Hidden Gems Across Japan
1,610 spots
Kumamoto Castle
Kumamoto Castle, completed in 1607, is one of Japan's three premier castles and a masterpiece of defensive architecture.…
Nagasaki Ropeway Night View to Mt. Inasa
The Nagasaki Ropeway, rebuilt in 2020 with new larger cabins, is the definitive way to experience the Mt. Inasa night vi…
Nagasaki Castella Cake
Castella (カステラ) is a sponge cake introduced to Nagasaki by Portuguese merchants in the 16th century. The Japanese versio…
Obama Onsen
Obama Onsen is a coastal hot spring town facing the Tachibana Bay, known for having the highest water temperature of any…
Hirado Dutch Trading Post (Hirado Oranda Shokan)
Before Dejima, the Dutch East India Company maintained its Japan headquarters in Hirado from 1609 to 1641. The reconstru…
Shimabara Spring Water Swimming Carp Streets
Shimabara City's residential streets flow with crystal-clear spring water emerging from underground volcanic aquifers be…
Dejima
Dejima was an artificial fan-shaped island built in 1636 to confine Portuguese traders, and later (1641–1859) served as…
Fukue Island Beaches
Fukue Island, the largest of the Goto Islands, has 20+ named beaches with water clarity and sand quality that rival Okin…
Huis Ten Bosch
Huis Ten Bosch is a 152-hectare recreation of a Dutch town, built in 1992 at a cost of ¥225 billion as a resort destinat…
Mount Inasa Night View
Mount Inasa (333m) overlooks Nagasaki from the west, providing a 360-degree panorama that includes the harbor, city cent…
Sofukuji Temple
Sofukuji is a Chinese-style Zen temple established in 1629 by Chinese residents of Nagasaki, built in the Ming Dynasty a…
Hirado Xavier Memorial Church & Temple Next Door
Hirado Xavier Memorial Church (1931) stands on the exact spot where Francis Xavier preached in 1550 during his first mis…
Iki Island
Iki Island (138 km²) in the Genkai Sea produces 50% of Japan's barley shochu (mugi-jochu) — the island's volcanic soil a…
Megane-bashi (Spectacles Bridge)
Megane-bashi ('Spectacles Bridge') is a double-arched stone bridge built in 1634 by the Chinese monk Mokusunyoujo — the…
Hasami Porcelain
Hasami Town, adjacent to Arita but in Nagasaki Prefecture, has produced porcelain for 400 years using the same clay sour…
Nagasaki Chinatown
Nagasaki Shinchi Chinatown is Japan's oldest Chinatown, established in the 1690s when the Tokugawa shogunate designated…
Sasebo Burger
Sasebo, home to a major US naval base since 1945, is where American-style hamburgers entered Japanese food culture. In t…
Unzen Jigoku (Unzen Hell)
Unzen Jigoku is a 500-meter-wide field of active volcanic vents on the slopes of Mt. Unzen, emitting sulfurous steam at…
Shimabara Castle & Christian Rebellion Site
Shimabara Castle (1625) stands on the site of the Shimabara Rebellion (1637–1638) — the largest armed uprising in Edo-pe…
Hirado Castle
Hirado Castle occupies a forested peninsula surrounded on three sides by the Hirado Strait, commanding views of both the…
Glover Garden
Glover Garden preserves nine Western-style mansions from Nagasaki's treaty port era (1859–1899), clustered on a terraced…
Goto Islands
Take the a boat from Hisaka port to Kashiragashima Island (population: 26) and walk the concrete path uphill past three…
Kujukushima (99 Islands)
Kujukushima ('99 islands,' though actually 208) is a scattering of forested islets across Omura Bay north of Sasebo — a…
Nagasaki Peace Park & Atomic Bomb Museum
At 11:02 on August 9, 1945, a plutonium bomb detonated 500 meters above the Urakami Valley, instantly killing an estimat…
Estimated from distance to the nearest airport or shinkansen station. Confirm actual journey times before you travel.