The landmarks and experiences travelers rate highest — with photos, ratings, and where to find them.
Tokyo Disneyland
Urayasu · Chiba · amusement center · ★ 4.6 · 124,889 reviews ·
Open in Google Maps ↗Tokyo Disneyland is a 126-acre (51 ha) theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort in Urayasu, near Tokyo in Chiba Prefecture, Japan Its main gate is directly adjacent to both Maihama Station and Tokyo Disneyland Station. It was the first Disney park to be built outside the United States and it opened on April 15, 1983. The park was constructed by WED Enterprises in the same style as Disneyland in California and Magic Kingdom in Florida. It is owned by the Oriental Land Company, which licenses intellectual property from the Walt Disney Company. Tokyo Disneyland and its companion park, Tokyo DisneySea, are the only Disney parks in the world not owned or operated by the Walt Disney Company in any capacity.
Universal Studios Japan
Osaka · Osaka · amusement center · ★ 4.5 · 154,671 reviews ·
Open in Google Maps ↗Universal Studios Japan (ユニバーサル・スタジオ・ジャパン) is a theme park located in Osaka, Japan. Opened on March 31, 2001, it is one of six Universal Studios theme parks worldwide and was the first to open outside the United States. The park is owned and operated by USJ LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Comcast NBCUniversal. The park is similar in layout to Universal Studios Florida and contains selected attractions from both Universal Orlando and Universal Studios Hollywood, in addition to a small number of unique attractions.
Over 11 million guests visited the park in its opening year, making it the fastest theme park to reach the 10 million guest milestone at the time. In 2024, Universal Studios Japan hosted 16 million visitors, making it the third-most visited theme park in the world behind Magic Kingdom and Disneyland, and the most visited theme park in Asia.
Tokyo Disney Resort
Urayasu · Chiba · amusement center · ★ 4.6 · 107,977 reviews ·
Open in Google Maps ↗Tokyo Disney Resort is a theme park and vacation resort located in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan, just east of Tokyo. The resort is owned and operated by the Oriental Land Co., a subsidiary of the Keisei Electric Railway, under a license from The Walt Disney Company, which designed and constructed the resort and its various attractions through its Imagineering research & development arm.
Senso-ji
Tokyo · Tokyo · buddhist temple · ★ 4.6 · 97,145 reviews ·
Open in Google Maps ↗Sensō-ji , is an ancient Buddhist temple in Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan. It is Tokyo's oldest-established temple, and one of its most significant. It is dedicated to Kannon, the bodhisattva of compassion. Structures in the temple complex include the main hall, a five-story pagoda and large gates. It is the most widely visited religious site in the world with over 30 million visitors annually. The temple is the 13th stop on the Bandō Sanjūsankasho pilgrimage route.
Akonnchiroll (CC0)
Fushimi Inari Taisha
Kyoto · Kyoto · shinto shrine · ★ 4.6 · 89,938 reviews ·
Open in Google Maps ↗Fushimi Inari-taisha is the head shrine of the kami Inari, located in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Japan. The shrine sits at the base of a mountain, also named Inari, which is 233 metres (764 ft) above sea level, and includes trails up the mountain to many smaller shrines which span 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) and take approximately 2 hours to walk up. It is unclear whether the mountain's name, Inariyama, or the shrine's name came first.
Saigen Jiro (CC0)
Tokyo DisneySea
Urayasu · Chiba · amusement center · ★ 4.5 · 107,968 reviews ·
Open in Google Maps ↗Tokyo DisneySea is a theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort located in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, just next to Tokyo. It opened on 4 September 2001, at a cost of 335 billion yen. The Oriental Land Company owns the park and licenses intellectual property from the Walt Disney Company. In 2024, Tokyo DisneySea hosted 12.4 million visitors, making it the seventh-most visited theme park in the world and the third-most visited in Japan.
Tokyo Tower
Tokyo · Tokyo · observation deck · ★ 4.5 · 98,860 reviews ·
Open in Google Maps ↗Tokyo Tower , also known by its official name Japan Radio Tower is a communications and observation tower in the district of Shiba-koen in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, completed in 1958. At 332.9 meters, it was the tallest tower in Japan until the construction of Tokyo Skytree in 2012. It is a lattice tower inspired by the Eiffel Tower, and is painted white and international orange to comply with air safety regulations.
Nara Park
Nara · Nara · park · ★ 4.6 · 75,117 reviews ·
Open in Google Maps ↗Nara Park is a public park located in the city of Nara, Japan, at the foot of Mount Wakakusa. Established in 1880, it is one of the oldest parks in Japan. Administratively, the park is under the control of Nara Prefecture. The park is one of the "Places of Scenic Beauty" designated by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). Over 1,200 wild sika deer freely roaming around in the park are also under designation of MEXT, classified as natural treasure. While the official size of the park is about 502 hectares, the area including the grounds of Tōdai-ji, Kōfuku-ji, Kasuga Grand Shrine and Nara National Museum, which are either on the edge or surrounded by Nara Park, is as large as 660 hectares.
Daderot (CC0)
Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium
Motobu · Okinawa · aquarium · ★ 4.6 · 72,801 reviews ·
Open in Google Maps ↗The Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium , formerly known as the Okinawa Ocean Expo Aquarium, is a public aquarium located within the Ocean Expo Park in Okinawa, Japan. The aquarium's Kuroshio sea tank was the largest aquarium tank in the world until it was surpassed by the Georgia Aquarium in 2005.
s2000fd (CC0)
Kiyomizu-dera
Kyoto · Kyoto · buddhist temple · ★ 4.6 · 71,130 reviews ·
Open in Google Maps ↗Kiyomizu-dera is a Buddhist temple located in eastern Kyoto, Japan. It belongs to the Kita-Hosso sect of Japanese Buddhism and its honzon is a hibutsu statue of Jūichimen Kannon. The temple's full name is Otowa-san Kiyomizu-dera. The temple is the 16th stop on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage route. Along with Kōryū-ji and Kurama-dera, it is one of the few temples in Kyoto that predates the foundation of the capital to Heian-kyō. It is also one of Japan's leading temples dedicated to the worship of Kannon, along with Ishiyama-dera and Hase-dera. It is a famous tourist destination in Kyoto City, attracting many pilgrims throughout the year. Since 1995, it holds the Kanji of the Year ceremony on 12 December every year. The temple is part of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Tokyo Skytree
Tokyo · Tokyo · observation deck · ★ 4.4 · 117,241 reviews ·
Open in Google Maps ↗Tokyo Skytree , a.k.a Tokyo Sky Tree, is a broadcasting and observation tower, located in Sumida, Tokyo, Japan. It has been the tallest tower in Japan since opening in 2012, and reached its full height of 634 metres in early 2011, making it the tallest tower in the world, displacing the Canton Tower, and the third tallest structure in the world behind Merdeka 118 and Burj Khalifa.
Akonnchiroll (CC0)
Kinkaku-ji
Kyoto · Kyoto · buddhist temple · ★ 4.6 · 69,243 reviews ·
Open in Google Maps ↗Kinkaku-ji , officially named Rokuon-ji , is a Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan and a tourist attraction. It is designated as a World Heritage Site, a National Special Historic Site, a National Special Landscape, and one of the 17 Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto. The temple is nicknamed after its reliquary (shariden), the Golden Pavilion , whose top two floors are coated in 0.5 μm gold leaf. The current pavilion was rebuilt in 1955 after being destroyed in an arson attack.
Basile Morin (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Osaka Castle
Osaka · Osaka · castle · ★ 4.4 · 97,942 reviews ·
Open in Google Maps ↗Osaka Castle is a Japanese castle in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan. The castle is one of Japan's most famous landmarks and played a major role in the unification of Japan during the sixteenth century of the Azuchi–Momoyama period.
663highland (CC BY 2.5)
Himeji Castle
Himeji · Hyogo · castle · ★ 4.6 · 58,806 reviews ·
Open in Google Maps ↗Himeji Castle is a hilltop Japanese castle complex situated in Himeji, a city in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. The castle is regarded as the finest surviving example of prototypical Japanese castle architecture, comprising a network of 83 structures with advanced defensive systems from the feudal period. The castle is frequently known as Hakuro-jō or Shirasagi-jō because of its brilliant white exterior and supposed resemblance to a bird taking flight.
_steffen (CC BY-SA 2.0
Meiji Jingu
Tokyo · Tokyo · shinto shrine · ★ 4.6 · 51,761 reviews ·
Open in Google Maps ↗Meiji Shrine (明治神宮, Meiji Jingū) is a Shinto shrine in Shibuya, Tokyo, that is dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shōken. The shrine does not contain the emperor's grave, which is located at Fushimi-momoyama, south of Kyoto.
Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan
Osaka · Osaka · aquarium · ★ 4.5 · 60,036 reviews ·
Open in Google Maps ↗The Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan is an aquarium located in the ward of Minato in Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan, near Osaka Bay. When it opened in 1990, it was the largest public aquarium in the world.
663highland (CC BY 2.5
Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
Tokyo · Tokyo · garden · ★ 4.6 · 45,371 reviews ·
Open in Google Maps ↗Shinjuku Gyo-en or Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden is a large public garden in Shinjuku and Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally a residence of the Naitō family in the Edo period. It later became a garden under the management of Japan Imperial Household Agency. It is now a national garden under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Environment.
Atomic Bomb Dome
Hiroshima · Hiroshima · ★ 4.7 · 34,280 reviews ·
Open in Google Maps ↗The Hiroshima Peace Memorial (広島平和記念碑, Hiroshima Heiwa Kinenhi), originally the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, and now commonly called the Genbaku Dome, Atomic Bomb Dome or A-Bomb Dome (原爆ドーム, Genbaku Dōmu), is part of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, Japan, and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.
The building is a prominent structure that remained standing in the area around the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, three days before the atomic bombing of Nagasaki and nine days before Japan surrendered, ending World War II. The ruin serves as a memorial to the over 140,000 people killed in the bombing. It is permanently kept in a state of preserved ruin as a reminder of the destructive effects of nuclear warfare.
teamLab Planets TOKYO DMM
Tokyo · Tokyo · art museum · ★ 4.5 · 54,244 reviews ·
Open in Google Maps ↗teamLab Planets TOKYO DMM.com is an art museum that utilizes digital technology and was established by teamLab and DMM.com. It is located in 6-chome, Toyosu, Koto-ku, Tokyo.
Big Ben in Japan from Kawasaki, Japan (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Todai-ji
Nara · Nara · buddhist temple · ★ 4.7 · 31,455 reviews ·
Open in Google Maps ↗Tōdai-ji is a Buddhist temple complex that was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples, located in the city of Nara, Japan. The construction of the temple was an attempt to imitate Chinese temples from the much-admired Tang dynasty. Though it was originally founded in the year 738 CE, Tōdai-ji was not opened until the year 752 CE. The temple has undergone several reconstructions, including one initiated by Minamoto Yoritomo in 1181 which included the standardization of existing buildings and the strengthening of visible pillars. Since then, one of the most significant reconstruction took place in 1709. However, it was on the verge of collapse in the late 19th century due to the weight of its huge roof. The collapse was prevented through a first restoration (1904–1913), and its current appearance was completed using steel framing between 1974 and 1980. Its Great Buddha Hall houses the world's largest bronze statue of the Buddha Vairocana, known in Japanese as Daibutsu (大仏). The temple also serves as the Japanese headquarters of the Kegon school of Buddhism. The temple is a listed UNESCO World Heritage Site as one of the "Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara", together with seven other sites in the city of Nara.
663highland (CC BY 2.5)
