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

Designated a National Historic Site in 1922, the Innoshō Yakata Site in Tsuyama, Okayama, is the legendary location where the samurai Kojima Takanori carved a ten-character poem into a cherry tree to encourage Emperor Go-Daigo as he was being escorted into exile in 1332. Today the grounds are home to Sakura Shrine, dedicated to the emperor and to Takanori himself, and remain one of the most evocative cherry-blossom sites in northern Okayama.

Discover Urama Chausuyama Kofun, a nationally designated historic site in Okayama. This 3rd-century keyhole-shaped burial mound is the oldest large-scale tomb of the ancient Kibi Kingdom and a half-scale replica of the legendary Hashihaka Kofun.

Oga no Oshikabuse (the Oga Decken) in Niga, Kawakami-cho, Takahashi City, Okayama Prefecture, is a geological wonder where Paleozoic limestone, around 300 million years old, sits atop younger Mesozoic mudstone and sandstone of about 200 million years. Discovered in 1923 by geologist Yoshiaki Ozawa and designated a National Natural Monument in 1937, it is the first overthrust structure ever formally reported in Japan and a landmark site documenting the early Cretaceous orogeny known as the Oga Movement.

An ancient mountain fortress on the ridges of eastern Okayama City, encircled by 3.2 kilometers of earthen ramparts and stone water gates built in the 7th century. Designated a National Historic Site in 2005, this kogoishi-style fortress was constructed amid the international tensions following the Battle of Baekgang.

Okayama Korakuen is one of the Edo period's most renowned daimyo gardens, built between 1687 and 1700 by Ikeda Tsunamasa, second lord of the Okayama domain, with construction directed by his retainer Tsuda Nagatada. Set on a sandbar in the Asahi River with Okayama Castle as borrowed scenery, this 14.4-hectare stroll garden links Yuishinzan hill, Sawa-no-ike Pond, Ryuten pavilion, and the lord's hall Enyoutei through paths and a 640-meter winding stream. Designated a Special Place of Scenic Beauty in 1952, it is counted alongside Kenrokuen and Kairakuen as one of Japan's Three Great Gardens.

A unique National Historic Site that unites three locations across Okayama Prefecture: the Confucian-style Waidani burial ground, the Buddhist Sogenji Temple, and the tomb of the master administrator Tsuda Nagatada, together documenting the philosophy and cultural achievements of the Ikeda lords across the entire Edo period.

Onoue Kurumayama Kofun, located in Onoue, Kita Ward, Okayama City, is a large keyhole-shaped tumulus built in the late 4th century, measuring about 138.5 meters in total length. Its slender 'handle-mirror' form, traces of fukiishi covering stones, and haniwa fragments testify to the power of an early Kibi chieftain who once watched over the inland sea. It was designated a National Historic Site in 1972.

Mt. Gagyu in Takahashi City, Okayama Prefecture, is best known as the site of Bitchu Matsuyama Castle, the highest of Japan's still-standing original mountain castles. Yet the same forest is home to a wild troop of Japanese macaques. Designated a National Natural Monument in 1956, the Mt. Gagyu Macaque Habitat protects not a single animal but an entire mountain ecosystem. Around 160 macaques still roam roughly 700 hectares of forest, making this one of Japan's rare places where a famous castle and a thriving wild primate community share the same ridge.

In Tsuyama, Okayama, a parasitic fungus marks Yashadake bamboo culms with dark elliptical patterns. The 198 m² site has been a national natural monument since 1976.

Magane Ichirizuka is a pair of Edo-period roadside mounds on Okayama's old Sanyo Highway, planted with pine and hackberry. A National Historic Site since 1928.

One of just two national Kajika frog habitats in Japan, the Tabane River in Yubara Onsen rings with the males' bell-clear breeding calls from late May through July.

Around 1605, Kobori Enshu laid out this karesansui in Bicchu: white sand, crane and turtle islands, sculpted azalea hedges, Mount Atago borrowed beyond the wall.

Agena Castle Ruins crown a coral-limestone crag above the Tengan River in Uruma. Okinawa's only surviving concentric gusuku, with walls reaching ten meters.

On Goten-yama hill near Shuri Castle, this Ryukyuan princely villa garden preserves curving stonework and a complex pond. Designated 2009; closed for restoration.

Carved into Ryukyu limestone bedrock for vassals of the Ryukyu kings, this Shuri garden hides stone arch bridges and Chinese characters cut by an 1800 envoy.

A National Natural Monument on Iheya Island, Okinawa — a naturally regenerating Ubamegashi (Japanese evergreen oak) grove clinging to the cliffs of Torazu-iwa rock at the southern limit of the species' Japanese range, with rare biogeographical value as a relict population from the Asian continent.

The Ireibaru Site in Chatan Town, Okinawa, is a nationally designated historic site preserving roughly 7,000 years of continuous human life from the early Jomon period through the Gusuku era. Centered on the perpetually flowing Uchinukā spring, the waterlogged lowlands have yielded Okinawa's oldest wooden artifacts, the prefecture's first comb, jadeite from Niigata, and obsidian from Kyushu, attesting to wide-ranging exchange between the southern islands and mainland Japan. Opened to the public in 2025, the site park and the adjacent Chatan Town Museum offer a vivid hands-on encounter with prehistoric Okinawa.

Perched on the summit of Mount Uegusuku at 310 meters on the island of Kumejima, the Uegusuku Castle Ruins are the highest gusuku site in Okinawa Prefecture and a designated National Historic Site. Built during the Gusuku period (14th–15th century) by Kume Nakagusuku Aji, the fortress fell in 1510 to the forces of King Shō Shin during the unification of the Ryukyu Kingdom. Visitors today can walk among surviving stone walls of platy hornblende andesite, view the ceremonial platform and sacred garden, and learn about the Chinese ceramics and tea utensils unearthed here that attest to vibrant maritime trade. The summit offers a breathtaking 360-degree panorama of the entire island and beyond.

Perched on a clifftop near Cape Hedo at the very northern tip of Okinawa's main island, the Usahama Site is a National Historic Site that revealed the first prehistoric dwelling remains ever found in the Okinawa Islands. Excavated in 1970 by the Ryukyu Government, it produced a distinctive pointed-bottom pottery known as Uzahama-style ware, parallel to the Amami Islands' Usuku Upper Layer style and dated to the transition from late Jomon to early Yayoi. Designated on May 15, 1972—the very day Okinawa returned to Japan—it offers travelers in Yanbaru National Park a quiet vantage on three thousand years of island history.

Uchima Udun in Nishihara Town, Okinawa, is a National Historic Site and a sacred hall built in 1666 on the former residence of Kanamaru — the humble farmer who became King Sho En, founder of the Second Sho Dynasty. Its well-preserved 1736 stone walls and building foundations vividly convey the state-led veneration practices of the early modern Ryukyu Kingdom. The magnificent sawafuji tree at the entrance is also a highlight.

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.