Shrines, museums, parks, and the spots in between, with the access details worked out.
Experience teamLab Forest Fukuoka's digital art museum. Interactive nature installations blend learning with technology.
FukuokaThe villa garden of the Itami family in Kanzaki, Saga, a national Place of Scenic Beauty known for its maples and moss, open only in spring and autumn.
Kanzaki · SagaA regional revitalization initiative in the hometown of Attack on Titan creator Hajime Isayama, featuring two museums dedicated to the manga series.
Hita · OitaSasayama Shrine, dedicated to the god of martial arts and war, sits within Kurume Castle in Fukuoka with a main hall in traditional Edo period style.
Kurume · FukuokaSubtropical island of ancient cedar forests and mossy landscapes that inspired Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke, one of Japan's first World Heritage Sites.
Yakushima · KagoshimaThis shrine enshrines Amaterasu Omikami and Toyoukebime, along with five other Shinto deities including Ninigi-no-Mikoto and Ame-no-Tajikarao.
Miyakonojo · MiyazakiShrine said to date back over 2,000 years, honoring a grandson of Emperor Jimmu and joining Shinto practice with worship of Mount Aso's sacred crater.
Aso · KumamotoBuilt in 1601 by the Shimazu clan, this castle was notably small by design, with only its moat, walls, and the recently reconstructed Otemon Gate remaining.
KagoshimaOne of Japan's three most famous Inari shrines, dedicated to the god of agriculture and prosperity, known for vermilion torii gates and statues.
Kashima · SagaShrine dedicated to Emperor Jimmu and ancestral deities, believed to occupy the site of the emperor's ancient palace before his legendary eastern expedition.
MiyazakiJomon-period archaeological site with pit dwellings dating back 9,500 years, now a 36-hectare park and exhibition centre in Kagoshima.
Kirishima · KagoshimaHarmonyland is a Hello Kitty-themed park in Oita Prefecture with character-centered rides, live entertainment, and opportunities to meet the famous mascot.
Hiji · OitaShrine dedicated to three protective deities founded 1,200 years ago as a guardian of the Hitoyoshi-Kuma basin and Mount Aso region.
Hitoyoshi · KumamotoA Kagoshima museum chronicling the Meiji Restoration of 1868, when the Satsuma-Choshu Alliance restored imperial rule and transformed Japan.
KagoshimaA Kamiamakusa museum about the Shimabara-Amakusa Uprising and Amakusa Shiro, the sixteen-year-old who led it, told through documents and film.
Kamiamakusa · KumamotoRun by Amakusa City since 1966, the museum tells the story of Christianity in Amakusa and the Shimabara-Amakusa Uprising led by Amakusa Shiro, aged sixteen.
Amakusa · KumamotoA natural habitat of wild Japanese monkeys on Mt. Takasaki, with over 1,000 animals as of 2020, recognised as the birthplace of monkey science in Japan.
OitaSeven vividly coloured hot springs in Beppu - from a cobalt-blue pool to a blood-red pond - too hot to bathe in, but spectacular to see.
Beppu · Oita
