack and admire views of Mt. Fuji, when the weather’s clear. It’s also an ideal place to shop for high-quality Japanese souvenirs.
Japan has plenty of fine gardens but Ritsurin Garden (Ritsurin Koen) is considered one of its most beautiful. Created in the Edo period for local feudal lords, the garden features ponds and landscaped hills set against the backdrop of Mt. Shiun. It was designed to be strolled through, so each step reveals a new perspective.
A former fort, Hakodate’s Goryokaku Park is notable for its distinctive star shape and role in Japanese history. The fort was constructed by the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1855 and was the site of the last battle of the Japanese Civil War that ended the feudal system.
On the southern end of Lake Toya in Hokkaido's Shikotsu-Tōya National Park, Mt. Usu is an active stratovolcano that last erupted in the year 2000. Its biggest draw is the Usuzan Ropeway, which takes visitors to an observatory offering fabulous views over the surrounding countryside.
Okinawa’s longest river, this mangrove-lined body of water is located in Iriomote Island. It flows for a full 24 miles (39 kilometers) through the heart of the Okinawan island’s subtropical forest—it’s home to more than 400 fish species and multiple waterfalls, including the famous Kanpiuree and Maryudo cascades. This popular inland attraction proves that there’s much more to the Okinawan archipelago than white-sand beaches.
Kobe is an important port city, and the Kobe Maritime Museum records and celebrates its history. The latticed steel architecture of the museum was designed to invoke the impression of sailing ships. It’s a modern museum with plenty of interactive exhibits, model ships to explore, and information in Japanese and English.
In Tokyo’s Asakusa neighborhood—a traveler favorite for its old temples and traditional charm—you’ll find this pedestrianized street that runs east–west, intersecting with the busier north–south Nakamise Shopping Street. Although this area was badly damaged during World War II, it’s been reconstructed in the loose style of Edo-era Tokyo (spanning the 17th-19th centuries).
While you may assume that the Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery features works related to the musical genre, it gets its name from the cultural complex in which it’s located: Tokyo Opera City. The gallery features an array of modern art from Japanese and international artists, spanning a range of themes and genres, from painting and sculpture to photography and fashion.
The neo-Renaissance, red-brick, bronze-domed Osaka City Central Hall, built between 1913 and 1918, rivals Osaka Castle in its architectural beauty. The Iwamoto Memorial Room in the basement of the building commemorates Einosuke Iwamoto, an Osaka stockbroker who funded the construction.
Perched atop the 1,079-foot (329-meter) Mt. Kinka, Gifu Castle’s elevated position made it an excellent defensive fortification during Japan’s turbulent Warring States period. First built in the early 13th century, the castle is now a National Historic Site and offers commanding views of the surrounding area, including the Nagara River and the city of Gifu.
One for the plane spotters, tiny Senaga Island is so close to Naha Airport that its aircraft views have become its biggest draw. Visitors with time to kill before a flight can reach it quickly via a causeway from Naha, and indulge in eating, drinking, shopping, and checking out the planes from Umikaji Terrace—an oceanfront leisure complex with a Mediterranean vibe.
Located along the southern coast of Hokkaido, Cape Chikyu is considered one of the most scenic spots on the island. Towering 328-foot (100-meter) cliffs wind around Uchiura Bay, while an observation deck offers panoramic views of the ocean and an expansive sightline that shows the curvature of the Earth.
Get a peek at the Japanese Imperial family’s art collection, including paintings, calligraphy scrolls, ceramics, and lacquerware, at this Tokyo museum. The nearly 10,000-strong collection spans artwork from around the world, but is primarily focused on Japan, with masterpieces from every era of the nation’s history.
For a bird’s-eye view of Goryokaku—Hakodate's unique star-shaped fort-turned-public park—you can’t get much better than the Goryokaku Tower. The 351-foot (107-meter) observation decks command 360-degree views of Goryokaku Park, Mt. Hakodate, Tsugaru Strait, and the Yokotsu mountain range.
Utagawa Hiroshige’s (1797–1858) art is among the most recognizable of Japan’s ukiyo-e genre, and even travelers who aren’t au fait with Japanese fine art will have seen some of his images on their travels. Learn more about the influential woodblock artist and the world he inhabited at the Shizuoka City Tokaido Hiroshige Museum of Art.
Tokyo’s Asakusa neighborhood is beloved for its traditional charm and historic temples and shrines. Adding another element of tradition is the Asakusa Engei Hall, one of only four theaters in Tokyo where rakugo comedy is performed. While the art form was especially popular during the Edo period (17th–19th centuries), rakugo has only been staged at Engei Hall since the 1960s.
Many underground caves were created at the foot of Mt. Fuji when the volcano erupted about 1,100 years ago. The Saiko Bat Cave is the largest of these, at over 380 yards (350 meters) long, and while you may not see a bat during your visit, you can admire the lava formations.
The centrally located Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo feels like a step away from the hustle and bustle of city life, primarily because of its traditional Japanese garden. Striking in every season, the garden reveals cherry blossoms in the spring, hydrangeas and fireflies in the summer, migrating birds and colorful foliage in the fall, and camellias in the winter. You need to be staying, dining, or otherwise using the facilities at the hotel to visit the garden.
Located on Port Island, Kobe Animal Kingdom offers up-close encounters with numerous varieties of animals and birds who roam the park freely. Visitors of all ages, including young children, will delight in seeing creatures from all around the world in recreations of their natural habitats.
Mt. Fuji Children’s World is an expansive park below the famous peak, offering a range of activities for kids, mostly themed around nature, sports, and outdoor adventures. Kids can canoe on the lake, play a mini round of golf, meet farm animals on the pasture, fish for trout, and much more. The park provides a wholesome antidote to some of Japan’s more high-tech attractions.
Stretching across a canyon in Japan's lush Iya Valley, the Iya Kazurabashi Bridge is the largest of three remaining suspension bridges woven from hardy mountain vines. Believed to date back around 1,000 years, the bridge invites travelers to steel their nerves and step back in time to ancient Japan.
Known as the "flower temple," Mimuroto Temple in Uji City near Kyoto showcases a vast array of seasonal flowers. Early spring sees cherry blossoms, while azaleas and hydrangeas start to flower later in the spring. Lotus plants complement the bright summer months, and autumn foliage colors arrive in late October or November.
Chionji Temple, also known as Hyakumanben Chionji Temple, is a Buddhist temple in Kyoto. Its peaceful halls and landscaped gardens lined with cherry blossom trees offer a tranquil escape from sightseeing. However, the temple really comes to life during its monthly open-air handicrafts markets. Here, you can pick up handmade goods: from artwork to kids’ toys, jewelry, ceramics, and tasty local snacks.
The impressive architectural highlight, Irabu Ohashi Bridge, is Japan’s longest toll-free bridge that connects two gorgeous islands, Miyako-jima and Irabu-jima. Its undulating shape is likened to a sea dragon floating over the turquoise water below, and the shape adds to the scenery instead of taking anything away from it. Photographers love to capture the unique combination of nature and manmade beauty.
Lake Shoji (Shoji-ko) is one of the Fuji Five Lakes (Fujigoko) around Mt. Fuji. It’s the smallest of the lakes, and largely undeveloped, especially in comparison to the busy Lake Kawaguchi. You can find a few hotels dotted along the northern shore, as well as a campsite, but it’s mostly a destination for peaceful hiking, fishing, and boating.
Only about a mile (1.5 kilometers) in size, this tiny Okinawan island sits off the coast of the much bigger island of Iriomote (Okinawa’s second-largest). It’s a lush botanical strip of coastline, famed for its colorful year-round bougainvilleas and butterfly garden. But the biggest attraction is the unique way visitors arrive in Yubu: pulled from Iriomote through shallow water by rustic buffalo-drawn carts.
