Hidden Gems Across Japan
1,610 spots
Tsukiji Outer Market
Tsukiji Outer Market (築地場外市場, Tsukiji Jogai Shijo) is a 300-meter network of alleys and shops selling fresh seafood, pro…
Ginza Shopping District
Ginza (銀座, 'silver mint') is Tokyo's premier luxury shopping district, an 8-block grid of flagship stores, department st…
Akihabara Electric Town
Akihabara (秋葉原, often shortened to 'Akiba') is Tokyo's electronics and otaku (geek) culture district, a dense 500-meter…
Senso-ji Temple
Senso-ji (浅草寺) is Tokyo's oldest and most significant Buddhist temple, founded in 645 AD after two fishermen discovered…
Meiji Shrine
Meiji Shrine (明治神宮, Meiji Jingu) is a Shinto shrine dedicated to Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken, set within 175 acres…
Takeshita Street
Takeshita Street (竹下通り, Takeshita-dori) is a 350-meter pedestrian alley in Harajuku, lined with shops selling kawaii (cu…
Tokyo Metropolitan Building
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building (東京都庁, Tocho) has twin towers rising 243 meters, each with a free observation…
Shinjuku Kabukicho
Kabukicho (歌舞伎町) is Tokyo's largest entertainment and red-light district, a neon-soaked maze of narrow alleys packed wit…
Shibuya Scramble Crossing
Shibuya Scramble Crossing (渋谷スクランブル交差点) is the world's busiest pedestrian intersection, where up to 3,000 people cross s…
Abashiri Drift Ice Cruise
Every winter (late January to late March), drift ice (流氷, ryuhyo) from the Russian Far East floats south through the Sea…
Kushiro Robatayaki
Robatayaki (炉端焼き, 'fireside grilling') was invented in Kushiro in the 1950s, inspired by fishermen grilling their catch…
Otaru Music Box Museum
The Otaru Music Box Museum (小樽オルゴール堂) occupies a red-brick warehouse from 1912, housing Japan's largest collection of mu…
Sapporo Snow Festival
Every February, Sapporo clears out its snow dumps and trucks 5,000 tons of it to Odori Park, where teams spend four week…
Shiroi Koibito Park
Shiroi Koibito (白い恋人, 'White Lovers') is Hokkaido's most famous souvenir — delicate langue de chat butter cookies sandwi…
Jingisukan
Jingisukan (ジンギスカン, 'Genghis Khan') is Hokkaido's signature BBQ dish — thinly sliced lamb grilled on a convex cast-iron…
Goryokaku Star Fort
Goryokaku (五稜郭) is a star-shaped fortress built in 1866, Japan's first Western-style citadel designed with artillery def…
Susukino District
Susukino (すすきの) is Japan's largest nightlife district north of Tokyo, a 6-block area of neon-lit streets packed with 4,0…
Sapporo Clock Tower
The Sapporo Clock Tower (札幌市時計台, Tokeidai) is a white wooden building from 1878, originally built as a drill hall for Sa…
Lake Akan
Lake Akan (阿寒湖) is a volcanic caldera lake famous for marimo (毬藻) — rare spherical algae colonies that grow naturally on…
Shiretoko Peninsula
Shiretoko is the end of the road in Hokkaido—literally. The peninsula juts northeast into the Sea of Okhotsk, and there'…
Kushiro Shitsugen
Kushiro Shitsugen (釧路湿原) is Japan's largest wetland, covering 280 square kilometers of marshes, reed beds, and meanderin…
Noboribetsu Onsen
Noboribetsu Onsen (登別温泉) is Hokkaido's premier hot spring resort, fed by Jigokudani ('Hell Valley' — 地獄谷), a volcanic cr…
Niseko Powder Snow
Niseko gets dumped on. Fifteen meters of snow every season, sometimes 50cm overnight when low-pressure systems cross the…
Asahiyama Zoo
Asahiyama Zoo (旭山動物園) revolutionized zoo design in Japan by creating 'behavioral exhibits' that allow visitors to observ…
Estimated from distance to the nearest airport or shinkansen station. Confirm actual journey times before you travel.