Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area sight
Nara Prefecture, Japan
There are around 48 Buddhist monuments in the Horyu-ji area, in Nara Prefecture. Several date from the late 7th or early 8th century, making them some of the oldest surviving wooden buildings in the world. These masterpieces of wooden architecture are important not only for the history of art, sinc...
Himeji-jo sight
Hyogo Prefecture, Japan
Himeji-jo is the finest surviving example of early 17th-century Japanese castle architecture, comprising 83 buildings with highly developed systems of defence and ingenious protection devices dating from the beginning of the Shogun period. It is a masterpiece of construction in wood, combining func...
Shirakami-Sanchi sight
Ajigasawa-machi, Nishitsugaru-gun, Aomori Prefecture; Fukaura-machi, Nishitsugaru-gun, Aomori Prefecture; Iwasaki-mura, Nishitsu, Japan
Situated in the mountains of northern Honshu, this trackless site includes the last virgin remains of the cool-temperate forest of Siebold's beech trees that once covered the hills and mountain slopes of northern Japan. The black bear, the serow and 87 species of birds can be found in this forest.
Yakushima sight
Kamiyaku-cho and Yaku-cho, Kumage-gun Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan
Located in the interior of Yaku Island, at the meeting-point of the palaearctic and oriental biotic regions, Yakushima exhibits a rich flora, with some 1,900 species and subspecies, including ancient specimens of the sugi (Japanese cedar). It also contains a remnant of a warm-temperate ancient fore...
Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities) sight
Kyoto and Shiga prefectures, Japan
Built in A.D. 794 on the model of the capitals of ancient China, Kyoto was the imperial capital of Japan from its foundation until the middle of the 19th century. As the centre of Japanese culture for more than 1,000 years, Kyoto illustrates the development of Japanese wooden architecture, particul...
Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama sight
Gifu and Toyama prefectures, Japan
Located in a mountainous region that was cut off from the rest of the world for a long period of time, these villages with their Gassho-style houses subsisted on the cultivation of mulberry trees and the rearing of silkworms. The large houses with their steeply pitched thatched roofs are the only e...
Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome) sight
Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan
The Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome) was the only structure left standing in the area where the first atomic bomb exploded on 6 August 1945. Through the efforts of many people, including those of the city of Hiroshima, it has been preserved in the same state as immediately after the bombing....
Itsukushima Shinto Shrine sight
Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan
The island of Itsukushima, in the Seto inland sea, has been a holy place of Shintoism since the earliest times. The first shrine buildings here were probably erected in the 6th century. The present shrine dates from the 12th century and the harmoniously arranged buildings reveal great artistic and ...
Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara sight
Nara Prefecture, Japan
Nara was the capital of Japan from 710 to 784. During this period the framework of national government was consolidated and Nara enjoyed great prosperity, emerging as the fountainhead of Japanese culture. The city's historic monuments Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines and the excavated remains o...
Shrines and Temples of Nikko sight
Tochigi Prefecture, Japan
The shrines and temples of Nikko, together with their natural surroundings, have for centuries been a sacred site known for its architectural and decorative masterpieces. They are closely associated with the history of the Tokugawa Shoguns.
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