Asakusa & Sumida River
Worth searching out is this quirky 40-sq-metre exhibition space in an unmarked old house, hiding down a narrow alley. It's run by contemporary art curator…
Must-see attractions in Japan
Kamakura
Across the railway tracks from Engaku-ji, Tōkei-ji is famed as having served as a women's refuge. A woman could be officially recognised as divorced after…
Ueno & Yanesen
This 200-year-old bathhouse is now an avant-garde gallery, showcasing Japanese and international artists: the vaulted space just as suited for…
Kyūshū
The name 'Observatory' is misleading, as there's no building here. The site is a shaded picnic area with some lava escape tunnels and walking trails that…
Sapporo
At 531m, Moiwa-yama has fantastic, panoramic views over the city. Part of the fun is getting there. First you take a gondola for five minutes, then switch…
Roppongi, Akasaka & Around
This gallery hosts interesting exhibitions around various themes but usually involving graphic design. Some exhibitions tackle social issues, while others…
Yaeyama Islands
On the north coast along Rte 79, Yonehara Beach is a decent sand beach with a good bit of reef offshore. Hire snorkel gear (¥1000) at any of the shops…
Osaka
Japan's tallest Ferris wheel (123m), and the fifth tallest in the world, opened in 2016 and offers sweeping views over Expo Park and the Tower of the Sun…
Nikkō
To the west of Tōshō-gū's drum tower is this hall known for the painting on its ceiling of the Nakiryū (Crying Dragon). Monks demonstrate the hall's…
Hakone
Sharing grounds with a lovely velvety moss garden and teahouse (¥700 matcha and sweet), this museum has a collection of Japanese pottery dating from as…
Kyūshū
This shrine honours Emperor Jimmu, the semi-mythical first emperor of Japan and founder of the Yamato court. Spectacular centuries-old wisteria vines…
Kyūshū
This striking museum offers a history of Satsuma plus displays of Chinese ceramics and gleaming Satsuma-yaki in a temple-style building that seems to…
Asakusa & Sumida River
Senso-ji's eastern gate is one of the temple complex's rare, Edo-era buildings: it's been standing since 1618. Though it appears minor today, this gate…
Roppongi, Akasaka & Around
Reiyukai is a spin-off Buddhism-based sect started in 1930 and this unmissable, monolithic building is its headquarters. The enormous stepped pyramid roof…
Nagoya
On levels 44 to 46 of Midland Square, Sky Promenade features Japan's tallest open-air observation deck and a handful of high-altitude, high-priced…
Hokkaidō
This small temple fronts a 120m-long cave that has 33 statues of Kannon, the Buddhist deity of compassion, and is dedicated to road workers who lost their…
Kyūshū
At the far end of the Yobuko Morning Market is this painstakingly refurbished home and processing house of a whaling family. It's filled with historical…
Kansai
Genbudō is the largest of the five caves at this site, part of San-in Kaigan National Park, with other-worldly surfaces of pillar-like ripples formed by…
Kansai
At the entrance to Gekū, this museum illustrates Shikinen-Sengū, the ceremonial reconstruction of the buildings of the Ise shrines and the transfer of the…
Fukuoka
Tōchō-ji houses the Fukuoka Daibutsu, Japan's largest seated wooden Buddha (10.8m high, 30 tonnes, completed in 1992) and some impressively carved Kannon …
Fuji Five Lakes
The Wind Cave (also known as the Lava Cave) was used to store silk-worm cocoons in the past. Getting a combination ticket for this and Narusawa Hyōketsu…
Fuji Five Lakes
Should the weather thwart your chances of seeing the real thing, this contemporary gallery space contains a fine collection of Mt Fuji paintings by…
Inuyama Artifacts Museum/Castle & Town Museum
Central Honshū
This museum houses two float from the Inuyama Matsuri and various artefacts related to cormorant fishing, Inuyama-jō and the town's history.
Nara
This garden was once part of Kofuku-ji and since 1919 has been a public garden, laid out in traditional fashion along paths around a pond. Most attractive…
Harajuku & Aoyama
A painter and sculptor, Okamoto Tarō was Japan's most recognised artist from the post-WWII period, a rare avant-garde figure with mass appeal. His works…
Kumamoto
This tourist complex at the foot of the castle grounds offers a one-stop opportunity to sample (and purchase) local foods, from fish cakes to tea to…
Western Honshū
Four rooms are crammed with displays of wooden toys, masks, dolls and spinning tops (including a world-record breaker), as well as a colourful array of…
Central Honshū
Yubatake is the main attraction in the town centre and the source of hot-spring water in the area. Its milky-blue sulphuric water flows like a waterfall…
Western Honshū
Tsuwano-born Anno Mitsumasa is famous for his wonderfully detailed illustrated books, including Anno's Alphabet and Anno's Journey. You can see his work…
Central Honshū
Located within the grounds of Gifu-kōen, this museum focuses on the Sengoku period, when daimyō Oda Nobunaga was at the height of his power. Enthusiastic…
Izu Peninsula
Explore the rooms and antique tools and curios in this old kimono shop and residence girdled in walls of namako-kabe (a lattice-like plaster pattern so…
Ginza & Tsukiji
Built around the turn of the 20th century at the height of the Meiji era, this leafy block was Tokyo’s first European-style park complete with fountains…
Asakusa & Sumida River
This jet-black, inverted obelisk, part of Asahi Beer's headquarters, was designed by Philippe Starck and completed in 1989; atop it sits a 'golden flame'…
Kyūshū
The spring water that flows into Shimabara from Mt Unzen is so pure that koi can swim in it, and in this district south of the castle you can see the fish…
Ginza & Tsukiji
Mitsubishi Electric showcases some of its latest technologies, including robotics, in inventive collaborations with artists at this showroom on one corner…
Hiroshima
An obvious pit stop for manga (Japanese comics) enthusiasts, this library has a small section of foreign-language manga and a collection of vintage and…
Harajuku & Aoyama
This early masterpiece by architect Tange Kenzō was built for the 1964 Olympics (and will be used again in the 2020 games for the handball event). The…
Izu Peninsula
Kanazawa Shoko (www.k-shoko.org), who has Down syndrome, has been doing calligraphy since she was five years old. Her vividly expressive pieces, as well…
Nara
This well-preserved merchant's house in Naramachi, with its lattice front, beamed ceilings, old kitchen, tansu (chest of drawers) stairs and inner garden,…
Fukuoka
Shōfuku-ji is considered the oldest Zen temple in Japan, founded in 1195 by Eisai, who introduced Zen and tea to Japan; the nation's first tea plants are…
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