Things to do in Japan

28 places worth the trip in Japan, grouped by what they are. Every guide explains what to see, the best time to go and the practical details, checked against official sources. Best time to visit Japan: Mar–May, Oct–Nov.

Heritage (10)
Mosques & temples (7)
Cities (3)
Nature (3)
National parks (2)
Food (1)
Islands (1)
Viewpoints (1)

Heritage in Japan

The great vermilion torii of Itsukushima Shrine at low tide, with visitors on the tidal flats, Miyajima

Hiroshima and Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima Prefecture

Hiroshima & Miyajima

Two contrasting UNESCO sites a short journey apart: Hiroshima's A-Bomb Dome and Peace Memorial Park, and Itsukushima Shrine with its great torii standing in the sea off Miyajima.

An ornate black-and-gold tower building within the Toshogu precinct, framed by tall cedars, with visitors on the stone steps

Nikko

Nikko's Shrines and Temples, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1999, include the lavishly carved Toshogu Shrine, the mausoleum of shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, set among towering cedars about two hours from Tokyo.

Great Buddha Hall of Todai-ji with its sweeping tiled roofs above a green lawn, visitors on the entrance steps

Nara, Nara Prefecture

Nara Park & Todai-ji

A park at the foot of Mt Wakakusa home to around 1,300 deer, surrounding Todai-ji, whose Great Buddha Hall houses a colossal bronze Buddha consecrated in 752.

Osaka Castle's white main tower with green roofs and gold details rising above trees and its stone base

Chuo Ward, Osaka

Osaka Castle

Osaka's landmark castle: a 1931 main tower with white walls and gold-trimmed green roofs, set on massive original stone walls inside a park of around 106 hectares.

Himeji Castle's white main keep and smaller keeps rising above stone walls against a clear blue sky

Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture

Himeji Castle

A gleaming white castle complex of original wooden buildings, nicknamed the White Heron Castle, inscribed by UNESCO in 1993 and an easy day trip from Osaka or Kyoto.

Kasumigaike Pond in Kenroku-en reflecting pine trees, teahouses and a blue sky with white clouds

Kenroku-machi, Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture

Kanazawa – Kenroku-en

Kanazawa's celebrated strolling garden, shaped over two centuries by the Maeda lords, with ponds, teahouses, the two-legged Kotoji lantern and rope-supported pines in winter.

Elevated view over Shirakawa-go's thatched houses and rice paddies in a green valley with mountains beyond

Ogimachi, Shirakawa, Gifu Prefecture

Shirakawa-go

A living village in the Gifu mountains where steep thatched gassho-zukuri farmhouses stand among rice fields, inscribed by UNESCO in 1995 and magical under winter snow.

Matsumoto Castle's black-and-white keep on its stone base above the moat, green trees and hills behind

Marunouchi, Matsumoto, Nagano

Matsumoto Castle

A National Treasure of Japan, this black-and-white castle keep has stood over its moat for more than 400 years, with steep wooden stairs inside and the Japanese Alps rising behind.

Quiet lane of dark wooden merchant houses with hanging signboards, light snow on the ground

Sanmachi, Takayama, Gifu

Takayama Old Town

Takayama's Sanmachi district keeps dark-timbered merchant houses, sake breweries and craft shops from its Edo-period heyday, with riverside morning markets and one of Japan's celebrated festivals.

Shureimon, Shuri Castle's red two-tiered ceremonial gate with its name plaque, trees and stone wall around

Shuri, Naha, Okinawa

Okinawa – Shuri Castle & Naha

Shuri Castle was the political and cultural heart of the Ryukyu Kingdom for about 450 years. Its main hall is being rebuilt after the 2019 fire, while Naha below offers markets, pottery and island food.

Mosques & temples in Japan

Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavilion, above its pond among pine trees and forested hills, Kyoto

Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture

Kyoto temples

Kyoto was Japan's imperial capital from 794 until the mid-19th century, and its temples, shrines and gardens form the UNESCO-listed Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto.

The two-storey red Hozomon Gate of Senso-ji under a blue sky, with visitors on the approach

Asakusa, Taito City, Tokyo

Senso-ji, Asakusa

Senso-ji is a Buddhist temple dedicated to Kannon, the Bodhisattva of compassion, reached through the Kaminarimon gate and the souvenir stalls of Nakamise-dori, and illuminated every evening.

The main shrine courtyard of Meiji Jingu with two large rounded trees under a blue sky

Yoyogi, Shibuya City, Tokyo

Meiji Jingu

Meiji Jingu is a Shinto shrine set in about 70 hectares of planted forest next to Harajuku, honouring Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken. Entry is free and it opens daily from sunrise to sunset.

Looking up into the mosque's dome, decorated with blue, gold and red patterns and calligraphy around a large chandelier

Oyama-cho, Shibuya City, Tokyo

Tokyo Camii & Turkish Culture Center

Tokyo Camii is an Ottoman-style mosque and Turkish culture centre near Yoyogi-Uehara Station, welcoming visitors of all faiths daily, with a halal market and a prayer hall for more than 500 people.

Stone path running through a tunnel of inscribed vermilion torii gates with dappled sunlight

Fushimi Inari Taisha

The head shrine of Japan's Inari shrines, founded in 711, famous for paths lined with thousands of vermilion torii gates that climb the 233-metre Mt Inari.

Golden Pavilion of Kinkaku-ji reflected in its pond, framed by pine trees and rocks under a blue sky

Kita Ward, Kyoto

Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion)

The Golden Pavilion of Rokuon-ji, built as the retirement villa of shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, its upper floors covered in gold leaf and reflected in Kyokochi pond.

Kiyomizu-dera Main Hall and its wooden stage rising above red autumn maples, with Kyoto city in the distance

Higashiyama, Kyoto

Kiyomizu-dera & Higashiyama

A temple of Kannon with over 1,200 years of history, whose Main Hall stage juts from the hillside, reached through the stone-paved lanes of Sannenzaka and Ninenzaka.

Cities in Japan

Shinjuku skyscrapers, including the Cocoon Tower, silhouetted against an orange sunset sky in Tokyo

Tokyo Metropolis, Kanto

Tokyo

Japan's vast capital pairs the famous Shibuya Scramble and neon-lit Shinjuku with free skyline observatories, historic temples and forested shrines, all linked by an efficient rail network.

Two-storey wooden machiya teahouses with bamboo screens on a quiet paved corner of Hanamikoji

Higashiyama, Kyoto

Gion

Kyoto's best-known hanamachi, where geiko and maiko live and work, with wooden teahouses along Hanamikoji and the Shirakawa canal, next to Yasaka Shrine.

Otaru Canal in soft evening light, stone warehouses reflected in still water beside the canal path

Sapporo and Otaru, Hokkaido

Sapporo & Otaru

Hokkaido's capital pairs the long green ribbon of Odori Park, home of the February Snow Festival, with Otaru's stone-warehouse canal and sushi counters about 45 minutes away by train.

Nature in Japan

Empty curving path between tall green bamboo stems and low woven brushwood fences

Arashiyama, Ukyo Ward, Kyoto

Arashiyama Bamboo Grove & Tenryu-ji

A path through tall moso bamboo in western Kyoto, next to Tenryu-ji, a major Rinzai Zen temple whose Sogenchi pond garden was designed by Muso Soseki.

Rainbow-striped flower beds on rolling hills at Shikisai-no-Oka, forest and distant mountains behind

Furano and Biei, Kamikawa, Hokkaido

Furano & Biei

Neighbouring farm towns in central Hokkaido known for summer lavender at Farm Tomita, striped flower hills at Shikisai-no-Oka, lone photogenic trees and the milky-blue Shirogane Blue Pond.

Moss-covered boulders and twisting trees in a dense green forest lit by soft sunlight

Yakushima, Kagoshima

Yakushima

A mountainous island south of Kyushu, inscribed by UNESCO in 1993 for its forests of ancient Yakusugi cedars, moss-draped ravines and vegetation that changes from subtropical coast to cool summit.

National parks in Japan

Snow-capped Mount Fuji beyond Lake Ashi, with the red Hakone Shrine torii at the water's edge

Hakone, Kanagawa

Hakone & Mount Fuji

A hot-spring resort in Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, where a loop of mountain railway, ropeway and lake boats links volcanic Owakudani, Lake Ashi and lakeside views of Mount Fuji.

Calm lake fringed with golden grasses reflecting snow-streaked mountains and clouds

Shari and Rausu, Shiretoko Peninsula, Hokkaido

Shiretoko National Park

A remote volcanic peninsula on the Sea of Okhotsk, inscribed by UNESCO in 2005 for the way sea, rivers and forest connect, from drift ice and salmon to brown bears and sea eagles.

Food in Japan

The Dotonbori canal by day, lined with billboards and signs, a tour boat on the water and crowds on the walkways

Chuo Ward, Osaka

Dotonbori, Osaka

Osaka's liveliest food and entertainment strip along the Dotonbori canal, where takoyaki stalls, giant 3D signs and the Glico Running Man draw crowds late into the night.

Islands in Japan

Yayoi Kusama's yellow pumpkin with black dots on a concrete pier, the calm sea and distant islands behind

Naoshima, Kagawa Prefecture

Naoshima Art Island

A quiet island in the Seto Inland Sea where Tadao Ando museums, Yayoi Kusama's pumpkins and art installations in old village houses sit among beaches and fishing hamlets.

Viewpoints in Japan

The red five-storied Chureito Pagoda above Fujiyoshida with snow-capped Mount Fuji under a blue sky

Fujiyoshida and Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi

Fuji Five Lakes – Lake Kawaguchiko & Chureito Pagoda

On Mount Fuji's northern side, Lake Kawaguchi offers mirror-like views of the mountain, while the red Chureito Pagoda in Arakurayama Sengen Park frames Fuji above the city of Fujiyoshida.

Japan holiday packages

Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavilion, above its pond among pine trees and forested hills, Kyoto

CultureCity break

Japan · 11 nights4★ Hotel

Classic Japan: Tokyo, Hakone & Kyoto

Ryokan with onsen
Fushimi Inari
Bullet train pass

Includes accommodation · private transfers · daily breakfast · guided sightseeing

Indicative from

$3,426 pp

Shinjuku skyscrapers, including the Cocoon Tower, silhouetted against an orange sunset sky in Tokyo

CultureLuxury

Japan · 13 nights5★ Boutique

Japan Cherry Blossom Journey

Sakura viewing
Kaiseki dinner
Miyajima

Includes accommodation · private transfers · daily breakfast · guided sightseeing

Indicative from

$4,714 pp

Japan travel overview Plan a Japan trip

Japan travel guides