Historic Sites, Places of Scenic Beauty, and Natural Monuments of Japan

The Matsumoto Kaidō carried sea salt inland from Itoigawa toward Shinano along the Himekawa valley. A surviving mountain stretch is now a National Historic Site.

In Mitsuke, Niigata, the Mimitori Site holds three Jomon villages layered on one hilltop, including a ring settlement with an 18-meter plaza and rare jade beads.

The Sacred Grove of Miyakawa Shrine in Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture, is a 5.4-hectare National Natural Monument harboring over 400 plant species. Featuring the northernmost pure stand of Neolitsea sericea along the Sea of Japan coast, this ancient forest offers a rare glimpse into the coexistence of warm-temperate and cold-climate flora within a single sacred woodland.

Standing in the snow country of Joetsu City, Niigata Prefecture, the Great Cedar of Mushikawa is the sacred tree of Hakusan Shrine and one of the largest cedars in Japan. Estimated to be over 1,200 years old, it rises some 30 metres high with a trunk circumference of around 10.6 metres, and was designated a National Natural Monument in 1937. Its sprawling, sculptural form is a classic example of the Japan Sea side urasugi cedar variety, and the moss-carpeted shrine precinct offers a quietly powerful encounter with deep time. Conveniently reached on foot in about ten minutes from Mushigawa-Ōsugi Station on the Hokuhoku Line.

Spanning the city of Tokamachi and the town of Tsunan in Niigata Prefecture, the Honnoki and Tazawa Site Group is a National Historic Site preserving the dawn of the Jomon period. Composed of the Honnoki, Tazawa, and Jin Sites near the confluence of the Shinano and Kiyotsu Rivers, the group contains stone tools and pottery dating from around 15,000 to 12,500 years ago, offering an unusually clear record of how Ice Age communities transitioned from mobile Paleolithic hunting to riverside Jomon life.

Explore the Tsunagigaya at Ryogenji Temple in Tagami, Niigata — a 700-year-old kaya tree designated as a National Natural Monument. Linked to the legend of Shinran Shonin and one of the Seven Wonders of Echigo.

Discover the Katsusaka Site, a National Historic Site in Sagamihara, Kanagawa, where you can walk through a reconstructed Middle Jomon settlement (c. 3000 BCE) that gave its name to one of Japan's most flamboyant prehistoric pottery styles.

The precincts of Kotoku-in Temple in the Hase district of Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, were designated a National Historic Site in 2004 under the name Kamakura Daibutsuden Ato (Site of the Great Buddha Hall of Kamakura). The vast wooden hall that once enshrined the National Treasure bronze Buddha — whose casting began in 1252 — collapsed several times in storms and earthquakes between the 14th and 15th centuries and was never rebuilt. Today, 53 disc-shaped andesite foundation stones still scatter across the grounds, evoking a five-bay-square hall with a surrounding mokoshi that was among the largest medieval Buddhist structures in Japan. This article introduces the archaeological discoveries of the casting works and foundation pits, the Edo-period restoration led by the priest Yuten Shonin, and the highlights of a visit, including the unique experience of entering the hollow bronze Buddha and exploring nearby Hasedera Temple and the Daibutsu Hiking Trail.

Kamegayatsuzaka in Kamakura, Kanagawa, is an ancient mountain pass linking Yamanouchi in Kita-Kamakura with Ōgigayatsu. Designated a National Historic Site in 1969 as one of the Seven Mountain Passes of medieval Kamakura, it preserves carved cliff walls, the Six Jizō statues, and a quiet path lined with hydrangeas and autumn foliage.

Standing proudly on Bashamichi in central Yokohama, the Former Yokohama Specie Bank Head Office is a Neo-Baroque stone landmark designed by the Meiji master architect Tsumaki Yorinaka and completed in 1904. Doubly designated as an Important Cultural Property and a National Historic Site, it now serves as the Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Cultural History. Discover the story of the bank that helped finance modern Japan, the great octagonal Ace Dome, the giant Corinthian order, and the building's remarkable survival through earthquake and war.

Sankeien Garden, located in the Honmoku district of Yokohama, is a 175,000-square-meter Japanese garden opened in 1906 by the silk merchant and tea master Hara Tomitaro (Sankei). Seventeen historic buildings—including ten Important Cultural Properties—were relocated from Kyoto, Kamakura, Hida, and other regions to be carefully integrated with the seasonal landscape. Designated a National Place of Scenic Beauty in 2007, the garden offers visitors a complete and rewarding encounter with traditional Japanese architecture and nature.

Tōshōji in Kamakura, a national Historic Site, was the Hōjō family temple where regent Takatoki and over 870 kinsmen died in 1333 as the Kamakura shogunate fell.

The Nagae Sakurayama Kofun Cluster, a National Historic Site spanning Zushi City and Hayama Town in Kanagawa Prefecture, features two of the prefecture's largest keyhole-shaped burial mounds from the 4th century. Accidentally discovered in 1999, these ancient tombs sit atop forested hills offering stunning views of Sagami Bay, Enoshima, and Mount Fuji. Combined with scenic hiking trails and just one hour from Tokyo, this hidden gem brings Japan's ancient Kofun period to life.

Called the gambler's tree for its peeling bark, this rare evergreen has grown for 350 years on a cliff near Odawara and became a national natural monument in 1924.

A National Historic Site at Yugyō-ji in Fujisawa: a stone pillar raised after the 1416 Uesugi Zenshū Rebellion to honor the war dead of both armies, foe and friend.

Two stone pagodas on a Yokosuka hilltop commemorate William Adams, the English navigator who served Tokugawa Ieyasu and received this very land in Hemi as his fief.

Designated a National Historic Site in 1984, Meigetsuin preserves Kamakura's largest yagura tomb, Hojo Tokiyori's grave, and traces of the vanished Zenkoji temple.

Above Yugawara, this national Natural Monument preserves a relic of warm-temperate evergreen forest around a mountain-god shrine tied to the warrior Doi Sanehira.

The Yofukuji Ruins in Kamakura mark a temple Yoritomo built for the dead of the Oshu campaign. Its Pure Land garden and three hall platforms are now restored.

The Chōshichiyachi Shell Mound in Hachinohe City, Aomori Prefecture, is a National Historic Site dating from the Initial Jōmon period (c. 6,000 BCE). With remains of approximately 30 shellfish species and sophisticated bone fishing tools, it reveals how Japan's earliest coastal communities adapted to marine environments during the Jōmon marine transgression. An associated asset of the UNESCO World Heritage Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan, artifacts are displayed at the Hachinohe City Museum.