City sightseeing in Japan

Places in Japan of this type, by prefecture.

Plan by month in the app →

• Hakodate Morning Market Hokkaido
  A seafood market right by Hakodate Station, with stalls and small diners open from early morning.
• Mt. Hakodate Night View Hokkaido
  One of Japan's best-known night views: the city lights curve between Hakodate Bay and the Tsugaru Strait.
• Mt. Moiwa Night View (Sapporo) Hokkaido
  A ropeway and mini cable car lift you to a 531 m summit deck above Sapporo, best after dark when the whole city grid lights up.
• Nijo Market Hokkaido
  A market with over 125 years of history, begun by Ishikari fishermen in the early Meiji era. Fish shops line the street, with a lane of small eateries.
• Odori Park (Sapporo) Hokkaido
  A 1.5 km strip of green through central Sapporo, home to the Snow Festival in winter and the lilac festival in early summer.
• Sakaimachi Street (Otaru) Hokkaido
  A shopping street of old stone and wooden merchant buildings near the canal, known for glassware, music boxes and sweets shops.
• Tanukikoji Shopping Arcade Hokkaido
  A covered shopping arcade about 900 m long with around 200 shops. The area has been called "Tanukikoji" since about 1873.
• Aomori Gyosai Center (Furukawa Market) Aomori
  A fish and food market near Aomori Station, known for nokke-don: buy a ticket book, then pick toppings from the stalls for your own rice bowl.
• Tatehana Wharf Morning Market Aomori
  One of Japan's largest morning markets: on Sunday mornings about 300 stalls line some 800 m of Hachinohe harbor wharf, selling seafood and breakfast to eat as you walk.
• Ishiwari-zakura (Rock-Splitting Cherry Tree) Iwate
  An Edo higan cherry over 360 years old growing out of a split granite boulder in front of the Morioka District Court. It flowers in mid-April.
• Jozenji-dori Avenue Miyagi
  Sendai's zelkova-lined central avenue with a walking path and bronze statues along its median. It hosts the Sendai Pageant of Starlight in December.
• Sendai Morning Market (Asaichi) Miyagi
  A shopping street near Sendai Station with stalls selling local fish, vegetables and prepared food, open from morning.
• Akita Port Tower Selion Akita
  A port tower with a free observation deck 100 m up, giving 360° views over Akita port, the Sea of Japan and the city, open into the evening.
• Akita Shimin Ichiba Market Akita
  Akita's main food market by the station, with fresh fish, meat, produce, salted roe and local souvenirs under one roof.
• Art Tower Mito Ibaraki
  An arts complex in central Mito with a concert hall, theatre and contemporary art gallery, marked by a 100 m twisting titanium tower.
• Hitachi Station Ibaraki
  A glass station building overlooking the Pacific, designed under architect Kazuyo Sejima. Its viewing hall at the end of the concourse is a well-known sunrise spot.
• Nakaminato Fish Market Ibaraki
  A seafood market right by Nakaminato fishing port, with fish shops and eateries serving seafood bowls and sushi.
• Doai Station Gunma
  Called Japan's greatest 'mole station': the down platform lies deep inside the Shin-Shimizu Tunnel, about 70 m below the station building and reached by 462 steps.
• Takasaki Byakui Dainichi Kannon Gunma
  Takasaki's landmark, a 41.8 m white Kannon statue from 1936 on Kannonyama hill; climb the stairs inside to her shoulders for city views.
• Chiba Port Tower Chiba
  A 125 m glass tower in Chiba Port Park; the top deck looks over Tokyo Bay, and at sunset Mt. Fuji may appear to the west.
• Katsuura Morning Market Chiba
  A street market said to date back about 430 years, with stalls of fish, dried seafood, vegetables and snacks along a street of the port town.
• Kominato Railway Chiba
  A 39 km rural line from Goi to Kazusa-Nakano through satoyama countryside, with station buildings from the Taisho era and an open-air trolley train from March to December.
• Akihabara Electric Town Tokyo
  Once known for electronics stores, now Tokyo's hub for anime, manga, games and figures, with retro game and PC shops in the back streets.
• Ameyoko Market Street Tokyo
  A busy market street of 400-plus shops along the tracks between Ueno and Okachimachi, born from a post-war black market.
• Ginza Tokyo
  Tokyo's upscale shopping district of department stores and flagship shops. Chuo-dori becomes car-free on weekend afternoons.
• Odaiba Tokyo
  A waterfront district on Tokyo Bay with a sandy beach, views of Rainbow Bridge, shopping malls and the Miraikan science museum.
• Omoide Yokocho (Shinjuku) Tokyo
  Narrow lanes by Shinjuku Station's west exit packed with about 60 tiny grilled-skewer and drinking places, with roots in a post-war market.
• Shibuya Scramble Crossing Tokyo
  Tokyo's famous intersection in front of Shibuya Station, where over a thousand people can cross at once from every direction.
• Takeshita Street (Harajuku) Tokyo
  A 350 m shopping street opposite Harajuku Station, packed with youth fashion shops, crepe stands and sweets.
• Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building Observation Decks Tokyo
  Free observation decks 202 m up in Shinjuku. Mt. Fuji is visible to the west on clear days, most often in winter.
• Tokyo Skytree Tokyo
  A 634 m tower with views over all of Tokyo — and Mt. Fuji on clear days.
• Tokyo Station Marunouchi Building Tokyo
  The red-brick station building that opened in December 1914. Its domes and third floor, lost in the war, were restored to their original form in 2012; look up inside the domes for relief eagles and zodiac carvings.
• Tokyo Tower Tokyo
  The 333 m red-and-white tower in Shiba. Its Main Deck at 150 m and Top Deck at 250 m look out over central Tokyo.
• Tsukiji Outer Market Tokyo
  A market district of food shops and small eateries next to the old Tsukiji fish market site, good for seafood and snacks.
• Yanaka Ginza Shopping Street Tokyo
  A short old-style shopping street of about 60 family-run shops in the Yanaka area, reached down the 'Yuyake Dandan' steps from Nippori.
• Minato Mirai 21 (Yokohama) Kanagawa
  Yokohama's waterfront district of high-rises, museums and the historic Red Brick Warehouses, well known for its harbor night views.
• Yokohama Chinatown Kanagawa
  A compact grid of more than 400 Chinese restaurants and shops behind colorful gates, with the Kanteibyo temple at its center.
• Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse Kanagawa
  Two red-brick customs warehouses built in the late Meiji and early Taisho eras on Yokohama's waterfront, reopened in 2002 as shops, restaurants and an event plaza.
• Bandai Bridge & Shinano River Niigata
  Niigata city's symbol, a granite-faced arch bridge of 1929 over Japan's longest river; the riverside promenade gives the classic view, lit up at night.
• Pia Bandai Market Niigata
  A large harbor-side market of fish, meat, produce and souvenir shops, with conveyor-belt sushi and seafood bowl restaurants.
• Himi Banya-gai Fish Market Complex Toyama
  Roadside market by Himi fishing port selling local fish, Himi udon and sushi, with a free footbath and a deck facing the Tateyama range.
• Kanazawa Station (Tsuzumi-mon Gate & Motenashi Dome) Ishikawa
  Kanazawa's gateway: a wooden gate modelled on a Noh drum under a glass dome, with local crafts built into the station and a large shopping arcade.
• Omicho Market Ishikawa
  Kanazawa's 'kitchen': about 170 fish, produce and food shops under one roof, known for seafood rice bowls.
• Fujimichi (Honcho-dori) Yamanashi
  A retro Showa-era shopping street in central Fujiyoshida. Mt. Fuji rises huge at the end of the street beyond old signs, lanterns and wires, making it a popular photo spot.
• Katsunuma Wine Country (Budo-no-Oka) Yamanashi
  Katsunuma is wine country, with vineyards rolling over the hills. At Katsunuma Budo-no-Oka on a hilltop you can taste more than 100 local wines in an underground cellar, and the old post town of Katsunuma-juku on the former Koshu Kaido is also in the area.
• Kyu-Karuizawa Ginza Street Nagano
  The 750 m main street of old Karuizawa, a summer resort since the Meiji era, lined with long-established bakeries, cafes, souvenir shops and restaurants.
• Nakamachi and Nawate Streets (Matsumoto) Nagano
  Two shopping streets near Matsumoto Castle: Nakamachi with black-and-white plastered storehouses and craft shops, and pedestrian Nawate with a frog theme.
• Cormorant Fishing on the Nagara River (Ukai) Gifu
  A 1,300-year-old night fishing method: by the light of bonfires, cormorant masters, the only ones in Japan with Imperial Household titles, fish with their birds as you watch from viewing boats.
• Miyagawa Morning Market Gifu
  A daily morning market along about 700 m of the Miyagawa River bank, where local farmers sell vegetables, pickles, flowers and crafts.
• Horai Bridge Shizuoka
  A 897.4 m wooden footbridge over the Oi River, built in 1879 for farmers clearing the Makinohara tea plateau. Guinness-listed as the world's longest wooden footbridge.
• Oigawa Railway Steam Trains (Thomas & Percy) Shizuoka
  Steam trains on the Oigawa Railway along the Oi River. They currently run as 'Thomas the Tank Engine' and 'Percy' between Shin-Kanaya and Ieyama/Kawane-Onsen-Sasamado, about 40 min each way.
• Shimizu Fish Market Kashi-no-Ichi Shizuoka
  A fish market by Shimizu Port where wholesalers sell to the public, plus a hall of tuna restaurants. Shimizu lands the most tuna in Japan.
• Midland Square Sky Promenade Aichi
  An open-air observation deck 220 m up on the 44th–46th floors of a tower in front of Nagoya Station, good for night views.
• Osu Shopping District Aichi
  A sprawling covered shopping area by Osu Kannon temple, with about 1,200 shops: street food, old cafés, used clothing and electronics.
• Sakae: Mirai Tower and Oasis 21 Aichi
  Nagoya's main shopping district. The 180 m TV tower of 1954 has an observation deck, and Oasis 21 next door has a glass 'spaceship' roof you can walk on.
• Yanagibashi Central Market Aichi
  Nagoya's century-old wholesale food market, a 5-min walk from Nagoya Station. Busiest early in the morning, with fish, produce and small eateries.
• Yokkaichi Port Building Observatory (Umiterras 14) Mie
  An observation floor 90 m up on the 14th floor of the port building, with views over Yokkaichi Port and its industrial complex, known for factory night views.
• Kurokabe Square (Nagahama) Shiga
  Old merchant streets in central Nagahama, built around a black-plastered former bank of 1900 that reopened as a glass gallery in 1989.
• Gion & Hanamikoji Kyoto
  Kyoto's geisha district around Yasaka Shrine, with teahouse-lined lanes south of Shijo and the willow-lined Shirakawa canal.
• Kyoto Tower Kyoto
  A 131 m tower in front of Kyoto Station, the tallest tower in central Kyoto, with an observation deck over the rooftops and hills.
• Nishiki Market Kyoto
  A narrow covered market street of about 390 m in central Kyoto, selling pickles, tofu, fish and Kyoto ingredients.
• Sannenzaka and Ninenzaka Kyoto
  Stone-paved slopes below Kiyomizu-dera lined with old wooden shops, tea houses and souvenir stores.
• Abeno Harukas 300 Observatory Osaka
  The glass-walled observatory on floors 58–60 of Abeno Harukas, about 300 m up, with views across Osaka by day and night.
• Dotonbori Osaka
  Osaka's neon-lit canal street of giant signs and street food — takoyaki, okonomiyaki and more.
• Kuromon Market Osaka
  A covered market street in Minami known as 'Osaka's kitchen', with fresh fish, fruit and food stalls to eat as you walk.
• Nakanoshima Osaka
  A 3 km long island between two rivers in central Osaka, with the 1918 Central Public Hall, the library, museums and riverside walks.
• Shinsaibashi-suji Shopping Street Osaka
  A long covered shopping street running north from Dotonbori, with fashion, drugstores and long-established shops.
• Shinsekai & Tsutenkaku Tower Osaka
  A retro neighborhood of kushikatsu restaurants around an old steel tower.
• Tenma: Osaka Tenmangu Shrine & Tenjinbashi-suji Osaka
  The shrine of the scholar-god Sugawara no Michizane, home of the Tenjin Matsuri, beside a very long covered shopping street.
• Umeda Sky Building Floating Garden Observatory Osaka
  An open-air rooftop deck 173 m up between Umeda's twin towers, reached by a see-through escalator; popular at night.
• Kobe Harborland Hyogo
  A waterfront shopping and dining district by Kobe Station, with a harbour promenade facing Meriken Park and the port tower.
• Meriken Park & Kobe Port Tower Hyogo
  A waterfront park on Kobe's harbor with the red Port Tower and the 'BE KOBE' monument, lit up at night.
• Nada Gogo Sake District (Hakutsuru Sake Brewery Museum) Hyogo
  Japan's leading sake-brewing district on the east side of Kobe. Several breweries run free museums; Hakutsuru's shows old brewing tools in a former brewery.
• Nankinmachi (Kobe Chinatown) Hyogo
  One of Japan's three big Chinatowns, packed into about 270 m by 110 m of streets with food stalls and red gates.
• Kishi Station (Cat Stationmaster) Wakayama
  The terminus of the small Kishigawa Line, famous for its cat stationmasters. The cat-shaped station building has a shop and café.
• Mizuki Shigeru Road (Sakaiminato) Tottori
  An 800 m street in manga artist Mizuki Shigeru's hometown, lined with 178 bronze yokai statues from GeGeGe no Kitaro and ending at his memorial museum.
• Eshima Ohashi Bridge Shimane
  A bridge over Lake Nakaumi linking Shimane and Tottori, nicknamed "Betafumi-zaka" (floor-the-pedal slope) after a car commercial made it look impossibly steep. About 45 m high at the top, it is Japan's largest PC rigid-frame bridge, with views of Mt. Daisen.
• Horikawa Sightseeing Boat (Matsue) Shimane
  A 50-minute boat loop around the moats of Matsue Castle, ducking under 17 bridges (the roof lowers for the low ones); kotatsu-heated boats in winter.
• Kojima Jeans Street Okayama
  A 400 m street in Kojima, the home of Japanese-made jeans, lined with shops of local denim brands.
• Hondori Shopping Street Hiroshima
  Hiroshima's main covered shopping street since the Edo period, rebuilt after 1945, running toward the Peace Memorial Park.
• Orizuru Tower Hiroshima
  A 14-story building next to the Atomic Bomb Dome with an open-air wooden rooftop deck overlooking the Peace Park; on clear days you can see Mt. Misen.
• Kaikyo Yume Tower Yamaguchi
  A 153 m tower by Shimonoseki Station whose glass-walled deck at 143 m looks over the Kanmon Strait, Ganryu Island and Kitakyushu.
• Kanmon Pedestrian Tunnel Yamaguchi
  A 780 m walkway under the Kanmon Strait from Shimonoseki to Moji, about 15 minutes on foot, with the prefectural border marked midway.
• Karato Market Yamaguchi
  Shimonoseki's fish market on the Kanmon Strait, known for pufferfish; on weekends stalls sell sushi and seafood bowls to visitors.
• Hyotan-jima Cruise Tokushima
  A 30-minute boat loop of about 6 km around "Gourd Island", the river-ringed centre of Tokushima, passing under low bridges and past waterside parks.
• Mt. Bizan Tokushima
  The hill that is Tokushima's landmark. A 6-minute ropeway from the Awa Odori Kaikan climbs to a summit park with views over the city and, on clear days, Awaji Island.
• Takamatsu Marugamemachi Shopping Arcade Kagawa
  The heart of central Takamatsu's covered shopping streets, rebuilt by its own merchants' association with shops, restaurants and homes above, linking to other arcades.
• Okaido and Gintengai Shopping Arcades Ehime
  Matsuyama's two main covered shopping streets, joined in an L-shape between Okaido tram stop and Matsuyama-shi Station, with shops, cafes and local souvenirs.
• Harimaya Bridge Kochi
  A small red bridge in central Kochi known from the folk song 'Yosakoi-bushi', first built by two merchants in the early Edo period; a mechanical clock nearby plays the song.
• Hirome Market Kochi
  A lively indoor food hall in central Kochi with many small shops. Order seared bonito (katsuo tataki) and share a table with locals.
• Kochi Sunday Market Kochi
  A street market held every Sunday along Otesuji in central Kochi, part of a market tradition over 300 years old, with about 300 stalls of produce and snacks.
• Kure Taishomachi Market Kochi
  A market in the bonito-fishing town of Kure that began in the mid-Meiji era when fishermen's wives sold the catch. Named for Emperor Taisho, who sent rebuilding funds after a fire in 1915, it sells fresh and dried fish, and small eateries serve seafood bowls.
• Chikugo River Lift Bridge Fukuoka
  A 507 m railway bridge of 1935 on the former JNR Saga Line, whose central span rises to let ships pass. It is now a footbridge linking Fukuoka and Saga.
• Fukuoka Tower Fukuoka
  A 234 m seaside tower in Momochi with a 123 m observation deck over the city and Hakata Bay. Popular at sunset and after dark.
• Mt. Sarakura Night View Fukuoka
  A peak above Yahata reached by cable car and slope car, with views over Kitakyushu, Dokai Bay and the Kanmon Strait.
• Nakasu Yatai Food Stalls Fukuoka
  Open-air food stalls line the riverside in Nakasu at night, serving ramen, oden and grilled skewers at small shared counters.
• Tenjin and Tenjin Chikagai Fukuoka
  Fukuoka's main shopping district, with department stores above ground and a European-style underground mall of about 150 shops below.
• Yanagibashi Rengo Market Fukuoka
  Known as "Hakata's kitchen", this market grew from a fish stall in the early Showa era. Chefs and home cooks alike shop here for fresh fish and local foods.
• Yobuko Morning Market Saga
  A daily morning market on a 200 m street by Yobuko port, selling dried squid, seafood and local produce since the Taisho era.
• Hamanomachi Shopping Arcade Nagasaki
  Nagasaki's main covered shopping street, with a department store, castella shops and restaurants serving local dishes such as champon and Turkish rice.
• Mt. Inasa Night View Nagasaki
  A sparkling night view over Nagasaki's harbor and hillsides, one of Japan's top three.
• Nagasaki Shinchi Chinatown Nagasaki
  One of Japan's three big Chinatowns, a compact block of restaurants and shops behind red gates. Try champon and sara udon.
• Kamitori & Shimotori Arcades Kumamoto
  Kumamoto's two main covered shopping streets. Shimotori is the largest arcade in the prefecture; Kamitori has cafes, bookshops and galleries.
• Sakuranobaba Josaien Kumamoto
  A visitor complex at the foot of Kumamoto Castle with about 20 food and souvenir shops in an Edo-style street, a tourist information centre and a history museum.
• Mt. Atago Observatory Miyazaki
  An observatory on 251 m Mt. Atago in the center of Nobeoka, with 360-degree views of the city and Hyuga-nada sea. A certified Japan Night View Heritage site, it also has the Meeting Bell, rung by two people together.
• Shiroyama Observatory Kagoshima
  A 107 m hilltop lookout in central Kagoshima facing Sakurajima across the bay. Saigo Takamori sites from the 1877 war are nearby.
• Tenmonkan Kagoshima
  Kagoshima's main downtown, a grid of covered shopping arcades with local food such as black pork, ramen and 'shirokuma' shaved ice, plus a busy nightlife quarter.
• Kokusai-dori Street Okinawa
  Naha's main street, about 1.6 km of souvenir shops and Okinawan restaurants, with market alleys branching off it.
• Makishi Public Market (Naha) Okinawa
  Naha's covered food market off Kokusai-dori: buy fish or meat downstairs and have it cooked at the restaurants upstairs.
• Mihama American Village (Chatan) Okinawa
  A seaside shopping and dining district in Chatan next to Sunset Beach, lively from daytime into the evening.

Sea, coast & islands · Mountains, lakes & falls · Gardens, parks & flowers · Old towns & villages · Hot-spring towns · Shrines & temples · Castles & historic sites · Museums, zoos & aquariums