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Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum
Born in Los Angeles to a Japanese poet and an American writer, Noguchi set up a studio and residence here in 1970. Today the complex is filled with hundreds of Noguchis works, and holds its own as an impressive art installation. Inspiring sculptures are on display in the beautifull
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Hida Folk Village
The sprawling, open-air Hida-no-Sato is a highly recommended half-day trip. It features dozens of traditional houses and buildings, which were dismantled at their original sites throughout the region and rebuilt here. Well-presented displays offer the opportunity to envision rural
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Japan Folk Crafts Museum
The mingei (folk crafts) movement was launched in the early 20th century to promote handmade objects over mass-produced ones. The leaders of the movement founded this museum to house some 17,000 examples of exquisite Japanese craftwork. Note that the museum closes for stretches in
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Dan
This memorial marks the spot where the decisive clash between the Minamoto and Taira clans took place in 1185. Here, Taira no Tokiko plunged into the sea with the young emperor Antoku in her arms, rather than surrender to the enemy. The statues depict Yoshitsune (the victorious Min
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Tōjinbō
Legend says these rock formations 25km northwest of Fukui came about when Tōjinbō, an evil priest, was cast off the cliff by angry villagers in 1182; the sea surged for 49 days thereafter, a demonstration of the priests fury from beyond his watery grave. To see the rocks, visitors
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Atsuta
Although the current buildings were completed in 1966, Atsuta-jingū has been a shrine for over 1900 years and is one of the most sacred Shintō shrines in Japan. Nestled among ancient cypress, it houses the sacred kusanagi-no-tsurugi (grass-cutting sword), one of the three regalia t
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Kintai
Iwakunis chief claim to fame is the graceful Kintai-kyō, built in 1673 during the rule of feudal lord Kikkawa Hiroyoshi. It has been restored several times since then, but its high arches remain an impressive sight over the wide river, with Iwakuni-jō atop the green hills behind. I
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Jiyūgaoka Neighbourhood
Already a stomping ground for well-heeled locals and boho expats, Jiyūgaoka is shaping up to be Tokyos next it neighbourhood. Orbiting the citys central core slightly further out than Shimokita, this garden suburb has a solid following of lunching Tokyoites who come in droves (usua
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Fukui Dinosaur Museum
Kids love the larger-than-life replicas and fossilised relics of the Jurrasic Park–styled Fukui Dinosaur Museum, one of the three largest museums of its kind in the world. There are plenty of English explanations and over 40 main exhibits (including interactive ones) concerned with
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Ainu Museum
Between Tomakomai and Noboribetsu on the south coast in central Hokkaidō, Shiraois Poroto Kotan (ポロトコタン) is a lakeside village of reconstructed traditional Ainu buildings, anchored by the Ainu Museum. Museum exhibits are labelled in both Japanese and English, and in the village you
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Rinnō
This small temple inside Ueno-kōen is a subtemple of the once grand Kanei-ji.
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Nankinmachi (Chinatown)
This gaudy, bustling, unabashedly touristy collection of Chinese restaurants and trinket and medicinal herb stores should be familiar to anyone whos visited Chinatowns elsewhere. Its fun for a stroll, particularly in the evening when lights illuminate the elaborately painted shop f
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Nakano
If Shinjuku is ever looking to the future, Nakano is a shrine to the recent past. Step out of the station’s north exit and you’ll see the Nakano Sun Mall (中野サンモール), a classic 1960s covered shopping arcade. It leads to Nakano Broadway (中野ブロードウェイ), another retro shopping complex. Thi
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Takamatsu
The site of Takamatsus castle now forms delightful Tamamo-kōen, a park where the walls and seawater moat survive, along with several of the original turrets. Each spring a swimming race is held in the moat to honour an age-old chivalrous tradition. The original castle was built in
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Sōji
This beautiful temple in Monzen was established in 1321 as the head of the Sōtō school of Zen, but now functions as a branch temple. Temple buildings were damaged by the 2007 Noto earthquake and remain under fastidious reconstruction. Sōji-ji Soin welcomes visitors to experience on
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Murakami
Between Suganuma and Ainokura, in the hamlet of Kaminashi, youll find Murakami-ke, one of the oldest gasshô houses in the region (dating from 1578). Now a small museum, the proud owner delights in showing visitors around and might sing you some local folk songs. Close by, the main
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Kitano
For generations of Japanese tourists, this pleasant, hilly neighbourhood is Kōbe, thanks to the dozen or so well-preserved homes of (mostly) Western trading families and diplomats who settled here during the Meiji Period. Its winding streets, nostalgic brick- and weatherboard-built
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Kamo Aquarium
Looking like a streamlined boat pointed towards the ocean, this now high-tech, stylised aquarium was once a rural tourist attraction in decline, until a Nobel Prize–winning scientist who discovered a fluorescent protein in belt jellyfish, taught the aquarium how to make jellyfish g
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Fukusai
This temple takes the form of a huge turtle carrying an 18m-high figure of the goddess Kannon on its back. Inside, a Foucault pendulum (demonstrating the rotation of the earth on its axis) hangs from near the top of the hollow statue. Only St Petersburg and Paris have larger exampl
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Kōdai
This exquisite temple was founded in 1605 by Kita-no-Mandokoro in memory of her late husband, Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The extensive grounds include gardens designed by the famed landscape architect Kobori Enshū, and tea houses designed by the renowned master of the tea ceremony, Sen no
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