Established in 1253, Japan's oldest Zen monastery is still active today. The central Butsuden (Buddha Hall) was brought piece by piece from Tokyo in 1647…
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# Must-see attractions in Japan

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- Mt Fuji and Cherry Blossom

Fuji Five Lakes

Fuji-san is among Japan's most revered and timeless attractions, the inspiration for generations of poets and the focus of countless artworks. Hundreds of…

- Tokyo, Ueno, Taito-ku: Tokyo National Museum, Honkan

Ueno & Yanesen

If you visit only one museum in Tokyo, make it the Tokyo National Museum. Here you'll find the world's largest collection of Japanese art, including…

- Peace Statue, Nagasaki,Japan

Nagasaki

A still, serene and deeply moving place, Nagasaki's Peace Park commemorates the atomic bombing of the city on August 9, 1945, which reduced the…

- Vendors prepare chestnuts to sell at Nishiki Market in Kyoto, Japan on 22 November 2016. 1011566827 traditional, street, asian, nutrition, priest, tourism, fruit, editorial, cooking, design, east, tradition, chinese, famous, stall, recommend, sale, asia, vendor, nut, cuisine, chef, color, people, culture, food, castanea, healthy, place, chestnut, travel, vegetable, market, business, tourist, architecture, marron, buy, furniture, decoration, colorful, merchant, city, nishiki market, japan, street food, japanese, sell, kyoto, shop

Downtown Kyoto

The covered Nishiki Market (Nishiki-kōji Ichiba) is one of Kyoto’s real highlights, especially if you have an interest in cooking and dining. Commonly…

- April 29, 2018: The Robot statue in an open garden space at the Ghibli museum.

Tokyo

This museum is the heart of the Studio Ghibli world, a beloved (even 'adored') film studio responsible for classic, critically-acclaimed animated titles…

- Shinjuku, Tokyo, Kanto region, Japan. Tiny alleys crowded with night bars and clubs at Golden Gai district.

Shinjuku & Northwest Tokyo

Golden Gai – a Shinjuku institution for over half a century – is a collection of tiny bars, often literally no bigger than a closet and seating maybe a…

- Tokyo, Japan view of Shibuya Crossing, one of the busiest crosswalks in the world. aerial, architecture, asia, asian, billboards, buildings, business, city, cityscape, commercial, cross, crosswalk, crowd, district, downtown, dusk, evening, famous, futuristic, japan, japanese, landmark, lights, location, metropolis, metropolitan, modern, morning, night, office, pedestrian, people, place, plaza, road, scene, scenery, scenic, shibuya, shopping, signs, skyline, skyscrapers, square, street, tokyo, twilight, urban, view, walk

Shibuya & Shimo-Kitazawa

Rumoured to be the busiest intersection in the world (and definitely in Japan), Shibuya Crossing is like a giant beating heart, sending people in all…

- Tokyo, Japan - May 6, 2017: Cup noodles Museum Front display in Yokohama.; Shutterstock ID 652705672; Your name (First / Last): Laura Crawford; GL account no.: 65050; Netsuite department name: Online Editorial; Full Product or Project name including edition: BiA: Takayama, south of Tokyo POI images for online

Yokohama

This impressively slick attraction is dedicated to, you guessed it, cup noodles. But in reality, its focus is more broad, with numerous exhibitions…

- Tokushima, Shikoku, Japan, North-East Asia, Asia

Shikoku

If you're travelling along Rte 439, it's not a matter of 'blink and you'll miss it', but blink, and blink again, because you may have a hard time…

- Osaka, Japan - April 30, 2017: tourists looking Osaka city at Abeno Harukas, the tallest skyscraper in Japan. The building stands on top of Kintetsu Osaka Abenobashi Station near JR Tennoji Station. 919551970 Abeno Harukas Observatory

Osaka

This César Pelli–designed tower, which opened in March 2014, is Japan's tallest building (300m, 60 storeys). The observatory on the 16th floor is free,…

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Tokyo

Digital-art collective teamLab has created 60 artworks for this museum, open in 2018, that tests the border between art and the viewer: many are…

- Tokyo Imperial Palace, tokyo, japan 138905807 ancient, architecture, asia, asian, attraction, bridge, building, castle, city, edo, emperor, fort, fortress, historic, historical, history, imperial, japan, japanese, king, landmark, moat, monarchy, nijubashi, old, oriental, otemachi, palace, royal, royalty, stone, tokyo, tower, travel, urban, wall

Tokyo

The Imperial Palace occupies the site of the original Edo-jō, the Tokugawa shogunate's castle. In its heyday this was the largest fortress in the world,…

- World Heritage-listed Toshogu Shrine, Nikko

Nikkō

Tōshō-gū is Nikkō's biggest attraction, a shrine to the powerful shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543–1616). No expense was spared: when the original structure …

- Row of stone lanterns at Oku-no-in cemetery.

Kii Peninsula

Oku-no-in, whose name means 'inner sanctuary', is perhaps the most intensely spiritual place in Japan. At its farthest reaches is the Gobyō, the crypt…

- Exterior of the Sensouji Temple. 1075025648 architecture, asakusa, asia, background, blue, buddhism, buddhist, building, capital, city, copy, cultural, day, destination, famous, god, japan, japanese, landmark, landscape, morning, old, people, pray, red, religion, senso-ji, sensoji, sensouji, shinto, shrine, sky, space, temple, tokyo, tourism, tourists, travel, worship

Asakusa & Sumida River

Tokyo’s most visited temple enshrines a golden image of Kannon (the Buddhist goddess of mercy), which, according to legend, was miraculously pulled out of…

- Todai-ji Temple, Nara

Nara

Nara's star attraction is its Daibutsu (Great Buddha), one of the largest bronze statues in the world. It was unveiled in 752, upon the completion of the…

- TOKYO, JAPAN - NOVEMBER 23: Meiji-jingu in Tokyo, Japan on November 23, 2013. The shrine officially designated one of Kanpei-taisha, the 1st rank of government supported shrines. 191077460 architecture, city, gate, harajuku, interest, japan, japanese, jingu, meiji, meiji-jingo, meiji-jingu, of, people, place, roof, shinto, shrine, sightseeing, temple, tile, tokyo, torii, tourism, tourist, urban, visit

Harajuku & Aoyama

Tokyo’s grandest Shintō shrine is dedicated to the Emperor Meiji and Empress Shōken, whose reign (1868–1912) coincided with Japan's transformation from…

- HAKONE, KANAGAWA, JAPAN - 2014/06/20: The Hakone Open Air Museum creates a harmonic balance of the nature of Hakone National Park with art in the form of scultpures and other artwork, usually replicas, using the nature of Hakone National Park as a frame or background. The park encourages children to play and be entertained as well as to inspire visitors. (Photo by John S Lander/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Hakone

Occupying a verdant swath of Hakone hillside is this unmissable art safari, leading visitors past a rich array of 19th- and 20th-century sculptures and…

- Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum, Nagasaki Peace Park, Nagasaki, Kyushu, Japan, Asia

Nagasaki

On 9 August 1945, the world's second nuclear weapon detonated over Nagasaki, and this sombre place recounts the city's destruction and loss of life…

- NAGASAKI, JAPAN -3 NOV 2017- View of the Nagasaki National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims located in Nagasaki, Japan.; Shutterstock ID 777330865; Your name (First / Last): Laura Crawford; GL account no.: 65050; Netsuite department name: Online Editorial; Full Product or Project name including edition: HCMC & Nagasaki page images BiA

Nagasaki

Adjacent to the Atomic Bomb Museum and completed in 2003, this minimalist memorial by Kuryū Akira is a profoundly moving place. It's best approached by…

- Kazurabashi vine bridge in Japan's Iya Valley

Shikoku

Away from the crowds and tour buses, the spectacular Oku Iya Ni-jū Kazura-bashi are two secluded vine bridges hanging side by side high over the river…

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Kansai

Ise-jingū's inner shrine is dedicated to the sun goddess, Amaterasu-Ōmikami, considered the ancestral goddess of the imperial family and guardian deity of…

- 

Kanazawa & the Hokuriku Coast

One of Japan's National Treasures, the temple of the second generation of feudal lord Maeda Toshinaga's family is rightly famous for its manicured lawns,…

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Okinawa & the Southwest Islands

Just 4km north of the Hirara district of Miyakojima city, you'll find this little, archetypally tropical Japan beach, which lies at the bottom of a large…

- ktoyo,japan - May 21,2018 : Mt.Hiei-zan Enryaku-ji Temple in Kyoto,Japan.Enryaku-ji Temple was founded by the priest Saicho In 788.

Kyoto

Located atop 848m-high Hiei-zan (the mountain that dominates the skyline in the northeast of the city), the Enryaku-ji complex is an entire world of…

- Horyuji Temple, Nara, Japan

Nara

Hōryū-ji was founded in 607 by Prince Shōtoku, considered by many to be the patron saint of Japanese Buddhism. It's renowned not only as one of the oldest…

- Kiyomizu or Kiyomizu-dera temple in autum season at Kyoto Japan 391009933 architecture, asia, autumn, buddhism, buddhist, color, culture, dera, fall, heritage, japan, japanese, kiyomizu, kiyomizu-dera, kyoto, landmark, nature, red, religion, religious, shinto, shrine, temple, tourist, travel

Southern Higashiyama

A buzzing hive of activity perched on a hill overlooking the basin of Kyoto, Kiyomizu-dera is one of Kyoto's most popular and most enjoyable temples. It…

- Cenotaph for A-Bomb victims and A-Bomb Dome

Hiroshima

Hugged by rivers on both sides, Peace Memorial Park is a large, leafy space crisscrossed by walkways and dotted with memorials and tranquil spaces for…

- Japan, Sanin Region, Shimane Prefecture, Izumo, Shimenawa at Izumo Taisha Shrine. (Photo by: JTB Photo/UIG via Getty Images)

Western Honshū

Izumo Taisha, also known as Izumo Ōyashiro, is perhaps the oldest Shintō shrine in Japan. This shrine, dedicated to Ōkuninushi, god of marriage and…

- 500px Photo ID: 104742241 - Photo taken at Kurama-dera, Sakyo ward, Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan.

Kansai

Located high on a thickly wooded mountain, Kurama-dera is one of the few temples in modern Japan that manages to retain an air of real spirituality. This…

- (GERMANY OUT) The bell at the Chion-inTemple in the Gion district of Kyoto, Japan  (Photo by Forster/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

Southern Higashiyama

A collection of soaring buildings, spacious courtyards and gardens, Chion-in serves as the headquarters of the Jōdo sect, the largest school of Buddhism…

- Osaka Castle in Morning 1331407004

Osaka

After unifying Japan in the late 16th century, General Toyotomi Hideyoshi built this castle (1583) as a display of power, using, it's said, the labour of…

- Japan, Kinki Region, Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto, View of Sanzen-in Temple. (Photo by: JTB/UIG via Getty Images) (Photo by: JTB Photo/UIG via Getty Images)

Kansai

Famed for its autumn foliage, hydrangea garden and stunning Buddha statues, this temple is deservedly popular with foreign and domestic tourists alike…

- Full length of young maikos holding red umbrellas during rainy season. Beautiful geisha girls wearing traditional dress called kimono. They are walking on wet street. 641625768

Southern Higashiyama

Gion is the famous entertainment and geisha quarter on the eastern bank of the Kamo-gawa. While Gion’s true origins were in teahouses catering to weary…

- KYOTO, JAPAN - March 27, 2014: The Nijo-jo Castle on March 27, 2014 in Kyoto, Japan. The Nijo-jo Castle was the residence of the Tokugawa shoguns in Kyoto, who had been ruling Japan for over 260 years ancient, asia, asian, blue, building, castle, concentric, cultivated, culture, day, defense, entrance, fortification, garden, heritage, higashi, historic, historical, history, honmaru, japan, japanese, keep, kyoto, landmark, landscape, nijo, nijo-jo, ninomaru, old, oriental, palace, path, precision, protection, structure, tradition, traditional, travel, tree, vintage, wooden

Downtown Kyoto

The military might of Japan's great warlord generals, the Tokugawa shoguns, is amply demonstrated by the imposing stone walls and ramparts of their great…

- Japan, Kumamoto Prefecture, Kumamoto Castle, low angle view

Kumamoto

Dominating the skyline, Kumamoto's robust castle is one of Japan's best, built in 1601–07 by daimyō Katō Kiyomasa, whose likeness is inescapable around…

- Koraku-en, Okayama, Okayama, Japan

Western Honshū

Kōraku-en draws the crowds with its reputation as one of the three most beautiful gardens in Japan. It has expansive lawns broken up by ponds, teahouses…

- KAMAKURA, KANAGAWA, JAPAN - 2015/06/04: Kenchojji is the oldest Zen monastery in Japan.  The temple was built in 1273 during the Kamakura period.  The layout of the temple follows the Chinese tradition with the buildings arranged on an axis. (Photo by John S Lander/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Kamakura

Established in 1253, Japan's oldest Zen monastery is still active today. The central Butsuden (Buddha Hall) was brought piece by piece from Tokyo in 1647…

- NAGASAKI, NAGASAKI-KEN, JAPAN - 2010/07/20: The former Nagasaki International club built in 1903. Dejima, literally "protruding island", was a small island in the bay of Nagasaki that was a Dutch trading post during Japan's self-imposed isolation of the Edo period from 1641 until 1853.  Here Dutch traders were stationed, keeping a small window on the outside world plus trade with the rest of the world..Since the closing of the Dutch East India Company's trading post in 1857, the island has been surrounded by reclaimed land and merged into Nagasaki. The island was designated a national historical site in 1922. Today, Dejima is a work in progress with the long-term plan to fully restore its characteristic fan-shaped form and all the embankment walls.. (Photo by John S Lander/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Nagasaki

In 1641 the Tokugawa shogunate banished all foreigners from Japan, with one exception: Dejima, a fan-shaped, artificial island in Nagasaki harbour. From…

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Ueno & Yanesen

Considered by many to be Tokyo's most elegant garden, Rikugi-en was originally completed in 1702, at the behest of a feudal lord. It is definitely the…

## More destinations you need to see

- Taj Mahal

- Tiananmen under sky and cloud. 141819499 ancient, beijing, blue, building, china, chinese, city, communism, famous, forbidden, gate, historic, history, landmark, landscape, mao, monument, nature, ornate, palace, peoples, prc, red, sky, square, summer, temple, tiananmen, tourism, travel, white

- Scenic view with resting female pansian hiker on Padar island Komodo National Park, Indonesia. The mountainous seascape in Indonesia is famous for its incredible vistas.

- Colorful Lamp Festival and Lantern in Loi Krathong at Wat Lok Moli is a beautiful old temple in Chiang Mai.

- Philippines, Boracay Island

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