Places
Mt. Fuji, Kinkaku-ji, Asakusa, Skytree: the places people actually ask about.
70 entriesTap a title to open the full entry: three lengths of English explanation, the questions people actually ask, ready-made phrases and audio.
Essential（27）
- PlacesEssential the Great Buddha of Kamakura鎌倉の大仏the bronze Buddha that sits outdoors because its hall was destroyed
- PlacesEssential Gion祇園と花街the old Kyoto quarter where geiko and maiko still work
- PlacesEssential kyoto京都the capital for a thousand years, and how to explain it
- PlacesEssential Kinkakuji金閣寺the Golden Pavilion in Kyoto
- PlacesEssential Ginkakuji銀閣寺the Silver Pavilion in Kyoto, which has no silver on it
- PlacesEssential Harajuku and Omotesando原宿と表参道the youth fashion street and the tree-lined avenue beside it
- PlacesEssential Itsukushima Shrine厳島神社the shrine built over the sea, with a torii gate standing in the water
- PlacesEssential Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park広島と平和記念公園the park in the middle of Hiroshima built where the city was destroyed
- PlacesEssential Kokyo皇居と二重橋where the Emperor lives, on the site of Edo Castle
- PlacesEssential Akihabara秋葉原the Tokyo district that went from radio parts to anime
- PlacesEssential the Shibuya scramble crossing渋谷スクランブル交差点the all-way pedestrian crossing outside Shibuya Station
- PlacesEssential Shinjuku and Kabukicho新宿と歌舞伎町the world's busiest station and the entertainment district beside it
- PlacesEssential Kiyomizudera清水寺the Kyoto temple with a wooden stage built out over a hillside
- PlacesEssential Asakusa浅草the old temple district in eastern Tokyo
- PlacesEssential osaka大阪the merchant city, and how it differs from Tokyo
- PlacesEssential Tsukiji and Toyosu築地と豊洲the old fish market street and the new wholesale market
- PlacesEssential Tokyo Tower東京タワーthe red and white broadcasting tower built in 1958
- PlacesEssential Todaiji東大寺と奈良の大仏the Nara temple housing a 15-meter bronze Buddha in a vast wooden hall
- PlacesEssential Dotonbori道頓堀the canal-side street in Osaka with the running-man sign
- PlacesEssential the deer of Nara Park奈良公園の鹿the wild deer that roam a city park in Nara
- PlacesEssential Shirakawago白川郷the mountain village of steep thatched farmhouses
- PlacesEssential Hakone箱根the hot spring area in the mountains west of Tokyo
- PlacesEssential Himeji Castle姫路城the white castle in Hyogo, the best-preserved original keep in Japan
- PlacesEssential Mount Fuji富士山Japan's highest mountain, an active volcano and a World Cultural Heritage site
- PlacesEssential Fushimi Inari Taisha伏見稲荷大社the Kyoto shrine with thousands of vermilion torii gates up a mountain
- PlacesEssential Meiji Jingu明治神宮the Tokyo shrine set in a forest that was planted from nothing
- PlacesEssential Arashiyama嵐山the district of western Kyoto with the bridge, the temple garden and the bamboo path
Standard（35）
- PlacesStandard Odaibaお台場the waterfront district built on reclaimed land in Tokyo Bay
- PlacesStandard ferries and remote islandsフェリーと離島the ferry networks that connect Japan's thousands of smaller islands to the mainland
- PlacesStandard yokohama横浜the fishing village that became Japan's door to the West
- PlacesStandard Yakushima屋久島the southern island of ancient cedars and constant rain
- PlacesStandard kanazawa金沢the castle town that escaped the bombing, and its gold leaf
- PlacesStandard Ginza銀座the expensive shopping district named after a silver mint
- PlacesStandard karuizawa軽井沢the highland resort that began as a missionary's summer escape
- PlacesStandard Kenrokuen兼六園the Kanazawa garden named for the six qualities a perfect garden should have
- PlacesStandard Takayama高山the mountain town in Gifu with preserved merchant streets and festival floats
- PlacesStandard koyasan高野山the mountain monastery where you can stay the night
- PlacesStandard sakurajima桜島the active volcano that drops ash on a city of 600,000
- PlacesStandard Sanjusangendo三十三間堂the 120-meter hall in Kyoto holding 1,001 statues of Kannon
- PlacesStandard shikoku pilgrimage四国八十八ヶ所the 1,200-kilometer circuit of eighty-eight temples
- PlacesStandard Shurijo首里城と沖縄the palace of the Ryukyu Kingdom in Okinawa
- PlacesStandard Ueno Park上野公園the Tokyo park holding the national museums, the zoo and the cherry trees
- PlacesStandard Kinosaki Onsen城崎温泉a hot spring town in northern Hyogo known for its seven public bathhouses
- PlacesStandard kobe神戸the port city between mountain and sea, rebuilt after an earthquake
- PlacesStandard kusatsu onsen草津温泉the strongly acidic hot spring with the wooden cooling ritual
- PlacesStandard Adachi Museum of Art足立美術館the Shimane museum whose garden is viewed like a painting, not walked in
- PlacesStandard Nagasaki and Dejima長崎と出島the port that was Japan's only window to Europe, and the second atomic bombing
- PlacesStandard Tokyo Skytree東京スカイツリーthe 634-meter broadcasting tower in eastern Tokyo
- PlacesStandard Tokyo Station東京駅の駅舎the red brick station building of 1914, restored in 2012
- PlacesStandard michi no eki道の駅roadside stations that sell local produce and let drivers rest
- PlacesStandard dogo onsen道後温泉one of Japan's oldest hot springs, and its wooden bathhouse
- PlacesStandard Nijojo二条城the Kyoto castle where the shogun gave power back to the Emperor
- PlacesStandard Nikko Toshogu日光東照宮the shrine where Tokugawa Ieyasu is enshrined, covered in carvings
- PlacesStandard Nihon Sankei日本三景the three famous views of Japan, chosen in the seventeenth century
- PlacesStandard atami熱海the hot spring town that collapsed and came back
- PlacesStandard fukuoka福岡the city closest to the continent, and its street food stalls
- PlacesStandard Byodoin平等院鳳凰堂the eleventh-century temple hall on the ten-yen coin
- PlacesStandard Beppu and Yufuin別府と湯布院the biggest hot spring town in Japan and the quiet one next to it
- PlacesStandard beppu onsen別府温泉the town with the most hot spring water in Japan
- PlacesStandard the scale of Hokkaido北海道の広さhow much bigger Hokkaido is than most visitors expect
- PlacesStandard nagoya名古屋the industrial city between Tokyo and Osaka, with its own food
- PlacesStandard Arima Onsen有馬温泉the old hot spring town in the hills behind Kobe
Advanced（8）
- PlacesAdvanced Mount Aso阿蘇山the active volcano in Kyushu with fifty thousand people living inside its caldera
- PlacesAdvanced Kumano Kodo熊野古道the old pilgrimage routes through the mountains south of Osaka
- PlacesAdvanced gunkanjima軍艦島the abandoned coal island off Nagasaki
- PlacesAdvanced seikan tunnel青函トンネルthe undersea tunnel joining Honshu and Hokkaido
- PlacesAdvanced Shiretoko知床the northeastern peninsula where drift ice reaches its southern limit
- PlacesAdvanced Tottori Sand Dunes鳥取砂丘the large coastal dunes on the Japan Sea, often mistaken for a desert
- PlacesAdvanced Naoshima直島the small island in the Inland Sea turned into a contemporary art site
- PlacesAdvanced mozu furuichi kofun百舌鳥・古市古墳群the giant keyhole tombs you cannot go inside