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

A Natural Monument on Mikawa-Oshima off Gamagori, Aichi, for a lancelet habitat. The chordate, linked to vertebrate origins, was last confirmed here in 1968.

The earthworks of Odaka Castle and two Oda forts in Nagoya, where young Tokugawa Ieyasu ran rice through the siege lines on the eve of the 1560 Battle of Okehazama.

In Okazaki, Aichi, a low mound marks the eightieth ri from Edo on the old Tōkaidō. The city’s only surviving milestone, it became a National Historic Site in 1937.

Ruins of Oyama-dera, a mountain temple above Komaki, Aichi, founded in the late 600s. Seventeen pagoda foundation stones remain, with the finds at the city museum.

Genji fireflies light the June nights along rivers in eastern Okazaki, a National Natural Monument since 1935, flashing together in a synchronized two-second beat.

This national historic site in Toyoake marks where Imagawa Yoshimoto is said to have fallen in 1560, with seven stone markers from 1771 and a rare eulogy monument.

Inazawa's Owari Provincial Temple Site holds the plan of a Nara-period state temple. Four pagoda stones mark the ground, their dates matching the ancient chronicles.

Kaigaragayama Shell Mound in Kiyosu City, Aichi Prefecture, is a nationally designated historic site where early Yayoi Ongagawa-type pottery and Jomon-derived combed-pattern pottery were found together. As part of the Asahi Archaeological Site — one of Japan's largest Yayoi moated settlements — visitors can explore the dawn of rice-farming culture over 2,300 years ago at the Aichi Asahi Archaeological Site Museum.

Below Mount Chausu lies Aichi's only wild grove of hananoki, a Japanese red maple that outlived the ice ages. Its branches redden in spring, its leaves in autumn.

The Spherical Granite of Mount Sanage, a National Natural Monument located on the slopes of Mount Sanage in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, features exceptionally rare orbicular structures resembling chrysanthemum flowers. Known locally as 'Kiku-ishi' (Chrysanthemum Stones), this geological wonder can be explored along the scenic Sanage Seven Waterfalls Trail.

Begun in 1615 by Owari's Tokugawa Yoshinao, this 30,463 m² stroll garden is Japan's largest surviving castle-residence garden, with bold blue-stone groupings.

On a chert ridge above the Kiso River in Inuyama, this 72-meter square-front, square-back tomb yielded eleven bronze mirrors and rich early-Kofun grave goods.

Volcanic rhyolite cliffs and rare pitchstone formations rise above a 1,300-year-old temple in Aichi's Okumikawa, a sacred peak dually designated since 1931.

Ruins of an 8th-century provincial nunnery in Toyokawa, Aichi. Its main hall foundation rivals Nara's Tōshōdai-ji; the middle gate has been fully reconstructed.

Thirteen granite stones in Imabari mark the foundation of a vanished seven-story pagoda, built by imperial edict in 741 and a National Historic Site since 1921.

Explore the Okichimozuku Habitat in Toon City, Ehime — a nationally designated Natural Monument preserving Japan's first discovery site of the critically endangered freshwater red algae Nemalionopsis tortuosa. Learn about its legend, conservation story, and visiting tips.

Discover the Great Ibuki of Shimokashiwa in Shikokuchuo, Ehime — a 1,200-year-old Chinese juniper designated a National Natural Monument in 1924, with a hollow trunk sheltering an Edo-period Jizo statue.

Senbiki no Sakura, located on Mount Naraharasan in Tamagawa-cho, Imabari City, Ehime Prefecture, is a nationally designated Place of Scenic Beauty (1941). Long called the 'Yoshino of Shikoku', this mountain cherry pass weaves together wild yamazakura blossoms, Nanboku-cho-period legends, mountain religious tradition, and modern tanka poetry into a quietly atmospheric spring destination.

Tenshaen, a National Place of Scenic Beauty in Uwajima City, Ehime Prefecture, is a strolling pond garden completed in 1866 by Date Munenari, the seventh lord of the Uwajima Domain. Discover its history, signature wisteria trellis, rare bamboo grove, and visitor highlights.

On a windswept ridge at about 1,300 meters in Niihama, Ehime Prefecture, an extraordinary colony of Tsugazakura (Phyllodoce nipponica) marks the southern limit of this Japanese endemic alpine shrub. Designated a National Natural Monument in February 2019, the colony is a relict population dating back roughly 800,000 years to the Ice Age and holds outstanding phytogeographic, ecological, and genetic value. Hikers reach the site through the dramatic industrial heritage landscape of the historic Besshi Copper Mine, with the bell-shaped pink blossoms at their peak from mid-May to early June.