Every Place in the Catalogue
1,610 spots
Nakatsu Karaage
Little knownNakatsu has more than thirty dedicated fried chicken shops for a city of eighty thousand, and with neighbouring Usa and…
Hitome Hakkei
Little knownHitome Hakkei means eight views at a glance, and the name is literal: from one platform in the middle of Shin-Yabakei yo…
Ao no Domon
Little knownA monk named Zenkai arrived at the base of Kyoshuho cliff in 1735, found that travellers were being killed on a chain-as…
Tashibu-no-Sho
Little knownTashibu-no-Sho is a valley of rice paddies that has been farmed in essentially the same shape since the Heian period. It…
Kumano Magaibutsu
Little knownTwo figures are cut into a rock face in the hills of the Kunisaki peninsula: a Dainichi Nyorai about 6.7 metres high and…
Showa no Machi
Little knownBungotakada's shopping street had lost almost all its trade by the 1990s. Rather than redevelop, the town went the other…
Nioza Historical Road
Little knownNioza is the tuff ridge immediately below Usuki Castle, and the castle town was cut into it rather than laid out on it.…
Kyusendo Cave
Little knownKyusendo runs about five kilometres into limestone above the Kuma river, which makes it the second longest cave in weste…
Gokanosho
Little knownGokanosho is five settlements — Shiihara, Kurako, Hagi, Nitao and Momiki — scattered through mountains of thirteen hundr…
Yamaga Toro Mingeikan
Little knownYamaga lanterns are made entirely of washi paper and glue. No wood, no wire, no metal — the shrines, castles, palanquins…
Daikanbo
Little knownDaikanbo is a promontory on the northern rim of the Aso caldera at 936 metres, and from it the whole basin is visible at…
Oshitoishi Hill
Little knownOn a grassland hill at 845 metres on the outer rim of Aso stand several hundred stones, some of them very large, arrange…
Kamishikimi Kumanoimasu Shrine
Little knownThe approach to Kamishikimi Kumanoimasu runs uphill through cedar forest between ninety-seven moss-covered stone lantern…
Nabegataki Falls
Little knownNabegataki is ten metres high and twenty wide, and the rock behind it is undercut deeply enough that a path runs along t…
Okoshiki Coast
Little knownThe Ariake Sea has one of the largest tidal ranges in Japan, and when it goes out at Okoshiki it leaves several kilometr…
Ikeyama Spring
Little knownIkeyama is a spring in the far north-east corner of Kumamoto, in the village of Ubuyama on the outer rim of the Aso cald…
Shirakawa Spring
Little knownThe Shirakawa river, which runs through the middle of Kumamoto City, starts here — sixty tonnes a minute coming up out o…
Amakusa Dolphin Watching
Little knownAbout two hundred wild Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins live year-round in the strait off Futae in northern Amakusa, and…
Oe Church
Little knownOe Church stands white on a hilltop above the fields of western Amakusa, visible for a long way, and it was built in 193…
Fukushima Peaches
Little knownFukushima Prefecture is Japan's second-largest peach producer (after Yamanashi), renowned for exceptionally sweet, juicy…
Lake Hibara
Little knownLake Hibara (桧原湖) is Bandai-Kogen's largest lake (10.7 km²), created during Mt. Bandai's catastrophic 1888 eruption when…
Aquamarine Fukushima
Little knownAquamarine Fukushima (アクアマリンふくしま) is a world-class marine science museum combining aquarium, interactive exhibits, and e…
Iwaki Yumoto Onsen
Little knownIwaki Yumoto Onsen (いわき湯本温泉) is one of Japan's oldest documented hot spring resorts, with written records dating to 556…
Hanamiyama Park
Little knownHanamiyama Park (花見山公園, 'Flower Viewing Mountain Park') is a privately-owned hillside park where ornamental flower farme…
Estimated from distance to the nearest airport or shinkansen station. Confirm actual journey times before you travel.