Frosty
Ginzan Onsen : Silver Mine Hot Springs
Ginzan Onsen takes you back to the Taisho Era, warming your toes in an ashiyu – a piping-hot footbath – while enjoying an idyllic view of falling snow.
Luminous
Aragijima: The Island of Rice Paddies
I’d expected no less. The view of the rice paddies is breathtaking! On the other hand, this viewpoint is a bit restricted.
Some hiking
G-Cans: Japan’s Underground Temple
Hidden below the Tokyo streets is a true superhero – a bitumen-washed facility with state-of-the-art technology and an architectural beauty to put a Corbusier or two in the shade. This is G-Cans, also known by the unlikely name of Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Channel.
Easy walk
Niijima: The Island of Lava Cascades
An overnight ferry from Tokyo, a mountainous island of white rhyolite and the lava cascades of Koga: a day on Niijima, in the Izu archipelago, between cliffs, beaches and volcanic rock.
Easy walk
Bijin Bayashi: The Forest of Pretty Women
Where are these pretty women? In the forest of Bijin Bayashi! And they’re everywhere! Above, below, and all around you.
Easy walk
Japan’s Suicide Forest: Aokigahara
Aokigahara, known as Japan’s suicide forest, is a unique place in other ways. Silent, no wildlife in sight, magnificent trees and shrubs, and really easy to lose yourself in.
Hard hike
Oshima and its Black Desert
Oshima is the largest island in the Izu peninsula. It has an active volcano surrounded by black desert... the only desert in Japan!
Lively
Oarai Shrine: Ocean Gateway
Oarai Shrine is also known as Kamiiso no Torii, the Gateway of the Sea God. It was established in 856 but rebuilt in 1690.
Easy walk
Motonosumi Inari Shrine
Motonosumi Inari Shrine is located in western Japan, far from the rest of the world. The nearest city, 80 kilometres away, is Yamaguchi. Never heard of it?
