Every Place in the Catalogue
1,610 spots
Matsumoto Timepiece Museum
Locally knownThe Matsumoto Timepiece Museum (松本市時計博物館) houses one of Japan's largest collections of mechanical clocks, watches, and t…
Utsukushigahara Open-Air Museum
Locally knownUtsukushigahara Open-Air Museum (美ヶ原高原美術館) is Japan's highest art museum, located at 2,000 meters elevation on the Utsuk…
Matsumoto Performing Arts Centre
Locally knownThe Matsumoto Performing Arts Centre (まつもと市民芸術館, opened 2004) is a striking contemporary building designed by architect…
Bessho Onsen (Nagano)
Locally knownBessho Onsen (別所温泉) is a quiet hot spring town with a remarkable concentration of Kamakura-period (1185–1333) temples, e…
Kanazawa Noh Theater
Locally knownThe Ishikawa Prefectural Noh Theater (石川県立能楽堂) is one of Japan's premier noh venues, hosting regular performances of thi…
Illustration — not a photographKanazawa Phonograph Museum
Locally knownThe Kanazawa Phonograph Museum (金沢蓄音器館) houses over 600 antique phonographs, music boxes, and early sound recording devi…
Nomura Samurai House & Garden
Locally knownThe Nomura Samurai House (武家屋敷跡 野村家, Nomura-ke) in the Nagamachi district is the finest preserved samurai residence in K…
D.T. Suzuki Museum
Locally knownThe D.T. Suzuki Museum (鈴木大拙館) honors Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki (1870–1966), the Kanazawa-born Buddhist scholar who introdu…
Kaga Yuzen Silk Dyeing
Locally knownKaga Yuzen (加賀友禅) is one of Japan's two premier yuzen silk dyeing traditions (alongside Kyo Yuzen from Kyoto), developed…
Kanazawa Kaiseki
Locally knownKanazawa's kaiseki cuisine (Kaga Ryori, 加賀料理) is considered equal to Kyoto's, developed over centuries by the Maeda clan…
Futami Okitama Shrine
Locally knownFutami Okitama Shrine (二見興玉神社) is a coastal Shinto shrine famous for its hundreds of frog statues (蛙, kaeru) and pre-pil…
Sarutahiko Shrine
Locally knownSarutahiko Shrine (猿田彦神社) is dedicated to Sarutahiko no Okami — the Shinto deity of guidance, crossroads, and new beginn…
Illustration — not a photographIse Shrimp (Ise-Ebi)
Locally knownIse-ebi (伊勢海老, 'Ise lobster') is a spiny lobster species native to Japan's Pacific coast, with Ise Bay producing the hig…
Oharai-machi & Okage-yokocho
Locally knownOharai-machi (おはらい町) is an 800-meter pedestrian street lined with Edo-period style wooden buildings, connecting Ise Jing…
Meoto Iwa (Wedded Rocks)
Locally knownMeoto Iwa (夫婦岩, 'Wedded Rocks') are two sacred rocks in the ocean connected by a thick shimenawa (sacred rope) made of r…
Kongobu-ji Temple
Locally knownKongobu-ji (金剛峯寺) is the head temple of Shingon Buddhism and the administrative center of Koyasan's 117 temples, founded…
Shojin Ryori
Locally knownShojin ryori is what Buddhist monks eat: no meat, no fish, no eggs, no onions or garlic (they're thought to stir up desi…
Nara-machi Koshi-no-ie
Locally knownNaramachi Koshi-no-ie (奈良町格子の家) is a preserved Edo Period machiya (merchant townhouse) opened as a free museum showing t…
Illustration — not a photographNara Hotel
Locally knownThe Nara Hotel opened in 1909 when the Meiji government decided Japan needed Western-style luxury hotels to host foreign…
Nara National Museum
Locally knownNara National Museum (奈良国立博物館) is Japan's premier museum for Buddhist art, housing over 2,000 Buddhist sculptures, paint…
Illustration — not a photographNara Sumi Ink & Fude Brushes
Locally knownNara produces 90% of Japan's traditional sumi ink (墨, solid ink sticks) and is a major center for fude (筆, calligraphy b…
Wakakusayama Hill
Locally knownWakakusayama (若草山, 'Young Grass Mountain') is a 342-meter grassy hill on Nara Park's eastern edge offering panoramic vie…
Nara Sake
Locally knownNara is the birthplace of sake brewing's key innovations — monks at Shoryakuji Temple (菩提山正暦寺) invented the bodaimoto me…
Illustration — not a photographNarazuke Pickles
Locally knownNarazuke (奈良漬) are vegetables pickled in sake kasu (酒粕, sake lees — the fermented rice solids left after sake brewing),…
Estimated from distance to the nearest airport or shinkansen station. Confirm actual journey times before you travel.