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

The Tsushima Family Garden in Origasa, Hirosaki, was designated a National Place of Scenic Beauty in 2020. This residential garden of the Ōishi Bugaku-ryū school was begun in 1928 by Ikeda Teigetsu and completed by Tonosaki Teiyō in the late 1940s. Its diagonal axial composition gives a small site remarkable depth and represents the inheritance and deepening of Tsugaru's distinctive garden tradition. Although privately owned and not open to the public, the same design language can be experienced at nearby Zuirakuen and Seibien.

Explore the Tosaminato archaeological site in Goshogawara, Aomori — a National Historic Site that was once one of Japan's greatest medieval trading ports, rivaling Hakata. Discover the Andō clan's legacy, excavated ruins, and stunning Lake Jūsan scenery.

Discover Narita-shi Teien, a National Place of Scenic Beauty in Hirosaki, Aomori. This intimate dry landscape garden by master Ikeda Teigetsu showcases the rare Oishi Bugaku-ryu tradition with Mt. Iwaki as borrowed scenery.

Discover Hamashiriya Shell Mound, a nationally designated historic site in Aomori's Higashidōri Village. This rare medieval shell midden reveals a 14th–15th century dried abalone factory linked to Japan-China trade.

The Great Camphor of Azusawake Shrine, growing within the grounds of Kinomiya Shrine in Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture, is a National Natural Monument over 2,100 years old. With a trunk circumference of approximately 23.9 meters, it is the second-largest tree in Japan and one of the country's three legendary great camphors. Discover its history, the legends of life-extension and granted wishes, highlights for visitors, and full access information.

Discover the Ōshikakubo Archaeological Site in Fujinomiya, Shizuoka — a nationally designated historic site preserving Japan's oldest known open-air settlement with pit dwellings from the Incipient Jōmon period, approximately 13,000 years ago, at the foot of Mount Fuji.

At the tip of Osezaki Cape jutting into Suruga Bay in Numazu, Shizuoka, lies Japan's northernmost natural grove of Chinese juniper, a National Natural Monument designated in 1932. Around 130 ancient trees, including a sacred pair estimated at 1,500 years old, surround the mysterious freshwater Kami-ike pond and the Ose Shrine of seafaring legend.

The coast of Omaezaki in Shizuoka Prefecture is the northernmost regular nesting ground for loggerhead sea turtles in Japan, designated a National Natural Monument in 1980. Discover this remarkable beach of white granitic sand fed by the warm Kuroshio Current, learn about summer conservation viewing tours, and explore nearby attractions including the historic Omaezaki Lighthouse.

The Kakita River in Shimizu Town, Shizuoka Prefecture, is Japan's shortest first-class river at just 1.2 kilometers, born entirely from springs welling up through the Mishima Lava Flow created by an eruption of Mount Fuji roughly 10,000 years ago. Approximately one million cubic meters of pure water surge up each day, so clean it can be consumed directly. Designated a National Natural Monument in 2011 and counted among the Three Great Clear Streams of Japan, the river offers visitors cobalt-blue spring openings, rare wildlife including the Mishima baikamo and kingfishers, and a moving story of citizen-led conservation, all easily explored from the observation decks and walking paths of Kakitagawa Park.

The Great Kaya Tree of Kitahama in Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, is a magnificent Japanese torreya (Torreya nucifera) estimated to be over 600 years old. Designated as a National Natural Monument in 1954, it is celebrated as one of Japan's Three Great Kaya Trees, with a root circumference of about 15 meters and a height of approximately 22 meters. Visit this awe-inspiring giant, whose species provides the finest wood for Go and Shogi game boards, in a peaceful residential neighborhood.

On Tōgō Beach in Numazu, the Former Numazu Imperial Villa Garden was an imperial retreat across three eras. Its surviving 26-room West Annex stands amid black pines.

Gyokusen-ji in Shimoda is the Sōtō Zen temple where Townsend Harris opened Japan's first U.S. consulate in 1856. The grounds hold Japan's oldest foreign cemetery.

At Kōkokuji Castle Ruins in Numazu, the warlord Hōjō Sōun became a lord in 1488. This historic site keeps earthen ramparts, a deep dry moat, and a keep platform.

Komakado Wind Cave is a 10,000-year-old lava tube under a Gotemba farming district, a National Natural Monument with rib-shaped lava and rare cave creatures.

On a plateau by Lake Sanaru in Hamamatsu, the Shijimizuka Site preserves a Late Jomon village with four shell mounds and a 1.5-meter shell-layer cross-section.

This late-6th-century tomb on a Sengen Shrine ridge holds Shizuoka's largest stone chamber and a house-shaped coffin. Gilt-bronze finds point to Yamato-court ties.

A national historic site in Shimada, Shizuoka, marking where Edo-period travelers crossed the bridgeless Ōi River carried by porters. Toll office and lodges survive.

On a coastal terrace in Omaezaki, Shizuoka lies Japan's only nationally designated locality of ventifacts: pebbles ground into sharp ridges by sand-laden winds.

In Kawazu, Shizuoka, the Great Sago Palm of Shinmachi ranks among Japan's largest cycads, its central trunk nearly ten metres tall with arms trailing the ground.

Discover Ryotanji Temple Garden in Hamamatsu, a nationally designated Place of Scenic Beauty attributed to master garden designer Kobori Enshu. This early Edo-period pond-appreciation garden features a heart-shaped pond, symbolic stone arrangements, and seasonal flowers within the ancestral temple of the legendary Ii samurai clan.

The complete kokuhō catalogue — browse by prefecture, period, and category.

Nationwide jūyō bunkazai — architecture, sculpture, painting, crafts, and documents.

UNESCO-inscribed cultural and natural sites across the archipelago.