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Meguro Museum of Art, Tokyo
Half local, half global, one part of this museum exhibits the work of Meguro artists, while the other is dedicated to international fine art and craft exhibits (think the work of Charles and Ray Eames). The building is a delight – it’s airy, spacious and well lit compared with many
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Aoyama Rei
The cherry-tree-lined paths of Japan’s first public cemetery are used by locals as shortcuts through the neighbourhood and as a place for picnics during hanami (cherry-blossom viewing) season. Accessible either from Roppongi or Aoyama it’s a peaceful place for a stroll and the elab
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Kōbe Maritime Museum & Kawasaki Good Times World
This building is in two parts: an extensive collection of high-quality model ships and displays in the old-school Maritime Museum , and the fun, hands-on experience of modern technology in Kawasaki Good Times World . Youve probably heard of Kawasakis motorcycles, but this Kōbe-born
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Nagai Takashi Memorial Museum
This small but quietly moving museum celebrates the courage and faith of one man in the face of overwhelming adversity. Already suffering from leukaemia, Dr Nagai survived the atomic explosion but lost his wife to it. He immediately devoted himself to the treatment of bomb victims
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Kasuga Taisha
This sprawling shrine lies at the foot of a hill in a deeply wooded setting with herds of sacred deer awaiting handouts. Its pathways are lined with hundreds of lanterns, with many hundreds more in the shrine itself. Theyre illuminated in the twice-yearly Mantōrō lantern festivals,
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Konjiki
With gilding up to its eaves, elaborate lacquerwork and mother-of-pearl inlay, the Konjiki-dō was at the cutting edge of Heian-era artistry when it was created in 1124 – and it still impresses today. Beneath the three altars are the mummified remains of three generations of the Ōsh
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Kōfuku
This temple was transferred here from Kyoto in 710. Although the original temple complex had 175 buildings, fires and destruction as a result of power struggles have left only a dozen standing. There are two pagodas – three storeys and five storeys – dating from 1143 and 1426, resp
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Yasukuni
Literally ‘For the Peace of the Country Shrine’, Yasukuni is the memorial shrine to Japan’s war dead, around 2.5 million souls. Completed in 1869, it has unusual torii gates made of steel and bronze. It is also incredibly controversial: in 1979 14 class-A war criminals, including W
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Tōei Uzumasa Movie Village
In the Uzumasa area, Tōei Uzumasa Movie Village is a rather touristy affair. It does, however, have some re-creations of Edo-period street scenes that give a decent idea of what Kyoto must have looked like before the advent of concrete. The main conceit of the park is that real mov
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Tanzan
Centred around an attractive 13-storey pagoda, this shrine is best viewed against a backdrop of maple trees ablaze with autumn colours (November to early December). It enshrines Nakatomi no Kamatari, patriarch of the Fujiwara clan, which effectively ruled Japan for nearly 500 years
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Iwakuni
The original Iwakuni-jō was built by Hiroie, the first of the Kikkawa lords, between 1603 and 1608. Just seven years later, the Tokugawa shogunate passed a law limiting the number of castles daimyō were allowed to build, and the castle at Iwakuni was demolished. It was rebuilt not
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Sapporo Winter Sports Museum
Housed in the ski-jump stadium built for the Sapporo Olympics west of the central city, this highly amusing museum includes a computerised ski-jump simulator that allows you to try your skills without breaking every bone in your body. And if you do land a few virtual jumps, a chair
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Rokuharamitsu
An important Buddhist pilgrimage stop, this temple was founded in 963 by Kūya Shōnin, who carved an image of an 11-headed Kannon and installed it in the temple in the hope of stopping a plague that was ravaging Kyoto at the time. The temple itself is unremarkable but the treasure h
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Osaka Museum of Housing & Living
Two subway stops from Umeda, this museum contains a life-sized reproduction of an 1830s Osaka neighbourhood: shophouses, drug stores, an old-style sentō (public bath) and more. Enhancing the Edo Period mood, lighting shifts between day and night, shops sell traditional toys and uni
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Sompo Japan Museum of Art
The private museum of the Sompo Japan insurance company concentrates heavily on the lithography, sculpture and painting of Tōgō Seiji (1897–1980), whose subjects, most often women, resemble luminescent anime figures set against backdrops that hover between cubist and art deco. Tōgō
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Okayama
Nicknamed U-jō (烏城; Crow Castle) because of its colour, the striking black Okayama Castle has an imposing exterior with gilded fish-gargoyles flipping their tails in the air. You can appreciate its impressive appearance for nix from the grounds or looking from across the river. Ins
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Childrens Peace Monument
The Childrens Peace Monument was inspired by Sadako Sasaki, who was just two years old at the time of the atomic bomb. At age 11 she developed leukaemia, and decided to fold 1000 paper cranes. In Japan, the crane is a symbol of longevity and happiness, and she believed if she folde
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Taiyūin
Ieyasus grandson Iemitsu (1604–51) is buried here and although it houses many of the same elements as Tōshō-gū (storehouses, drum tower, Chinese-style gates etc), the more intimate scale and setting in a cryptomeria forest make it very appealing. Look for dozens of lanterns donated
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Ikebukuro
Though Ikebukuro once boasted the worlds largest department store, tallest building and longest escalator, these former glories have since been outshone elsewhere. But Ikebukuros Sunshine City (サンシャインシティ) is still perfect for rainy weather, since you could spend 40 days roaming the
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Inasa
West of the harbour, a cable car ascends every 20 minutes to the top of 333m-high Inasa-yama, offering superb views over Nagasaki, particularly at night. From 7am to 10pm theres a free shuttle from five Nagasaki hotels (reserve at front desk) and JR Nagasaki Station going towards S
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