Hidden Gems Across Japan
1,610 spots
Sauce Katsudon
Sauce katsudon is Fukui's regional soul food and the polar opposite of the egg-bound katsudon known elsewhere in Japan.…
Echizen Crab
Echizen crab is male snow crab caught in designated waters off Fukui Prefecture between November 6 and March 20, with ea…
Wakasa Bay
Wakasa Bay (若狭湾) is a deeply indented coastal region facing the Sea of Japan, historically famous as the terminus of the…
Tojinbo Cliffs
Tojinbo is a 1-kilometer stretch of vertical basalt columnar jointing cliffs rising 20–30 meters above the Sea of Japan…
Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum
The Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum ranks among the world's three premier dinosaur museums (alongside Beijing and Drum…
Eiheiji Temple
Eiheiji is a working Zen monastery founded in 1244, where 150-200 monks follow a training schedule unchanged since the E…
Kitaguchi Hongu Fuji Sengen Shrine
Kitaguchi Hongu Fuji Sengen Shrine has served as the traditional starting point for Mt. Fuji pilgrimages via the Yoshida…
Daizenji Taisekiji Temple
Daizenji Taisekiji Temple, nestled in the Katsunuma wine valley, has an unusual claim: it houses a 1,200-year-old wooden…
Erin-ji Temple
Erin-ji Temple, located in the mountains east of Kofu, served as the family temple of the Takeda clan during the Warring…
Lake Shojiko and Lake Motosuko
Lake Shojiko (西湖) and Lake Motosuko (本栖湖) are the westernmost of the Fuji Five Lakes, connected by a 2km walking path th…
Momiji Kairo Maple Corridor
The Momiji Kairo (紅葉回廊, 'Maple Corridor') is a 150-meter pathway along the northern shore of Lake Kawaguchiko lined with…
Maizuru Castle Park
Maizuru Castle Park occupies the grounds of historic Kofu Castle (舞鶴城), built in 1583 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi's vassal and…
Lake Saiko Bat Cave and Forest
Lake Saiko, the fourth-largest of the Fuji Five Lakes, remains the quietest and least developed — no lakeshore hotels, m…
Kawaguchiko Music Forest Museum
The Kawaguchiko Music Forest Museum is a European-style garden and music box museum set against the backdrop of Mt. Fuji…
Oshino Hakkai
Oshino Hakkai is a collection of eight crystal-clear ponds fed by snowmelt from Mt. Fuji that has filtered through under…
Aokigahara Forest
Aokigahara, also known as the 'Sea of Trees' (樹海, Jukai), is a dense virgin forest that spreads across 30 square kilomet…
Illustration — not a photographYamanashi Fruit Picking
Yamanashi Prefecture is Japan's fruit basket — the nation's top producer of grapes and peaches, and second for cherries.…
Isawa Onsen
Isawa Onsen, located in the Fuefuki Valley surrounded by peach and grape orchards, is Yamanashi's largest hot spring res…
Illustration — not a photographHoto Noodles
Hoto is Yamanashi's signature comfort dish — thick, flat wheat noodles simmered in a miso-based broth with kabocha squas…
Takeda Shingen Historical Sites
Takeda Shingen (1521–1573) was one of the most formidable daimyo of Japan's Warring States period, ruling Kai Province (…
Kofu Wine Wineries
Kofu Basin in central Yamanashi is Japan's premier wine-producing region, responsible for 40% of domestic wine productio…
Shosenkyo Gorge
Shosenkyo Gorge, carved by the Arakawa River through the granite mountains north of Kofu, stretches 5km through vertical…
Lake Yamanakako
Lake Yamanakako, the largest and highest-elevation (980m) of the Fuji Five Lakes, stretches 6.8km east-west with the sou…
Mt. Fuji Yoshida Trail
The Yoshida Trail is the most popular of the four official Mt. Fuji climbing routes, accounting for over 60% of all summ…
Estimated from distance to the nearest airport or shinkansen station. Confirm actual journey times before you travel.