HokkaidoCulture & HistoryHokkaido
Hachiman-zaka
A cobbled slope running straight down to Hakodate harbour. The sea and the ferry lie directly ahead.
Culture & History495 entries
13,910 entries. Some places appear in more than one collection. Confirm visits with each facility.
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FIRST VISIT GUIDE
Before tracing culture and history — how shrines and temples differ, and how to pay respects
Many of Japan's cultural properties are found at shrines or temples. The two belong to different religions, and their entrances and ways of worship differ. Start with the differences and the etiquette.495 entries / page 1 of 21
HokkaidoCulture & History
HokkaidoCulture & HistoryHokkaido
Trappist Monastery
Japan's first monastery for men, opened in 1896. An avenue of cedars climbs to it.
HokkaidoCulture & HistoryHokkaido
Kamui Kotan
A gorge the Ishikari River cut through rock. The Ainu held it to be where gods dwell; the old station building remains.
Hokkaido
Otaru Canal Cruise
A roughly 40-minute cruise along the Otaru Canal, past stone warehouses and on into the North Canal.
HokkaidoCulture & HistoryHokkaido
Kanemori Red Brick Warehouse
Warehouses built in Hakodate in 1887, now holding shops and restaurants along a harbour-side walk.
Hokkaido
Temiyasen Atochi
The bed of the railway that linked Otaru and Temiya, kept as a walking path with the rails still in place.
HokkaidoCulture & HistoryHokkaido
Otaru Music Box Hall
A music-box shop in a Meiji-era building, gathering and playing boxes from around the world.
AomoriCulture & HistoryAomori
Jogakura Bridge
A 360-metre bridge over a Hakkoda ravine. The drop is long, and crowds come in the autumn colours.
Aomori
Miyakoshi-ke Hanare / Teien
The estate of an old family in Nakadomari, with main house, storehouses and an Oishi-Bugaku-style garden preserved together.
Aomori
2026 Tatehana Wharf Morning Market
A morning market on the Hachinohe quay. Only at dawn on Sundays, several hundred stalls stretch for about 800 metres.
AomoriCulture & HistoryAomori
Nakamachi Komise-dori
Wooden arcades that Kuroishi's merchant houses extend over the street, a snow-country passage kept since the Edo period.
Aomori
Hirota Shrine
A shrine said to date from 996, its grounds planted with the flowers of Tsugaru.
Aomori
Horo-yoi Stroll with Dr. Shimokita
A walk through Tanabu in Mutsu with a local guide, hearing how the town came together, including the alleys ringing the shrine.
AomoriCulture & HistoryAomori
Former 59th Bank Head Office (Aomori Bank Memorial Hall)
A bank building founded in 1879. Moved and preserved, its interior decoration remains as it was.
AomoriCulture & HistoryAomori
Tsugaru Kaikyo Bunkakan Arsas
A cultural centre in Sai village, next to the pier for boats around Hotokegaura.
AomoriCulture & HistoryAomori
Tsugaru Shamisen Kaikan
A hall in Kanagi, held to be the birthplace of the Tsugaru shamisen, where you hear it played and learn its history.
AomoriCulture & HistoryAomori
Mutsu Kagaku Gijutsukan
A science museum preserving the actual reactor room of the nuclear ship Mutsu, on a site overlooking the Tsugaru Strait.
Miyako
Miyako-shi Saigai Shiryo Denshokan
An archive opened in 2025. About 130 items cover not only the Sanriku tsunami but the range of disasters the city has seen.
Miyako
Hei River Auto Campground
A drive-in campsite along the Hei River in Miyako. Each pitch has power, and a hot spring adjoins.
Miyako
Okunai Tamokuteki Undojo Korokoro
A 1,000-square-metre indoor ground in Miyako. Artificial turf means the weather never stops play.
Miyako
Miyako City Omo-e Marine Experience Center Enyado
A hands-on centre in Omoe, Miyako. Try seafood processing, and buy live fish and wakame direct.
Ichinoseki
Farm Restaurant Yumemiru Otome-no-Yakata
A farmhouse restaurant in a 200-year-old house in Ichinoseki, serving mochi dishes and showing village life.
Ninohe
Sakata Shikkiten
A lacquerware shop in Joboji, Ninohe. In the town that produces more lacquer than anywhere in Japan, it keeps Joboji-nuri alive.
Yamada
Uranohama Beach
A swimming beach in Yamada, reopened in 2017, with an oyster hut and a science museum nearby.