Illustrated guide to Harry Potter Studio Tour Tokyo
Went to see the huge Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo – The Making of Harry Potter in Oct. 2023, four months after it opened in June 16, 2023. It was…
Digital Gallery of Hōryūji Treasures at Tokyo National Museum
Updated: Feb. 18, 2024 Tokyo National Museum (東京国立博物館) in Ueno Park, Tokyo is one of Japan’s most prominent museums. Clustered in six museum buildings, one is the swank-looking Gallery of…
Tower of the Sun, Expo ’70 Commemorative Park, Suita, Osaka
Over half a century ago in 1970, Japan held the biggest and grandest world exposition the world had ever seen. It was Expo ’70 in Suita, Osaka from March to…
Kaiten Human Torpedo Museum, Ozushima, Yamaguchi
Near the coastal city of Shunan, there’s a small island called Ozushima (大津島) in the Seto Inland Sea. During the latter years of World War II in 1944–1945, Ozushima was…
Yoshinogari Historical Park, Saga
Huge outdoor park on an archaeological site where ruins from the Yayoi Period were discovered and excavated since the mid-1980s. The Yayoi Period (10th–3rd century BC 弥生時代) is noted for…
Northern Culture Center, Niigata
Northern Culture Center (Hoppo Bunka Hakubutsukan) is a former Japanese farmhouse built in 1887 and converted into a local museum. The house has numerous rooms, with a floor space of…
No more Hakata ningyo doll shops in Hakata Station
The city of Fukuoka’s most famous traditional craft and tourist souvenir is the Hakata ningyo doll. They are fired clay figurines sculpted and painted into a wide variety of traditional…
Horyuji Temple’s Budokan Connection
Nara Prefecture has the distinction of having Japan’s highest number of National Treasure buildings. A whopping 64 of them. This is almost 30% of Japan’s 227 National Treasure buildings/complexes. Kyoto…
Tottori Sand Dunes, Tottori
Tottori Sand Dunes (Tottori Sakyu) is Tottori’s most famous tourist sight, the undisputed symbol of Tottori. You haven’t visited Tottori until you see the sand dunes. The desert-like sand dunes…
Usuki Stone Buddhas, Oita
Japan’s most famous stone buddhas. There are over 60 of them in multiple clusters carved directly on natural stone walls on a hillside. Since many of the stone buddhas are…