This is another of Yokohama’s narrowly themed museums (along with a tin toy museum and the Anpanman Children’s museum, among others) but for anyone with even a passing interest in dolls, the museum is just astounding. Bisque, papier-mache, china, cloth and celluloid dolls all crowd side by side her...
In the late 1860’s, Japan’s new Meiji government decided that Hakodate was less than ideal as the capital of Hokkaido, and began looking for a more central and defensible location. Stakes were high, as the government had decided to make the colonization and development of the northern island a centr...
Straddling the border of Aikita and Aomori prefectures in Japan’s northern Tohoku region, the Shirakami Sanchi is the largest stand of old-growth beech forest in East Asia.
About 1,300 square kilometers of beech forest remain here. A near perfectly preserved core portion of the forest, amounting to...
Harajuku is a neighborhood between Shinjuku and Shibuya, home to Tokyo’s most important Shinto shrine, its largest park, and a focal point for Tokyo’s youth culture and fashion.
During the 1964 Olympics, Harajuku Station was the main transportation hub for the Olympic Village. After the Olympics,...
In 680, Emperor Temmu ordered a great temple to be built as a prayer for the recovery of his ill wife. When he died eight years later, she had regained her health and as the new Empress Jito took on the task of finishing the temple, to be called Yakushiji. It was dedicated in 697, in the short-liv...
To celebrate the 1,100th anniversary of their city, the people of Kyoto built the enormous Heian Jingu. For the 1,200th anniversary they built Kyoto Station. If these are any indication of things to come, it really makes you wish you could be around for the 1,300th anniversary. One can only imagine ...
Like much of Yokohama's modern waterfront, Yamashita Park is built on reclaimed land. The long, narrow park was built using debrisfrom the Great Kanto earthquake of 1923, which devastated the city. Opened in 1930, the park is a pleasant stripof green affording good views of the Bay Bridge and ocea...
Ritsurin Koen, Takamatsu’s main attraction, is just a twenty minute walk from the city’s waterfront.
At 75 hectares, Ritsurin Koen is Japan’s largest garden enclosing thirteen hills, six ponds and hundreds of beautifully cultivated pines, maples, flowering beds and more. Construction began in 16...
Though it’s not much to look at after Todaiji, Gangoji has an impressive history. Originally built in Asuka and relocated to Nara when the city became the capital in 710, Gangoji (or at least its predecessor in Asuka) is one of Japan’s oldest Buddhist temples.
Gangoji once had extensive grounds,...
Aomori is the northernmost city on Japan’s main island of Honshu. In fairness to the city, it’s never made more than halfhearted attempts at becoming a tourist center. Around the city, there are some fascinating Jomon era archaeological sites, a good food market, and several regional museums that mi...
Straddling the border of Aikita and Aomori prefectures in Japan’s northern Tohoku region, the Shirakami Sanchi is the largest stand of old-growth beech forest in East Asia.
About 1,300 square kilometers of beech forest remain here. A near perfectly preserved core portion of the forest, amounting to...
Geibikei Gorge (not to be confused with the nearby Gembikei Gorge!) offers a wonderful contrast between the soaring cliffs on either side and the calm, clear water that passes between them. About 20 kilometers east of Hiraizumi, the gorge is a big tourist draw, but don’t let that keep you away. On...
Sendai, the largest city in Tohoku, enjoys a number of advantages. The climate is excellent, the average age of the population makes it one of Japan’s youngest cities, and it is also one of Japan’s greenest cities, having enjoyed the nickname “City of Trees” since before the second World War.
Wit...
South of Aizu-Wakamatsu, but still in Fukushima prefecture, the charming little town of Ouchijuku is a rare example of the past being saved by progress.
Once a popular stop on the Aizu-Nishi Kaido, part of an old post road that ran between Edo (modern Tokyo) and Sendai, Ouchijuku all but vanished f...
Instantly recognizable the world ever, the near-perfect cone of Mt. Fuji, standing astride the border of Shizuoka and Yamanashi prefectures, is both Japan’s tallest mountain and an enduring symbol of the country.
Fujisan (never Fujiyama) is a dormant volcano standing 3,776 meters (12,388 feet) tall...
