This complex is located in Asuka village, where many ruins and historical heritage are preserved. It is a comprehensive cultural base for ancient culture featured in Manyoshu, the 8th century anthology of Japanese poetry. There are paintings of Manyoshu themes others exhibited here.
The lifestyle of the Manyo era is introduced here, using life-size statues, images, music, etc., of Utagaki, the festival of singing and dancing and market. The Manyo Garden is another highlight, where you can feel the time and space of Asuka period from five scenes.
There is a scent of a poetic turn of mind in the Manyo Garden.

“Valued and honored Harmony” -A World Heritage Site, this temple is one of the oldest wooden buildings existing in the world. This hall was built on the site of the Prince Shotoku (574 – 62２)’s private palace. The Prince authored “Harmony is to be valued, and to be honored” in Article 1 of the seventeen-article constitution of 604. This hall worships the Prince’s spirit.
Harmony is respected because Prince Shotoku knew that the work of the masses of the nations would outweigh the work of the saints, who were willing to open the door to a sustainable society.

Mt. Kannabiyama(217m) is the mountain that straddles Kyoto and Osaka prefectures. It was also said that Suzaku Boulevard, the main street of Heiankyo the ancient capital of Kyoto, was built as a line connecting this mountain with Mt. Funaoka (111m), in northwestern Kyoto.
Shikinaikannabi shrine, near the top of the mountain, appeared in Konjaku Monogatarishu, the Anthology of Tales from the Past in the late Heian period in the 11th – 12th centuries. Tsutsuki no miya, the Palace of Emperor Keitai in the 6th century, was around this shrine. It was mentioned at the Kojiki, the records of Japanese Ancient Matters and Nihonshoki, the Chronicles of Japan, in the 8th century.
The whole area of this mountain is a forest park where you can enjoy the beautiful scenery of each season and the view from Yawata City to the urban area of Kyoto.

This temple has the precincts over 2 million tsubo, 670ha in the whole area of Mt. Daigosan, Fushimi and is famous for Daigo no Hanami, “Viewing Cherry Blossoms at Daigo,” by Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537 – 1598), the powerful feudal lord and Imperial Regent who unified Japan. This temple was founded in 874, by Rigen Daishi Shobo (832 – 909), as a training hall for the Shingon sect of Esoteric Buddhism.
Rigen was a pupil of the third generation of Kobo Daishi Kukai (774 – 835), the founder of the Shingon sect. This temple was built at the request of Emperor Daigo (885 – 930), and performed religious rites for the salvation of a departed soul of Emperor Daigo, in the five-storied pagoda.
The pagoda was restored by Hideyoshi in the early modern times, and remains a valuable building of the Heian period (794 – 1185). You can see a part of the 100,000 temple treasures in Reihokan museum, including Bugaku-zu, the painting of the Japanese Imperial Court Dance, of the gold leaf background paper, by Tawaraya Sotatsu (1570? – 1640?), a Japanese painter and designer of the Rinpa school.

This museum praises Sato Taisei (1913 – 2004), a Japanese painter, who came from this area. The area around the museum is maintained as Fukuchiyamajo Castle Park. Sato established a unique painting style that combined the painting of flowers and birds and landscapes. It drew kindness and solidness, and his works give excitement and comfort.
The Yura River had given richness and flooding to the local people, since ancient times. People had worked to reduce the flooding for civilians coming from abroad. Here is a history that knows the value of excitement and comfort.

In 823, Kobo Daishi Kukai (774 – 835), the founder of the Shingon sect, received Toji Temple from Emperor Saga (786 – 842) and made it the central training center of Shingon Esoteric Buddhism.
Yakushi Nyorai, the Buddha of Healing, for the welfare of the State, is enshrined in the Kondo, the main hall of a Buddhist temple. Dainichi Nyorai, Supreme Buddha of the Cosmos and the central object in Esoteric sects of Buddhism, and the statues of the images of Esoteric Buddhism, are enshrined in the Kodo, a lecture hall.
The five-storied pagoda resembles the main pillar as Dainichi Nyorai, and enshrines 4-Nyorai, Buddhas of the Diamond Realm, and the Great 8-Bosatsu, Bohhisattvas that save people with Mercy, on Shumidan, an altar of a Buddhist image, around the main pillar.
This pagoda has never collapsed by any earthquakes, as it was built with a flexible structure in each layer and is not stacked nor tightly bound. Because the restoring force is superior to the self-destructing force.

This museum exhibits and introduces the fine arts of Japanese art, collected by the Hosomi family, over three generations, and donated by businessman, Hosomi Ryo (1901 – 1978).
Ryo had an outstanding sense of beauty, able to recognize the strictness and gentleness of the shape of things. Folding Screens of Viewing Cherry Blossoms at Yoshino was brilliantly described in detail. And the Great Tea Party.
Koko-an, with a panoramic view of Higashiyama, is the posthumous work of Nakamura Sotoji (1906 – 1997), a famous Kyoto carpenter, in the style of a tea-ceremony arbor.

Hozugawa River runs from the Tanba Mountains in the center of Kyoto Prefecture through Sonobe and Kameoka to the Katsura River in Arashiyama, and joins the Kamo River to reach the Yodo River.
The Gorge of the Hozugawa River had sustained the Heiankyo Capital of Kyoto, to supply goods since old days. The wood was delivered by rafts on the Hozu River, and unloaded at Arashiyama, which connected the Kyoto Imperial Palace through Marutamachi-dori Street, which ran east to west.
The rafts of the Hozugawa River changed Takasebune, a flatboat, in the development of the Hozukyo Gorge, in the Keicho era (1596 – 1615) of the Edo period. This change was led by Suminokura Ryoi (1554 – 1614), a wealthy merchant and shipper of overseas trade.
—The sightseeing boat ride was first introduced in the 1890s.
Now you can enjoy the beauty of the unique rocks and megaliths while riding on the Usen, a sightseeing boat, instead of the Takasebune.

This garden’s landscaping was borrowed from Himejijo Castle, which was restored from the relics of Nishi Oyashiki, the feudal lord’s west residence. It was built by Honda Tadamasa (1575 – 1631), a feudal lord, a first lord of Himeji Domaine in Harima Province. In this garden, there is Choonsai, a guest house, and the garden has Chikuzan-Chisen, Hills and Ponds, borrowing the landscape of Himeyama virgin forest.
The scene of the virgin forest overlaps Himejioka hill according to Harimanokuni, Harima Province Fudoki, a description of Japanese regional climate, culture, and others. Himejioka hill was mentioned, where Himeko, the silkworm settled down from the wrecked God ship. This castle was built at that site.
The idea of making this garden overlaps the ancient and the early modern time. It is freely rich like a Furisode, a long-sleeved kimono, swinging.

“4 million years old, the Great Lake Biwa” -Lake Biwa is classified as one of the world’s few ‘ancient’ lakes. This lake moved to the west and then expanded north-east, and formed the current lake basin about 400 000 years ago. Elephants came here 30,000 years ago. Paleolithic Age humans stayed here 20,000 years ago. You will discover these facts.”
This museum introduces the big changes in the natural environment due to the movement of Lake Biwa, since the beginning of people’s lives, and the relationship with the present life, including exhibiting creatures of Lake Biwa and lakes of the world. The environment of Lake Biwa is reproduced in a large aquarium.

Kara-hashi, Bridge of Seta is a bridge crossing over the Setagawa River, which is the only river flowing out of the Biwa Lake. Tokaido, the route connecting Kyoto and Edo Tokyo in the Edo period, passed this bridge, in the 17th-19th centuries. The scene of this bridge in the sunset was painted by Utagawa Hiroshige (1797 – 1858), a Japanese ukiyo-e artist. He drew the pleasures of the city and travel, using woodblock prints and painting, as Omi Hakkei, Eight Views of Omi. It’s beauty was known over the Japan.
Chikatsuo shrine is located to the west of this bridge, 15 minutes by car. There is Genjuan, hermitage, where Matsuo Basho (1644 – 1694), the most famous poet of the Edo period, lived for about 4 months, after he completed his travel of Oku no hosomichi, the Narrow Road to the Deep North.
It was a major text of travel poems and essays. You can imagine the elegance at the end of his life in the sunset. This was the last chapter of the elegance of poetic unconventionality in the Japanese early modern times.

“His research offered much to the World Heritage List” –Minakata Kumagusu (1867-1941) was a Japanese naturalist and a pioneering ecologist. In the modern period, the Japanese government began a policy of merging local shrines. He opposed this policy and sought to stop the government from destroying shrine forests, which deeply connected folklore and culture. He gained support for his ideas and led the beginning of the nature conservation movement in Japan.
It led to the registration of World Heritage, Kumano Kodo, Sacred Sites & Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range. Minakata entered the mountains of Kumano for the study of slime mold and discovered many new species. This museum introduces his achievements in specimens, manuscripts, and relics. You will be touched by his Buddhist thought regarding Sui-Ten, a word coined by Minamikata. Sui Ten is the point where inevitability and coincidence intersect, and which knows many of the natural principles at once.

The Great Bay linked Lake Biwa, created a Unified Nation” -Osaka bay was born 12,000 years ago, after the last glacial period. Many living creatures grew in the shallow sea floor and in the muddy substrata, getting nutrients from the rivers. Osaka plains were made from the lagoon. Wet-Rice cultivation during the Yayoi period, 3rd century BC to 3rd Century AD, transformed the wetland into rice paddies and created a unified nation, Yamato Court.
This museum introduces the structure and relations of the natural world in the permanent exhibition rooms, entitled Familiar Nature, History of the Earth and Life, Evolution of Life, and Grace of Nature. When the sea becomes rough, salt increases in the lagoon, and rainwater makes it sweet. It is suitable for the growth of omnivorous fish, such as Chinu, black porgy. You will know that the Osaka plain was called the sea of Chinu, in the ancient times.

The Setanokara-hashi Bridge is over the Seta River, which is the only river to flow out of Lake Biwa. Tokaido, the route connecting Kyoto and Edo Tokyo in the Edo period (1603 – 1868), passed over this bridge. The beauty of the evening scene from the bridge was known nationwide by Omi Hakkei, Eight Views of Omi, the Japanese woodblock print, Ukiyoe, by Utagawa Hiroshige (1797 – 1858).
Utagawa was a ukiyoe artist, painting city pleasures and travel by woodblock prints and painting. This bridge was described at Nihon-shoki, the oldest chronicles of Japan in the 8th century, which was updated to consist of Ohashi Bridge and Kohashi Bridge by Oda Nobunaga (1534 – 1582): the legendary warlord and the military dictator.
Some Giboshi, ornamental caps on a bridge post, are used, which were made in the Edo period (1603 – 1868).
ーGiboshi is derived from the decoration of Ise Jingu shrine, Mie, which symbolizes a prestigious bridge such as Sanjo-ohashi Bridge in Kyoto.

This island surrounded by a 2km sheer cliff, floats about 6km far from the lake shore of Nagahama city, Shiga at the northern end of Lake Biwa. The island has a history of syncretizing the goddess of Lake Biwa, Azaihime no mikoto, who was worshipped here to ensure the safety of water traffic on the lake, and Sarasvati, the god of wealth, music eloquence and water. The name of this island came from “Kami Ituku Sumai,” the place where the Gods reside.
The shadow of this island in dark green is one of Omi Hakkei, Eight Views of Omi. The scene of the island from Nagahama is extremely magical.

This park is a famous spot for cherry blossoms and was selected as one of the 100 best cherry blossom spots in Japan in 1990. The best time to see the blossom is from late March to early April, and the roughly 1,700 Cherry trees create a 2.8 km north-south bloom, which are mainly Someiyoshino Cherry trees.
The Nishinomiya Cherry Festival is held in early April every year, and you can enjoy tea ceremonies and mini concerts held under the cherry blossoms.

The soil of Koga Shigaraki is highly fire resistant, and persevering, which are suitable for “making large objects”. This park is located on a hillock overlooking Shigaraki City. A promenade runs around the site, and large pottery works are baked in this facility and displayed outdoors.
The rich forests and the history of the Nara period (710 – 794), such as the Shigaraki Palace, overlap, which inspired potters who expressed the remnants of Japanese culture in the objects’ simplicity.

This museum exhibits traditional art and craft items to be classified into groups of Clothes, Food, Houses, Praying, Playing, Sounds and Festivals. Kaga Yuzen dyed silk, Wajima lacquer, Kutani pottery, Japanese candles, Kaga dolls and others.
In addition, special exhibitions introducing inspiring works from around the world as well as a museum shop where visitors can actually feel and touch the crafts are available inside the premises.
Here you can enjoy the beauty, sophisticated skills, and spirit of preserving the traditional crafts, developed through history and culture, as well as the new suggestions for ways to connect the traditional and modern lives.

This museum exhibits and introduces the achievements of Aizu Yaichi (1881-1956) and his art works. Yaichi was a literati born in Niigata City, and his achievement were in the field of art history, Tanka was a Japanese poem, consisting of thirty-one syllables and calligraphy. Yaichi’s Tanka – composed about Nara, the old capital, and his homeland – have been highly valued.
In his later life, he returned to his homeland of Niigata City. He made efforts to promote the culture of his homeland and concentrated on his calligraphy.
He wrote“Suishin, Transparent Mind”in indian ink, which came from Huainanzi, the ancient Chinese encyclopedia of the Former Han dynasty (BC206-8), too.

Kurobe Dam was built in Japan’s largest and deepest gorge. The unexplored region of Kurobe Gorge, contains nature close to its primitive state. There is a landscape of beauty where nature coexists with nature. The Kurobe Lake was created by dam construction. The beech virgin forest spreads in the deep green on the lakeside, and the sightseeing boat, Garube, tours around the mysterious surface of the emerald green on the lake.
You can experience the towering Tateyama Mountain Range and the magnificent Alps mountains.

Wajima lacquerware is a traditional Japanese craft. This museum is an art museum in Wajima, Ishikawa that is completely devoted to the genre of lacquerware. In addition to various themed exhibitions, permanent exhibitions introduce Wajima lacquerware’s history and culture in an easy-to-understand manner, using production tools and videos.
You can freely read books of lacquerware and art, and watch videos that introduce the process of making lacquerware. Different than Kanazawa lacquerware, which the Kaga Domain promoted, Wajima lacquerware was originally evaluated countrywide as enchanting and widely used.

Torihama Kaizuka, a Shell-mound site from the beginning of the Jomon Period (13,000 – 10,000 years ago) is located at the junction of Has River and Takase River, which pours into Wakasa Mikata Lake. This museum, near the site, reproduces the waterfront scene during those ancient times.
Visitors can watch a video that reveals the environmental archaeology that surveyed Lake Mikata and Torihama Kaizuka, the positioning of the Jomon period in world history, and the necessity of the world view of the Jomon, in the global environment.

The Ishishima family sought to develop the Kambara plain, centering on the land reclamation of Fukushimagata, lagoon. They finally became one of the leading great landowners in Niigata prefecture and a leading wealthy farmer in Hokuetsu region (Niigata and Toyama). Ishishima Tei has a site of over 8,000 tsubo (26,446 m2) and a building area of over 6,000 tsubo (19,834 m2). Most of the building is a typical residential building from the beginning of the Meiji period (1868 – 1912).
Seigetu-en, a Japanese style garden, with a path around a central pond, surrounds the buildings. The garden has some monuments, inscribed with a poem, at spots, reflecting each of the four seasons. Those 12 buildings, including the front gate, the main entrance, Kogetsu-kaku, a reception hall (no longer exists), Nanzan-tei, a former residence house, Shorai-an, a tea room, Suigetu-an, a tea room, and Sekyo-sho, a monk’s preaching place, were designated as Niigata Prefecture cultural property in March 1962.

Kenryu gorge is located at the northern end of the Gozu prefectural natural park. It is easily accessible from the city. Giant stone rocks and clear streams are there and cedar trees and broad-leaved trees spread out. You can feel that the original landscape of Japan still remains.
Moreover, You can feel the “Suishin, Transparent Mind”in indian ink ,which came from Huainanzi, the ancient Chinese encyclopedia of the Former Han dynasty (BC206-8).You can also feel Yaichi Aizu’s belief that academic knowledge and insight should be nurtured, cultivated, and infiltrated, naturally.

This museum opened the Ito family’s residence as a museum, and exhibits the collection of 6,300 items, which had been collected by the successive heads of the Ito family.
Representative works of art include [National important cultural properties] “Seson Yubai Bokuseki,” Zen style calligraphy of Seson Yubai (1290 – 1346), a monk in the Rinzai Zen sect, the poem of plum blossoms, “Ryokan – Shishobyobu,” a folding screen of poetry and calligraphy by Ryokan (1758 – 1831), a monk in the Soto Zen sect, a poet and a calligrapher, “Tosansai Bayo,” a lead, glazed horse-shaped pottery, in the style of the Tan Dynasty (618 – 907), that was mainly made for burial, [National important cultural properties],” a Seated statue of Dainichi Nyorai, the Supreme Buddha of the Cosmos and the central object in Esoteric sects of Buddhism,” “Senmen Maki-e Kazaridana,” a gold lacquered cabinet, with fun-shaped pictures, by Shibata Zeshin (1807 – 1891): a Japanese lacquer painter and print artist, “Kyoho-bina,” Japanese dolls in the style of the Kyoho era (1716 – 1736), representing an imperial couple in richly-layered costume.
In addition, there is a Japanese style garden with a path around a central pond, seen from the large, 100-tatami mat hall, created by Tanaka Taiami (1898 – 1978), a landscaper who came from Kashiwazaki Niigata. It took 5 years to make. Taiami was a genius gardener, known for excavating and reconstructing stone structures of waterfalls and wells in the Ginkakuji temple, Kyoto.
The garden has a beautiful expression every season. A great wisteria trellis at the site is at its best in May and is also popular with many visitors.

Maeda Toshiie (1538 – 1599): the founder of Kaga Domain and Dainagon, the Great Counselor, took a group of craftsmen to Kanazawa to construct the Kanazawajo Castle.
A timber framework method combined pillars, beams, wood girders, and a wood wedge, rather than using iron nails nor bolts. The bearing wall, which combines earthen walls, and Nuki, poles between pillars, is an extremely durable structure that is earthquake resistant.
Traditional techniques are inherited through restoration work, such as Hishi Yagura (a watchtower to observe both the front gate and the rear gate).

The Rice Terrace is in Shiroyonemachi Wajima City Ishikawa Prefecture, with just under 4ha of land and small rice fields, layered up its slope. However, the site has a rich soil and those rice fields use water from the valley, without relying on agricultural chemicals. In 2011, the rice Terrace was listed as Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System, along with Noto’s Sotoyama and Satoumi.
Wajima has been facing and connecting the sea since ancient times. There is also the Wajima Taisai – Wajima Festival, in which the Goddess of Hegurajima Island and the God of Land in Wajima meet with a torch, as a landmark. The festival weaves fire and water to create the purity.

Kikujidou is the Hishida Shunso collection owned by the museum. This motif is an ancient Chinese story, in which a guilty boy was banished to a deep mountain in a remote area. He gained eternal youth from the spirit power of the chrysanthemum and kept the figure of the child for a long time. Hishida Shunso (1874-1911) studied Western painting techniques.
Shunso used the Bossen gaho technique, which doesn’t use contour lines, to construct the picture using a color surface and color spreading. His technique of constructing a picture confronted the traditional technique of Japanese art, and created the effect of spatiality and light on the screen of Japanese paintings. It also expressed the profoundness of the mountain and the fascinating signs of the mountain.

Tajimi City, Gifu Prefecture, is a production area of Mino ware. This museum exhibits the millennial flow of the Mino ware, with the characteristics of the era. In the center of its courtyard, there is an installation of objects that are harmonious with bamboo — flexible and consistent.
This museum systematically introduces Kizeto Ware, Chawan (tea bowl), Setoguro Ware, Chawan (tea bowl), Shino Ware, and Orive Ware, which developed as Momoyama pottery over the years. The works span several eras, including the Tensho era (1573 – 1592), the Bunroku era (1592 – 1596) and the Keicho era (1596 – 1615) in the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1573 – 1603), and the Genna era (1615 – 1624) in the Edo period (1603 – 1868).
You can experience the potteries of the Azuchi-Momoyama period and encounter Mino ware.

This town was developed as a castle town of Takayamajo Castle by the Kanamori family, which was a family of Kanamori Sowa (1584 – 1657), a master of the tea ceremony and garden designer. Its townscape was made by a group of artisans and craftsmen in Hida.
This Old townscape of Hida Takayama, consists of three streets of Kamimachi and Shimomachi, where irrigation channels run under the eaves, and Degoshi, projecting lattice, continue.
Sugitama, balls made from leaves tips of Japanese cedar, traditionally hung in the eaves of sake breweries, announcing the arrival of a new brew of Sake. And Odo, front door, which remains in the traditional townhouse in Japan, tells the history of the town’s transformation from a Shogun demesne to A merchant town.

Shibatajo Castle, was also called Ayame(Iris) Castle, because its grounds were damp and many irises bloomed. The castle is a symbol of Shibata, a castle town. The statue of Horibe Yasube (1670 – 1703), stands at the front gate. Yasube was a samurai, born at Shibata Domain, Niigata and was a hero of Chushingura, theTreasury of Loyal Retainers.
And this nearby park is one of the four major Ayame gardens in Japan. 600,000 Irises across 300 species are in full bloom, in mid-June You can enjoy the early summer by looking over at the Garden spread in front of you and walking the promenade along the pond. Absolutely wonderful!

A Tea bowl, of which the lower half is blackish brown both inside and outside, with white glaze, resembles a snow-capped Mt. Fuji. It is the beauty of Japan to reminisce. This museum, overlooking Lake Suwa, possesses about 1400 items, a set of tea things, antique calligraphies and painting, and modern Western paintings, including White Raku Chawan, a hand-moulded earthenware tea bowl, named Fujisan, Mt. Fuji, which Hon’ami Kouetsu (1558 – 1637), a Japanese craftsman, potter, lacquerer, calligrapher and a founder of the Rinpa school of painting, gave to his daughter in her marriage.
You can enjoy the magnificent scenery of the four seasons, with Lake Suwa in front of this museum, including Omiwatari, a phenomenon on Lake Suwa, where ice cracks in large sections, called “the path of God crossing,” for the visiting Goddess who crosses the lake from a legend.

Obuse has a settlement from the ancient Yayoi period (the 4th BC – 3rd century). It prospered as the center of Kita Shinano, Nagano, during the Edo period (1603 – 1868). This was where Katsushika Hokusai (1760 – 1849): a Japanese artist of Ukiyo-e painting and woodblock printing, tried to culminate his 70 years of painting, at the end of the Edo period (1603 – 1868). Hokusai left two festival stage cars of Higashimachi, and Kanmachi, Obuse, and a ceiling painting of Gansho-in, Temple, under the patronage of a wealthy merchant.
The museum possesses and exhibits the festival stage cars and original paintings of Hokusai. The power of the ceiling painting in the cars and the vivid blue of the waves convey Hokusai’s endless passion.

The museum possesses and exhibits prints, three-dimensional works by Kusama Yayoi (1929 -), a Japanese contemporary artist who came from Matsumoto City and is nicknamed “The Queen of Avant-garde.” Also featured is calligraphy by Kamijo Shinzan (1907 – 1997).
The museum also has the collection of Ikegami Hyakuchiku-tei, a Tea Ceremony Room with a tea garden, and literary materials, paintings and crafts, related to Masaoka Shiki (1867 – 1902), a Japanese poet, author and literary critic, and his pupils.
This museum conveys the innocent sensitivity of the Matsumoto people, who were influenced by Shiki’s innovation of Haiku, a Japanese poem of seventeen syllables.

This bridge over the limpid stream of the Narai River, originated from Mt. Kiso Komagatake. It is a symbol of a dream in a new era, conceived of during the Heisei period (1989 – 2019). It is a beautiful all-cypress Taikobashi, an arched bridge with no stanchions, which connects the “Michino-eki, roadside station Narai” and the vast grassy waterside park.
It represents the history of Narai which was the mid post town on the Nakasendo, the route connecting Kyoto and Edo in the Edo period (1603 – 1868). It is where the woodwork of Magemono, a round-shaped Japanese box made of thin strips of wood, comb and lacquer ware, thrived.
This bridge (as a big Magemono) is lit up after sunset from early April to early November.

The museum possesses approximately 1600 items, mainly sets of tea things, including works by Senke jyushoku, the ten-craftsman family for the head of Sen tea ceremony school. This museum always exhibits one hundred and a dozen items from them. You should see Tamanushi-no-Zushi, the Beelte Wing Shrine, (a miniature shrine) in the Heisei period (1989 – 2019) by craftsmen in Takayama Gifu.
It was a reproduced work of Tamanushi-no-Zushi, possessed by Horyuji Temple in Nara, which is a National Treasure from the Asuka period (550 -710).You can touch the genealogy of authentic beauty and handed down skill. In the adjacent tea-ceremony room, you can experience a full-blown tea ceremony, with masterpiece bowls of a living national treasure and craftsmanship.

This Observatory, constructed around Mt. Tomo (48m), overlooks the Rias coast of Ago Bay and has truly scenic and majestic views of the sea of Shima. Shima province was independent of Ise province, from the late 7th Century to the early 8th Century.
In the Manyoshu anthology of Japanese poetry in the 8th Century, Shima province emerged as a source of rich sea food for the Emperor. You can feel the richness of Shima province here.

Matsuo Basho (1644 – 1694), the most famous poet of the Edo period, wrote a poem in the 4 days before his death at Osaka Minami-Mido Mae Hanaya (at the lodging of Hanaya Nizaemon, in the front of Minami-Mido: Nanba Betsuin Temple, Okasaka). The poem, “Konomichiya Yukuhitonahini Akino Kure, A streak of roads leading no one to go beyond, in autumn dusk”.
This museum has a Basho introduction section, which displays his timeline, the chronological table of his four visits to Ogaki, and materials of the circle of Tani Bokuin (1646 – 1725), a shipping agency and trader, and the poet related to Basho. And the journey of Oku no hosomichi, the Narrow Road to the Deep North, the major texts of poems and essays as a travel journal by Matsuo Basho, is restored, too.
If Basho made his last poem in Funamachi Ogaki which was his favorite place, he might have changed it to something like “Hitogoe ya Konomichi Kaeru Akino Kure —People walk down the street and hear a babble, in autumn dusk”.

This museum collects the works of artists related to Gifu, who left important footprints in the history of modern Japanese art, such as Kawai Gyokudo (1873 – 1957) and Yamamoto Hosui 1850 – 1906) a Japanese artist, and teacher to introduce the French style of the Barbizon school in Japan.
A young hawk perched on Oimatsu, an old pine tree, was painted with the soft light of glory, in the pair of 6 folding screens. The old pine tree symbolizes longevity and the hawk symbolizes nobility, drawn with ink-lined on the gold base.
Gyokudo was born in Aichi and grew up in Gifu, who studied and worked together Kono Bairei (1844 – 1895), a Japanese painter and art teacher, who established Kyoto-fu Gagakko, Kyoto Prefectural School of Painting, the future Kyoto City University of Arts, and learned and followed Hashimoto Gaho (1835 – 1908), a Japanese painter who created many works in the traditional style of the Kanou school, and Okakura Kakuzo Tenshin (1862 – 1913), a Japanese scholar, contributed to the development of Arts in Japan and is the author of The Book of Tea.

This museum is in the nature and beautiful mountain scenery and in the sites associated with the To family, including Shinowakijo Castle and the garden on the ruins of their family residence.
The power of Waka, Japanese poetry, was guided by Ki no Tsurayuki (872? – 945) author, poet and courtier, in the Heian period (794 – 1185). Kokin denju, the interpretation of Kokin Waka shu, an Imperial anthology in the 10th century, conveyed the secret principles, and was established in the Muromachi Period (1366 – 1573), by To Tsunenori.
He was a samurai, the descendants of Fujiwara Teika (1162 – 1241) a famous Japanese poet, and the greatest master of the Waka, Japanese poetry. Tsunenori was the lord of Shinowakijo Castle. When he was away from the castle, he lost it. He got back his castle by sending 10 Wakas, Japanese Waka poetry, to his enemy.
The power of Waka, was “Move the sky and the earth without force”. These sites tell the history of that power.

The Gassho Style Houses: a house with a steep rafter roof, of Shirakawa-go consists of two structures: the house framework and the roof frame. The house framework, including pillars, girders, beams etc, are handcrafted by groups of craftsmen, such as the Ookubo carpenters of the Kaga Domain and the Hida craftworkers.
The roof frame was handled by Shirakawago villagers. The steep sloping roof let the snow to fall easily off, and the dual structure escapes the force hit by the wind and the earthquake. The roof gable surface of the triangle turns aside the valley wind.
Pearls of wisdom are alive now, even after 400 years.

In the Heian period, Mino paper was popular in the capital for transcribing sutras. It was highly sought after. In the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, the First Tokugawa shougun, Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543 – 1616), ordered the paper for the army command at Hikozaemon in Mino City Mitarai.
After the victory, the Hikozaemons’were called “honorific paper makers”, and Mino paper became the Shogunate paper. This museum introduces the history of Mino paper, and handed down recipes in an easy-to-understand manner, and gives the experience of paper making, too.

This museum has been renovated from the Kuruwamachi Building of Ogaki Kyoritsu Bank, and holds only special exhibitions, every two months. It has over 3,300 works and materials by Moriya Tadashi (1912 – 2003), (No permanent exhibition). Moriya studied Yamato-e, Classical Japanese decorative paintings under Maeda Seison (1885 – 1977), a Japanese painter.
And then he studied abroad in Italy. He drew magnificently and gracefully from the masters, including Matsuo Basho (1644 – 1694), the most famous poet of the Edo period, to people in the Meiji period (1868 – 1912), and the Taisho period (1912 – 1926).
Maeda created his own historical interpretation and composition with perspective, from dynastic-style literature and the world of Haiku, Japanese poem of seventeen syllables.

Oku no hosomichi: the Narrow Road to the Deep North, the major texts of poems and essays as a travel journal by Matsuo Basho (1644 – 1694), the most famous poet of the Edo period, ended at the place of Ogaki. Funamachi Harbor in Ogaki, which Basho visited four times, was the river port of the Canal of the Suimongawa River.
This canal was an outer moat of Ogakijo Castle, and a shipping canal which connected Ogakijo castle town and Kuwanajuku Post Town on the road to the Ise Province Mie, through the Ibi River. This canal transported people and goods between Oagaki and Ise in the Edo period (1603 – 1868), and the Meiji period (1868 – 1912).
The Sumiyoshi Lighthouse at Funamachi Harbor was built in the the Genroku era in the Edo period (1688 – 1704). The end of Basho’s journey was Ise, which was always a place of the elegance of poetic unconventionality, through his thoughts. The Lighthouse still illuminates the aspiration of the journey to Ise.

Mt. Daisen, the highest peak in the Chugoku district, is also known as “Houki Fuji.” Its northern wall is rugged. It has a 2km long folding screen-type rocky skin, formed by small explosion. Mt. Daisen was recorded Ookaminodake (Great God Mountain), and Honokamidake (Fire God Mountain) at Izumonokuni Fudoki, the Topography of Izumo Province in the Nara period (710 – 794) and had been respected here.
Shouji Ueda (1913-2000) was a photographer born in Sakaiminato, Tottori Prefecture. He did not leave Sakaiminato City, but his photographs arranged people and objects, with the background of the San-in sky, the horizon, and sand dunes. Like Izumonokuni Fudoki, you can experience the Topography of Izumo Province in the Nara Period, from his art.

The Dutch East India Company robbed Oriental trade from Portugal in conjunction with missionary work. Imari wares and Keitokuchin, Jingdezhen porcelain, pulled up from the sunken merchant ship of the Dutch East India Company, remained unfaded, hundreds of year later. With this in mind, Fine Art Ceramic Tile has been developed, made from the white sand of Naruto, for construction materials.
Kuroshio, the Japan Current, goes north and divides at the Bungo Channel and at the Kii Channel. It meets again in Naruto Tokushima and creates a whirlpool. You can experience closely the dynamic whirlpool that creates white sand, via Whirlpool sightseeing boats.

Ryugenji Mabu is a Main Gallery that developed in the middle of the Edo period (1603 – 1868) and was managed directly by Daikansho, the magistrate’s office. 157m of its 600m space is open to the public.
The traces of chisel remains are original. Iwami Silver Mine had completed its history before the modern mining method began in the Meiji period (1868 – 1912).
You can see the early modern mining method, which was the History of Sustainable development. That is exactly the value of World Heritage.

Mitoko Bay is a jewel of the southern Sea, which is in the middle of Muroto-Anan Kaigan Quasi-National Park. Strangely shaped rocks are scattered on the Rias coast, and the islands rise up from the sea, appearing as if they connect to Ryugu Castle, the dragon palace.
Takegashima Island is a green island connected by a bridge, and there is an underwater park designated by the Minister of the Environment, off the shore of the island. There are twenty-one types of coral, such as poritdae, and colorful tropical fish, such as damselfish (Chromis notata), clowfish (anemone fish), and estripey (Microcanthus strigatus).

This museum was built to blend in with the beautiful scenery of the Shinji Lake, to harmonize with the water. It exhibits domestic and foreign paintings, crafts, photographs, and sculptures, etc. Fujinayaki Seto-utsushi Mizusashi, a pitcher of pottery for a Japanese Tea Ceremony – A gracious figure, with a natural look, fully covered in brown glaze. It is the work from a kiln of the Domain by Matsudaira Harusato Fumai (1751 – 1818), the 7th lord of the Matsue Domain. “A generously sophisticated beauty.”
This museum remains open 30 minutes after the sunset, from March to September, so that you can enjoy the sunset on the Shinji Lake, which was selected as one of the 100 Most Famous Sunsets in Japan.

At Okayamajo Castle, Ujyou colored pich-dark and cranes are the symbol of Okayama Korakuen Garden. Cranes Village, Tsurunosato is located in the northwest Bichuu Kokubunji temple: (Kokubunji, state-supported provincial temple in the 8th century), in a green hilly area. Its purpose is to protect and breed cranes.
There are two large and small artificial ponds, a village house (administrative building), a learning house (training building), and a breeding cage in the site of about 3 ha. They perform artificial hatchings, with eggs received from Okayama Korakuen Garden. Cranes grow in the environment.

Takagai no Ishitsumi is about 3 km by foot from an Open-air museum. Misato Hotaru Museum, the firefly museum, has stonework selected as a Cultural landscape by the Agency for Cultural Affairs.
The stonework was piled up to stabilize and preserve steep farmland, for more than 300 years. It could not have been created at once. Even if it was mechanically piled, it could not have lasted for 300 years.
The stonework is lit up and its emergence awakens us to the truth.

This museum is designed by Ando Tadao (1941 -), a Japanese architect. It is on a hill with a view of the Seto Inland Sea. It has a structure that integrates the nature of the island into the museum’s interior.
Some of the works created by inviting artists to the island are exhibited in the indoor space, while others works are installed on the beach and in the forest.
Those are permanently exhibited as ” Site-specific art works” only on Naoshima Island.

This world heritage site shows the early modern construction method, before modern mining methods were introduced to Japan during the Meiji period (1868 – 1912), as it was. This history of mining methods show its relationship and coexistence with nature. This is why the site is listed as world heritage.
You can experience making metal currency and Chougin, silver coins shaped like a sea cucumber, during the Age of Provincial Wars in the 15th – 16th centuries and the Edo period (1603 – 1868). Chougin used to be made with silver melted from the Iwami silver mine, too. The making those trial uses low fusion gold (alloy of tin and bismuth) and plastic board there.

This shrine was moved to the place near Silver Mine, from Mt. Kigamiyama (411m) to pray for the prosperity of Iwami Silver Mine. It was moved in 1434 by the Ouchi clan, one of the most powerful feudal lords of the Ashikaga shogunate during the 12th – 14th centuries.
This shrine was moved to the current location in 1577 by the Mouri clan, one of the most powerful feudal lords of the Tokugawa shogunate in the 17th – 19th centuries. The smooth ceiling of this worship hall has the painting of a dragon to protect from flood damage. The whole ceiling has rich colors.
This painting is said to have been painted in 1818 by Kajitani Enrinsai Moriyasu, a painter at the foot of Mt. Sanbesan (1126m). Its remaining vivid colors tells the history of good repair work.

The bridge connecting Iwakunijo Castle and the castle town used to be frequently washed away by the flooding of the Nishikigawa River. Dokuryu Shoeki (1596 – 1672) was a Zen monk of the Obaku sect in China, and became a naturalized monk. He guided the lord of Iwakuni Domain about the six arched bridges that spanned the islands of Sai Lake, Sung China.
On accumulating this wisdom and effort, the basic concept of this bridge came out. That was – the sub-structure of the wooden arch bridge was strengthened with stone walls, and the arch bridge was designed to be curved to make uniform the mass density at its vertexes. Then, the bridge has been replaced every 20 years.

Nozaki Buzaemon (1789 – 1864) was a Japanese merchant who developed the salt field at Kojima, facing the Seto Inland Sea. He became the King of Salt Lord by Irihamashiki, a salt field that produced salt to draw in Sea Water with tidal variation, and to dry it. Buzaemon had built Omote Shoin, reception hall, Nagaya-mon, gate and house of security, and Onari-mon, gate for important persons, since 1833, at his residence, which was modeled after Daimyo Yashiki, the residence of Japanese feudal lords, and were valuable cultural properties.
There are three hermitages and five tea-ceremony rooms with the garden on the 1 hectare site. The garden was made in the image of Daimyo Teien, gardens of Japanese feudal lords. This was Shogun demesne, where any feudal lord was not local.

This is a historical museum that displays the life and activities of German soldiers at the Bando prisoner-of-war camp (1917 – 1918) during World War I. The German soldiers engaged in activities such as interacting with local people and the first performance in Japan of the Symphony No.9, by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827), a German composer of instrumental music and a pianist.
And they built a good relationship of mutual respect between Japanese and Germans. It is a historical museum where you can encounter a warm-hearted history.

Misato is designated as a national natural monument to “fireflies and their origins.” It is a fount of innocence of inspiration. This museum is the entrance to Misato, which is the Open-air museum. River fish are bred here, such as Nagare Lefua echigonia, forktail bullhead – species of catfish, dark chub, Zacco platypus, and rhinogobius flumineus.
The museum introduces the naturally-breeding ecology of fireflies and the river of fireflies. Fireflies do not shine alone and are a symbol of natural links.

The park has the sand picture of Kanei Tsuho, copper coin from the Edo period (1603 – 1868), in 122m east-west, 90m north-south and 345m in circumference, which is famous in Japan through TV historical drama. The picture shows the beauty of Ariakehama Beach and pine, as Hakusa Seisho: a beautiful stretch of sandy seashore dotted with pine trees.
You can see the entire stretch from the summit of Mt. Kotohikiyama, in this park of about 38.6ha in size. You can also see the Chugoku Mountains, where Mt. Kotobikisan stands. In mythology, Okunushi no Mikoto: the deity of magic and medicine, and originally the ruler of Izumo Province, Shimane, was enshrined at Izumo Grand Shrine at Mt. Kotobikisan. Okunushi no Mikoto dedicated Koto (a Japanese harp).

This museum is located on the site of Tottorijo Castle, at Kyusho Yamashita, Tottori City. It introduces art works of painters associated with Tottori Domain, which were created in the nature of Tottori and the nature of the region such as Tottori sand dunes.
The beautiful wind patterns on the sand are created with weak wind, flow to the Sea of Japan and returned to the land by the wave, in Tottori sand dunes. This museum conveys the value of preserving as much as possible the fount of innocence that causes the impression to be awakened to the truth.

In 105AD, the bast paper making technique was established in China. It was introduced in Japan during 704-717, by Kakimoto Hitomaro (660 – 724), a poet and central bureaucrat. The Masuda family, descendants of Hitomaro, had governed this Sekishu Province Shimane, which produced fine, durable Japanese paper, using high quality mulberry.
Sekishu paper was shipped to Osaka during the Edo period (1603 – 1868). It was very popular among merchants, who used the paper for their accounting books, in part, because the paper could be thrown into a well, in case of fire!
You can experience traditional paper making at this house.

World Heritage Site, this shrine at Miyajima Island was founded in the 6th century and remodeled in the 12th century, like a pier over the water, by Taira no Kiyomori (1118 – 1181), a head of Taira clan who established the first samurai dominated administrative government in Japan.
The Momijidani Park spreads along the Momijidani river on the mountain side of Itsukushima Shrine. The Park began with Momiji plants, Maple seedlings during the Edo period (1603 – 1868).
This park was swallowed by debris flow in the Makurazaki Typhoon in 1945. Disaster restoration lasted two years. Stones were used in their natural form, trees were not cut, and the concrete face was wrapped, not to touch the eyes.
This beautiful park is considered a well to safety and the natural environment.

You can enjoy 360 degree panoramic views at Yatakayama Park at an altitude of 654m. Mt. Yatakayama was made 2.5 million years ago, and the rocks were hard and could have survived many years of encroachment.
You can see Mt. Gagyusan (about 480m) and Bicchu Matsuyamajo Castle from the top of the mountain. Bicchu Matsuyamajo Castle is the highest mountain castle to have a castle tower in Japan. This castle was renovated and reconstructed by Kobori Enshu (1579 – 1647), a feudal lord, a master of the tea ceremony, an architect and garden designer, and his son.
The greatest image is seeing Enshua’s fine castle, floating in the early morning sea of clouds.

This museum is located between the Yoshino River and the Iya River, which is the Miyoshi City Important Tangible Cultural Property and introduces Horikawa Naiki. When the Taira clan exiled from the Capital of Kyoto, he escaped to Yashima Kagawa, with Emperor Antoku (1178 – 1185).
After the Downfall of the Taira clan, he entered the mountains of Iya with fugitives. The mother of Emperor Antoku was Kenreimon-in Tokuko (1155 – 1213), Empress of Emperor Takakura (1161 – 1181), and the daughter of Taira no Kiyomori (1118 – 1181), a head of the Taira clan, who established the first samurai dominated administrative government in Japan.
The Taira clan helped Emperor Antoku assume the throne. Naiki had served Emperor Antoku as the imperial court doctor, at the Imperial Palace.
The fact that they could have overcome the rough natural environment, which was completely different from the refined environment of the court, depended on his supple insights.
-This museum is currently run by the Nishioka family, which is the successive family of Naiki

Takamatsujo Castle, was built by Ikoma Chikamasa,(1526 – 1603) a feudal lord, in the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1573 – 1603). It was a Mizushiro, a castle on the marshland, for defensive reasons. It faced the sea of Sanuki, which was written about in the Manyoshu, 8th century anthology of Japanese poetry, with Tamamoyoshi, the lead phrase of Sanuki Province famed in poetry. This castle had inner, middle and outer moats to draw-in Sea water.
This castle was succeeded by Matsudaira Yorishige (1622 – 1695), a feudal lord, the son of the first lord of the Mito Domain, the elder brother of Tokugawa Mitsukuni. He was the grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543 – 1616), the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate and took the supervisory service to the Chugoku region and the Shikoku region, for the Tokugawa Shogunate. And this castle tower was converted into Nanban-style, in which the top floor overhung the lower floor.
The Investigation for the restoration of this castle tower is progressing now!

In the Heian period (794 – 1185), Sugawara no Michizane (845 – 903), a scholar, poet, Udaijin, the Junior Mister of Stage, and revered as the god of learning, stopped in Hofu on the way from Kyoto to the Dazaifu government office with jurisdiction over Kyushu. Hofu was an important position of sea transportation in the Seto Inland Sea, where the father of Sei Shonagon (966 – 1017), a Japanese author, poet and a court lady, who served the Empress Teishi (977 – 1001), used to be the provincial governor.
In the middle of the Edo period (1603 – 1868), Hofu prospered as one of Japan’s foremost salt production districts, and its port, Mitajiri Minato, prospered as a salt shipment port, and as a port of call of Kitamae-bune, cargo ships that sailed the Japanese Sea in early modern times.
In the end of the Edo period, the Navy office of Chofu Domain was established here. Takasugi Shinsaku (1839 – 1867), a samurai from Choshu Domain of Japan who contributed significantly to the Meiji Restoration, took over the warship of the Domain here and transformed the history of Japan.

This museum possesses and exhibits fixtures such as the painting on the sliding partitions from Fukuyamajo Castle, and works by artists related to Fukuyama, Fuchu and Seto Inland Sea.
Kanashima Keika (1892 – 1974), a Japanese painter, came from Hiroshima. Keika learned from Takeuchi Seiho (1864 – 1942) in the Shijo school of Japanese painting, in 1911, who inherited the sketching style of Maruyama Okyo (1733 – 1795) a painter and the founder of the Maruyama school of painting.
He also learned the Intai style, Chinese courtyard style. He created good paintings of flowers and birds in the sketching style and added Intai, which are massive. “Gyoshin Danto”. This work shows his charm through high realism and flowing decorativeness.

This museum does not hold permanent exhibitions, but holds temporary exhibitions that showcase its collections under its own theme four or five times a year, and special exhibitions that introduce the excellent collections of other museums once or twice a year.
This museum introduces the calligraphies, painting by Ikeda Tsugumasa (1702 – 1776), who was the 3rd lord of the Okayama Domain and his belongings, and his Dogu, belongings. Tsugumasa ruled the domain for 38 years, and was a wise ruler, who became the feudal lord from his adopted family. Japanese are awe-inspired by nature.
Tsugumasa, who was a Bunjin Daimyo, a feudal lord of a literary school, had cultivated his Kokorono Keikan, visionary mind, during his fateful tour, much like Tsukimi, viewing the moon over the artificial hill of Okayama Korakuen, one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan, along with Kenroku-en, and Kairaku-en.

This castle was built in 1602 by Todo Takatora (1556 – 1630), a feudal lord and excellent castle designer, as a water castle to be entered by boat directly from the sea to the moat. This castle is on a beach hill, with a moat with three ditches.
This castle has the scaffolding named Inubashiri, a narrow and long path between the moat and stone wall which was made for the improvement of soft ground. This castle was designed to reveal the mastery of Seto Inland Sea and to build the wealth, rather than its defense.
It is now illuminated by lighting designer, Mr. Kaito Haruki.

This castle is an elegant castle that melted into the scene of the sea and mountains, which was built in 1601 by Todo Takatora (1556 – 1630), a feudal lord and excellent castle designer. This was the castle of the feudal lord of the 9th generation of the Date family since 1615, which is the only sea castle among the existing 12 castle towers in Japan.　
Date Hidemune (1591 – 1658), moved to this castle in 1615 and became the 1st lord of Uwajima domain, who was the eldest son of Date Masamune (1567 – 1636), Japanese feudal lord, the founder and the first lord of Sendai Domain. Since 1615, this had been the castle of the feudal lord of the Date clan in the west Japan.
This was also the castle of Date Munetada (1792 – 1889), the 7th castle lord of Uwajima domain, who reformed the administration of Uwajima Domains, against its financial deterioration.
He also suggested the opening of diplomatic relations to the Tokugawa shognate, upon the arrival of Matthew C. Perry (1794 – 1858), a Commodore of the United Sates Navy, who played a leading role in the opening of Japan, in 1853.

The museum opened in March 2017 at the foot of Kochijo Castle. It possesses and exhibits about 67,000 items, including national treasures and important cultural property, centered around the valuable materials of the Yamanouchi family, the lord of the Tosa Domain, such as historical materials related to the Tosa Domaine clan and Kochi Prefecture, gorgeous arms and armor, and furnishings of Daimyo, Japanese feudal lords, and many arts and crafts.
The wife of Yamanouchi Kazutoyo (1545/1546 – 1605), a feudal lord, first lord of Tosa Domaine, is Chiyo, whose parents’ home was Gujyo Hachiman Mino Province, Gifu. Her family served To Tsunenori, the warrior, the descendants of Fujiwara Teika (1162 – 1241) a famous Japanese poet, the greatest master of the waka, Japanese poem, who took care of Kokin denju, the initiation about interpretation of Kokin Waka shu, the Imperial anthology in the 10th century.
And Tosa Domaine also has a relationship with the greatest master of the waka, Ki no Tsurayuki (872? – 945) Japanese author, poet and courtier of the Heian period, who wrote Tosa Diary, a poetic diary in the 10th century.

This museum introduces the history of Bizen ware, the ware that is said that has become Sueki, which is one of Rokkoyo, the six oldest kilns in Japan. This museum exhibits the bowl of Umiagari, Ko Bizen ware pulled up from a ship sunk in the Seto Inland Sea, which is an object of envy for dilettantes. It spent a long time in the mud on the bottom of the sea, which combines the mystery and freedom in the beauty of the tasteful, porcelain surface.
In addition, this museum exhibits refractory brick, which has been a core industry of Bizen City since the Meiji period (1868 – 1912), and introduce the materials of Shibata Renzaburo (1917 – 1978), a Japanese author and sinologist, associated with this city.
– Shibata Renzaburo wrote the Novel “Nemuri Kyoshiro”: Kyoshiro is an outlaw swordsman who combined mystery and freedom in the beauty.

In 8th Century, Fujiwara Fuhito (659-720) was appointed to Udaijin, Junior Minister, the first time a Fujiwara family member held this position. Until this time, the Imbe family, which used to be a rival of the Fujiwara family, presided over the religious rites in the Imperial court and began plantations around the nearby Yoshino River basin.
The Imbe family deified their ancestral gods. They used Shiranigite, a ritual offering, made from mulberry paper and cotton. Awagami, Japanese traditional handmade paper, came from this ritual offering cloth from this Imperial court, 1300 years ago. You can experience paper making here, too.

This museum exhibits Saijo City historical materials and provides an opportunity for breeding and observing horseshoe crabs, which have remained unchanged for more than 200 million years. They are known as the live fossil.
The endangered horseshoe crab had inhabited many areas from the Seto Inland Sea to the northern coast of Kyushu Island before the high economic growth days of post-World War II, which was a symbol of the conservation of fishing zones and the natural environment.
This museum’s breeding is for the Kawarazu Coast, where the horseshoe crab is likely to revive.

This was the residence of Shoya, a village headman, in the Tenjin district of the former Sogawamura Village, Seiyo City. It was a post station on a main road between Iyo Province Ehime and Tosa Province Kochi. It was built in 1827, in the latter part of the Edo period (1603 – 1868).
It is the largest and the oldest Kyabuki Minka, thatched house, on Shikoku Island. It is a valuable historical heritage which stands in the background of a hundred-year-old forest surrounding a residence, using a wooden framework structure method.
This heritage tells something about the Doi family who had served as Shoya, over 10 generations here.

The castle was built on a beautiful hill of Japanese red pine trees after the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. There is a garden that expresses its beauty with running water and vegetation in the Ninomaru, the Palace that served as the residence of the Matsuyama Castle Lord. There is a garden of citrus and plants at the site of Omote Goten, the Palace of public use and there is a flowing water garden at the site of Ura Goten, the Palace of private use.
A balloon flower blooms from July to August, and a crepe myrtle blooms from August to September. This place is a source of innocence which a hometown artist, Sugiura Hisui (1876 – 1965), graphic designer, a pioneer of modern Japanese graphic design, had conveyed through Art Nouveau designs.

This suspension bridge with a length of 45 m and a width of 2 m made of a spontaneous vine, Shirakuchikazura, crosses over the canyon of the Iya River, which flows into the Yoshino River in Tokushima Prefecture. This bridge is changed every three years. It used to be the only access over the deep canyon into this mountainous area. You can see the water surface 14 m below, between logs.
After Heike’s destruction, the Heike (Taira) clan escaped to the secluded mountain villages in Iya with Horikawa Niiki, a doctor who served Emperor Antoku (1178 – 1185). You can feel on this bridge that the insight of Horikawa to preserve Heike clan was flexible with resolution.

The rest station, Enju-tei remains at this park, which was arranged as the exclusive pleasure-garden for the Goto family, the chamberlain of the Tosa Domain, at the end of the Edo period (1603 – 1868).
A lot of azaleas bloom around Bentenike Pond, created as a reservoir, from spring to early summer, and a festival is held. Enju-tei and azaleas appear as the remnant of the elegance of poetic unconventionality, by the Goto family, who had supported their lord, the Yamanouchi family, since the Age of the Provincial Wars in the 15th – 16th centuries.
The pottery of Uchinohara also remains near this park, which was established by the lord of this place, the Goto family.

The museum is in the building reproduced in the shape of a castle on the site of Nakamurajo Castle, second bailey in the Tamematu Park. It was the castle of the feudal lord of Yamauchi Yasutoyo (1549 – 1625), the younger brother of Yamanouchi Kazutoyo (1545/1546 – 1605), the first lord of the Tosa Domaine. This museum introduces the local life on the Shimanto River and its tributaries, and the history of the town called Kyoto in Tosa Province, and exhibits valuable materials such as arts and crafts. You can see the city from the observation room on the 6th floor.
In addition, this museum possesses Shichiseiken, Seven Stars Sword – a sword with a gold inlay of clouds and seven stars forming the Great Bear constellation. It was once owned owned by Ikkujinja Shrine at Masaki Shimanto City, and is unknown about the genesis and the historical trail.
– It is said that the Shichiseiken, Seven Stars Sword inlaid pattern on the front and back representing the Great Bear constellation, was the guardian sword of the Prince Shotoku (574 – 622). And the Shichiseiken possessed by Shitennoji temple Osaka, is a National Treasure. Other existing Shichiseiken are a single-edged sword, but this Shichiseiken is a double-edged sword.

The drought had hit Asakura in 1662, where the original landscape of Japan spreads. There were someone heading for the terrible Chikugo River, which was the cause of the flooding. Life and death depended on the grade of Sansun-shibu, (19 degrees). The angle created by this gradient, enabled water wheels to pump the water without waste and moistened the fields.
This triple Water Wheel group has been activated from mid-June to mid-October for over 200 years. The glory of courage and invention does not fade.

This castle is the sea castle built by Ootomo Sorin (1530 – 1587) a feudal lord who converted to Roman Catholicism in 1556. This castle was the headquarters of Ootomo Sorin to prepare for the invasion of the Mouri clan, one of the most powerful feudal lords of the Tokugawa shogunate in the 17th – 19th centuries.
At that time, it was built on Nyujima Island, which had a precipice on all sides and floated along from east to west, in Usuki Bay. After the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, the Inaga clan moved here from Gujyo Hachiman Mino Province, Gifu, and they became the lord of this castle.
After that lordship had continued, this castle met the Meiji era when the Samurai days ended. The Inaba clan served Oda Nobunaga (1534 – 1582), the legendary warlord and the military dictator.
The mother of Inaba Norimichi (1566 – 1626) a feudal lord, the second lord of the Usuki Domain, was daughter of Saito Dosan (1494 – 1556) a feudal lord of the Mino province Gifu, stepfather of Nobunaga. The previous Domaine of the Inaba clan was the place of Kokin denju, the initiation about interpretation of Kokin Waka shu, the Imperial anthology in the 10th century. A family that knew Miyabi, Japanse elegance of Kokin Waka shu, inherited this Domain.

Hita flourished as a Shogun demesne in the Edo period (1603 – 1868). It has the richness of nature, including the famous mineral water from Mt. Gozendake, and was a key transportation point. The purveyors of the Tokugawa Shogunate actively interacted with Kyoto and Edo and gained enormous profits by lending money to each Kyushu Domain. They became economically rich and also offered Yama Hoko, a floata for the Gion Festival.
The streetscape of Mameda Town, lined with stucco-finished houses of merchants, is the aesthetic of the culture of the Keicho era (1596 – 1615), in Kyoto. It fused the beauty of the courtier noble in Kyoto and the samurai clan in Edo in the beginning of the Edo period.

This Aquarium, which is in the front of Beppu bay and behind Mt. Takasaki, has 500 species and 1,500 exhibits of fish and animals. You can experience the breadth of fish and animals in the middle of nature. This Aquarium has the world’s first tidal current migration tank, and, since then, it has continued ecological research.
In the laboratory hall, you can observe the ecological experiments, such as the passing through the circle of the Ishidai, parrot fish, the discharge experiment of electrophorus, and the training of fish.

This castle was built in 1608, after the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, with the demolished material of the impregnable Ngoyajo Castle in Hizen Province, Saga. This Honmaru, the keep of a castle, is at Mt. Mantosan in the northern part of Karatsu City. This castle was built by Terasawa Hirotaka (1563 – 1633) a feudal lord, who was a close aide of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537 – 1598), the powerful feudal lord and Imperial Regent who unified Japan.
Terasawa Hirotaka architected pulling the flow of the Matsuura River, opening the canal to the south side and opening its estuary on the east side for defense and ship transportation.
He also resembled the castle tower as the head of a crane and planted 1 million Japanese black pine trees in the sandbar during Keicho period of 1596 – 1615, which became Nijinomatsubara, a 360-year-old pine forest in Karatsu Saga, with a the width of 400 – 700m and a length of about 4km.

There is a trolley tour over the water source in Minami Aso. When the train enters the Takamori Yusui Tunnel, you will encounter a magical fountain of Water Pearl, the device that turns water into a sphere, via a special sound wave. The water mist flows round, mysteriously, like a pearl.
Aso is a caldera (pan-shaped terrain) created by a large, repeated eruption, approximately 90,000 years ago. Rainwater is stored in the basement of Aso and springs up and becomes the source of life.

The original form of the World Heritage Site, Shuri Castle, was erected here. This was a castle (gusuku) built at the end of the 13th century, and is considered to have been the base of the ruler who controlled Chūzan (central part of the Okinawa Main Island). During the Battle of Okinawa in 1945, the hill where the castle was located was called Maeda Kōchi, but as it was used as a Japanese army fortification, fierce battles were fought and the remaining stone castle walls were lost.
At the “Urasoe gusuku Youdorekan(Guidance)”,a full scale reproduction of the interior of the West Crypt of Urasoe Youdore( tomb of a king) are exhibited.

The water in Kikuchi River, from Mt. Aso, is famous as one of 100 Exquisite and Well-Conserved Waters. The embankment of the Kikuchi River is also famous for its row of wax trees.
It was said that the beginning of the row of wax trees came from the suggestion by Oishi Kuranosuke (1659 – 1703), the chamberlain of the Ako Domain in Harima Province and a leader of the Chushingura. Kuranosuke guided that the quality wax from cultivation of wax trees was profitable.
After that, wax making became the main policy at the Horeki Reform, the reform of Domain in Horeki era (1751 – 1764), in the southwestern Domains, which reconstructed finance of the Hosokawa Domain.
The rice shipped down the Kikuchi River from Takase Okura, a rice storehouse in the Edo period, was called Takase Mai, the rice of Takase, which became the base market price for rice.

This museum is the first public art museum in Miyazaki Prefecture, which collects and introduces works of art associated with Miyakonojo. Yamauchi Tamon (1878 – 1932), was a landscape painter, who symbolized painting from the late Meiji period (1868 – 1912), to the beginning of the Showa period (1926 – 1989). This work was painted after Tamon visited Korea to research the details of steep rock formations.
Tamon studied under NaKanou Nankei, a painter of the Kanou School, in Miyakonojo. Later he went to Kyoto to study with the master of the Shijo school, Kawai Gyokudo (1873 – 1957), and the authority of the Kanou school, Hashimoto Gaho (1835 – 1908). Finally, he was highly evaluated in Tokyo by Okakura Kakuzo Tenshin (1862 – 1913), Japanese scholar who contributed to the development of the Arts in Japan and the author of The Book of Tea.
Tamon drew the vibration of live energy, with inherited techniques.

Exhibited Paintings of beautiful Birds and Flowers is breathtaking! Japanese painter, Tanaka Isson (1908-1977), moved to Amami Oshima island at the age of 50 and continued to draw in Amami until the end of his life.
This museum’s permanent exhibitions are from the 8-year-old work showing genius of painting to works of Amami’s nature, which enabled a great leap in his abilities as a painter. After tiring of the academic circle of painters in Tokyo, he reached this south island. Isson’s life has similarities with Paul Gauguin’s (1848-1903) journey from Paris to Tahiti.

This complex includes the prefectural art museum that was newly opened in 2007. The museum’s collection is centered on works by artists living in, or associated with Okinawa and covers contemporary art from Asian countries around Okinawa. You can meet the uniqueness in the world here.
Works of painters who were famous artists in Okinawa during the period just after World War II. Works depicting Okinawa, by Tsuguharu Fujita (1886-1968), who visited here in 1938. The restoration and development efforts of Okinawan Art, started by the Ryukyu Royal School painters, but stopped after the Disposition of Ryukyu in 1879, and ect,,.

This dike is the weir used to draw the river water into the irrigation canal. This destitute area was called the Skylark nest.
Fujie Kenmotsu (1687 – 1731), the chamberlain of the Nobeoka Domain, Hyuga Province Miyazaki, transformed this area to fertile land by the river conservation work, over 10 years, which combined flood prevention and an irrigation canal.
As a result, the yield rose from 150 koku to 766 koku, a unit volume for rice. There was water, but just no adjustment.

Ebino Basin in the Kagoshima-Miyazaki Prefectural Border, experiences a 10 degree temperature drop between daytime and nighttime in spring and autumn. In the early morning without wind, the whole area is hazy in the sea of clouds. At that time, a magnificent Kirishima Mountain Range from the Yatake Plateau with a sea of white clouds appears. In the Ebino and Miyakonojo Basin, the top of the mountain looks like an island and is named “Kirishima-Foggy Island”. The scenery overlaps “Shimazu no sho” which was the largest manor in Japan, in the Heian period (794 – 1185), and the original homeland of Japan, which the civilization from abroad saw over the sea, too.

This museum collects and introduces painters from Miyazaki city, with a focus on Eikyu (1911 – 1960), a Japanese painter, printmaker and photographer, and other local and international artists. In particular, works of Surrealism, such as Rene Magritte (1898 – 1967), a Belgian Surrealist, and contemporary Italian sculptures are substantial.
“Denen, countryside, B”, by Eikyu, covers the screen with innumerable small points, like a ball of light. This work describes the moon, stars, and sun shining in the countryside of Miyazaki, with his own hometown in mind.

In the 15th Century, the Royal government of the unified Ryukyu Kingdom, established the Kaizuri Bugyousho, Art Craftworks Magistrate and managed the production of lacquerware. In around the 16th Century, one lacquerware technique, Raden, is thin, mother-of-pearl work, made from the shells of the great green turban in the near sea and other shellfish, combined with a vermillion lacquer.
After the Satsuma Domain’s invasion of the Ryukyu Kingdom in the 17th Century, the pattern of many Raden works were drawn with fine shellfish on black lacquer, in accordance with Japanese samurai preferences. The brilliant Raden works were used as gifts, including for shogun. They really are an eternal treasure.

Ocean Expo Park is composed of three areas: “Ocean”, “History and Culture”, “Flower and Greenery”, and the aquarium inside the park reproduces the ocean of Okinawa down to the deep sea. “Chura umi” means “beautiful sea” in Okinawan dialect.
Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium presents the rich nature of Okinawa’s marine environment and strives to create a place where people can encounter the abundant variety of sea life found in the Kuroshio Sea surrounding these southern isles.
The aquarium’s main attraction is the “Kuroshio Sea” tank, where you can imagine whale sharks and manta rays migrate in the open sea by watching them swimming through the huge acrylic panel.

Okinawa Shurijo Castle, Zuisen gate, and Ryouhi, welling of water basin
Symbols and styles represent history and wisdom. -The King’s house and government office at Shurijo Castle were built on the hill overlooking Naha port, by a pure water spring. The Zuisen gate Ryouhi, with its welling of water basin tells the history, with its about 500 year old Dragon sculpture.
The south hall, to the right of the Main hall, was used by the examiner from the domains of Satsuma in Japan. The north hall was used for Sakuhoushi, the accredited envoys from China. The Main hall was built with the Ryukyu style, which is compromised of both Japanese and Chinese styles. The Ryukyu style shows its deep wisdom.
(On October 31, 2019, Shurijo Castle was burnt down by fire, and a fund to rebuild the Castle was established.)

Kujuku Islands are a rias coastal archipelago, located 25 km north from Sasebo Port. Most islands are uninhabited and the total number of islands is now officially 208. Kuroshima Island floats there, where Christians had lived underground for more than 200 years. You can enjoy landing on uninhabited islands and looking at the landscape from the boat.
You can also feel the early modern times of Japan in overlapping the landscape and the history of underground Christians, who had endured hardships and protected their faith without priests and Fathers, and endured irrational.

This village reproduces Okinawa villages during the Ryukyu Kingdom period. Private houses and elevated granaries are reproduced within a traditional form of village that consists of sacred sites (Utaki), water wells (Ugamigah) and Kami-asagi. The houses introduce the warm climate, cheerful personality, and the enshrining Utaki, a sacred water spring, reminds us of the wisdom of living life without disappointment by natural disasters, such as typhoons.
There is a man-made forest and a stone wall around the house with a low roof. The eaves are long and the whole room is open. The pleasant wind blows through the house. It offers various events that allow visitors to become familiar with Okinawa from the old days including Sanshin and Kachahshii experiences and seasonal events.
It holds various events that you can get to know the tradition of Okinawa. You’ll encounter Sanshin, a three-stringed Okiwana lute, and Kachashi, a dance that is performed with the fast-paced Okinawan folk song, with both hands above the head and swinging left and right while turning the wrist.

This center introduces traditional arts and crafts such as Shuriori, Ryukyu Bingata, Ryukyu lacquerware, Tsuboya- pottery and Ryukyu glass, etc. This center also opens workshops and sells those traditional crafts.
Shuriori used to be the fabric for nobles and warriors of the Ryukyuan kingdom’s office. It is elegant and woven in various colors, from figured textile to splashed pattern.
Tsuboya- pottery includes Jyoyaki, glazed pottery, and Nanbayaki, or Arayaki, non-glazed pottery. Those are painted with writing brushes and pigments containing iron, to express boldness and extravagance.

This museum possesses a Nuumeusurii, which was used for ceremonies and banquets at the castle. This is the only cultural asset brought back from Okinawa.
The centerpiece are gold and silver cups. Ukufan, for serving rice, is to the right, with the royal family emblem, Hidarimitsudomoemon and Botanshippoutsunagimonyou with Chinkin works.
Chinkin is gold-inlaid lacquerware, with patterns using thin, golden lines, made by etching grooves with a thin blade and filling the grooves with powdered gold.