Shrines, museums, parks, and the spots in between, with the access details worked out.
The largest han school during the Bakumatsu period, established in 1841 by Tokugawa Nariaki with a wide-ranging curriculum, now designated as a Historic Site.
Mito · IbarakiAinokura village features 20 traditional gassho-style houses, some over 400 years old, with distinctive steep roofs designed to shed snow in the UNESCO-listed Gokayama region.
Nanto · ToyamaMausoleum of Masamune Date, the founder of Sendai Domain, situated near Sendai Castle and part of a designated historic Date Family Cemetery.
Sendai · MiyagiUNESCO-recognized villages showcasing gasshō-zukuri farmhouses with distinctive steep thatched roofs, maintained through collective community traditions.
Shirakawa · GifuAn ancient fortress built in 724 CE that served as the northern capital of the Yamato Empire and administrative center for Mutsu Province.
Tagajo · MiyagiAn ancient burial mound from the late 4th century and the oldest known tumulus in the Ōmi region, now a public archaeological park.
Otsu · ShigaAinu fortifications on Nemuro Peninsula's windswept cliffs, built between the 16th and 18th centuries and ranked number one among Japan's 100 castles.
Nemuro · HokkaidoHistoric geisha district in Kanazawa with traditional wooden teahouses where shamisen performances evoke an authentic atmosphere each evening.
Kanazawa · IshikawaA preserved Edo-period street in Takayama, this avenue features wooden merchant houses, sake breweries and shops displaying traditional Hida crafts, pottery and lacquerware.
Takayama · GifuJapan's largest silver mine, Iwami Ginzan operated from 1526 to 1923 and produced one-third of the world's silver at its peak, achieving UNESCO World Heritage status in 2007.
Oda · ShimaneThe Seta Hills Production Sites are ancient iron-working facilities from the Nara period, designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 1985.
Otsu · ShigaThe Kyoto Imperial Palace served as the Emperor's primary residence during the Heian period and remains a public destination offering insight into Japan's imperial past.
KyotoThis Edo-era castle overlooked the Yoshino River with a central keep atop a 60-meter hill before Meiji-period demolition; the grounds reopened as a park in 1905.
TokushimaCastle ruins built in 1597 at a strategic river confluence, serving as a northern sentinel monitoring trade routes for over 700 years.
Morioka · IwateImperial residence and administrative center during the Nara period (710-794), designed after Chinese models and reconstructed from excavations.
NaraA mountain fortress built in 1338 and dismantled in 1615 as part of the one domain one castle policy, now preserving sections of its original bailey walls.
TokushimaA UNESCO World Heritage Site designated in 2021 as part of a collective listing encompassing 17 Jomon archaeological sites across four northern prefectures.
Ichinohe · IwateDistinctive castle surrounded by seawater moats, built in 1590 and reconstructed with a five-story tower by the Matsudaira clan in 1642.
Takamatsu · Kagawa
