Country guide
Around three quarters of Japan is mountain and forest, which pushes almost everyone onto the eastern coastal plains and makes the country far narrower in practi...
Photograph · Midori · CC BY 3.0
Reviewed by Elena Voss · Roavina Travel Editor
Around three quarters of Japan is mountain and forest, which pushes almost everyone onto the eastern coastal plains and makes the country far narrower in practice than 377,975 km2 suggests. Forty-seven prefectures, eight traditional regions and more than 14,000 smaller islands, and yet a first visit usually runs along a single rail corridor with Tokyo at one end and Kyoto and Osaka at the other. Tokyo is the capital and largest city of a country of almost 123 million people. Hokkaido in the north and Okinawa in the south are different climates rather than day trips, and both need their own week.
Checked 2026-08-25
Every city catalogued in this country so far, ranked by how much there is to see.
Photograph · Morio · CC BY-SA 3.0
Photograph · Martin Falbisoner · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photograph · Martin Falbisoner · CC BY-SA 4.0
Ranked by importance — sitelinks, pageviews and heritage status, not editor preference.
85 places match
Category
Typical visit duration
京都国際マンガミュージアム
Kyoto International Manga Museum is a cultural institution devoted to manga, Japan’s influential form of comics and graphic storytelling. It occupies a former elementary school building, giving the visit an architectural layer alongside the collection.
京都国立博物館
The Kyoto National Museum is one of Japan's major national museums, established to preserve and exhibit cultural properties connected to Kyoto's long history as the former imperial capital.
京都御所
The Kyoto Imperial Palace served as the residence of Japan's Imperial Family until 1869, when the capital moved to Tokyo.
桂離宮
Katsura Imperial Villa is a historic imperial residence in western Kyoto, celebrated for the relationship between restrained architecture and a carefully composed landscape.
嵐山竹林
Arashiyama Bamboo Grove is a renowned natural attraction in the Arashiyama district of western Kyoto. The site features a dense stand of tall bamboo stalks forming a distinctive pathway that draws visitors from across the world.
伏見稲荷大社
Fushimi Inari Taisha is a Shinto shrine located in Fushimi Ward, Kyoto. It serves as the head shrine of approximately 30,000 Inari shrines across Japan.
東福寺
Tofuku-ji is a Rinzai Zen Buddhist temple in southeastern Kyoto. Founded in 1236 by the statesman Kujo Michiie, it took its name from combining characters from Todai-ji and Kofuku-ji in Nara.
八坂神社
Yasaka Shrine is a Shinto shrine located in Kyoto, Japan. It is also known as Gion Shrine. The shrine stands at the eastern end of Shijo-dori, a major thoroughfare in the city.
知恩院
Chion-in is a Jodo-shu Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan. It serves as the headquarters of the Jodo-shu sect founded by Honen. The temple complex occupies a significant site on the slopes of Higashiyama.
北野天満宮
Kitano Tenmangu is a Shinto shrine in Kyoto, Japan, dedicated to Sugawara no Michizane, a scholar and politician of the Heian period who was later deified as Tenjin, the god of learning.
京都市美術館
The Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art is a municipal art museum located in Kyoto, Japan. It was established to preserve and exhibit artworks relevant to the city's cultural heritage.
高台寺
Kodaiji Temple is a Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto's Higashiyama district. It was established in 1606 by Kita-no-Mandokoro, also known as Nene, in memory of her husband Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the prominent unifier of Japan.
三年坂
Sannenzaka is a historic stone-paved pedestrian slope in the Higashiyama district of eastern Kyoto, Japan. The name translates to Three-Year Slope, derived from a folk belief that falling here brings three years of bad luck.
東本願寺
Higashi Hongan-ji is a Jodo Shinshu Buddhist temple in Kyoto, serving as the headquarters of the Otani-ha branch. Founded in 1602 by Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, it was established to reduce the political influence of the original Hongan-ji faction.
根津神社
Nezu Shrine is a historic Shinto shrine in Tokyo’s Bunkyo ward and one of the city’s oldest surviving places of worship. The shrine is especially known for its azalea plantings, traditional architecture, ponds, stone lanterns and vermilion torii gates.
南禅寺
Nanzen-ji is a Zen Buddhist temple in eastern Kyoto, Japan. It stands as one of the most significant temples in the city's extensive religious landscape.
建仁寺
Kennin-ji is a historic Zen Buddhist temple located in the Higashiyama district of Kyoto, Japan. It stands as the oldest Zen temple in the city, having been founded in the early Kamakura period.
大徳寺
Daitoku-ji is a major Zen Buddhist temple complex in northern Kyoto, Japan. Founded in the fourteenth century, it belongs to the Rinzai school of Japanese Zen Buddhism.
哲学の道
Philosopher's Path is a pedestrian walkway in Kyoto, Japan, following a canal lined with cherry trees. The route connects Ginkaku-ji (Silver Pavilion) with Nanzen-ji temple precincts.
本能寺
Honno-ji is a temple of the Nichiren Buddhist sect located in central Kyoto.
京都府京都文化博物館
The Museum of Kyoto introduces the city through its long history as Japan’s imperial capital and a centre of culture, craft, religion, and political life.
金龍山 浅草寺
Sensō-ji is a historic Buddhist temple located in the Asakusa district of Tokyo. It is widely recognized as the city's oldest temple, with origins traditionally traced to the seventh century.
大覚寺
Daikaku-ji is a Shingon Buddhist temple located in the Ukyo ward of Kyoto, Japan. The temple was originally constructed in the early ninth century as a detached palace for Emperor Saga before being converted into a religious institution.
大阪市立科学館
The Osaka Science Museum is a hands-on science museum and planetarium located in Osaka, Japan. It is separately ticketed from other attractions. The museum focuses on interactive exhibits designed to engage visitors directly with scientific concepts.
妙心寺
Myoshin-ji is a major Zen Buddhist temple complex in western Kyoto. It serves as the head temple of the associated branch of Rinzai Zen Buddhism.
Ten to fourteen days supports four or five days in Tokyo, three or four in Kyoto, and two or three in Osaka. Add Nara or Himeji only after those bases have enough time, and avoid turning every rail stop into a hotel change.
Japan's visa exemption or visa requirement depends on passport and travel purpose. Confirm the current rule through Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the embassy responsible for the traveller's residence.
The Tokaido Shinkansen links Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka, while local rail and buses cover city travel. An IC card simplifies many local journeys but does not replace every reserved long-distance ticket, and luggage forwarding can reduce friction between bases.
March to May and October to November are broad options for the main-island route, with blossom and autumn periods creating concentrated demand. Confirm regional weather and reservations for the exact cities rather than assuming one national season behaves uniformly.
Japan uses the yen (JPY). Electronic payment is common but not universal, so carry some yen for smaller businesses, ticket machines, or rural transport without assuming that one stored-value card works for every purchase.
Japan's emergency numbers are 110 for police and 119 for fire or ambulance. Type A sockets operate at 100 V, which is lower than in the other wave-A countries, and mains tap water is recorded as safe.
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