90 Best Sights in Side Trips from Tokyo, Japan

From the shore of Lake Kawaguchi (near the pier), the Mt. Fuji Panoramic Ropeway quickly brings you to the top of the 3,622-foot-tall Mt. Tenjo. From the observatory here, the whole of Lake Kawaguchi lies before you, and beyond the lake is a classic view of Mt. Fuji.

Just a few minutes' walk north of Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, this museum houses a collection of Japanese oil paintings and watercolors, woodblock prints, and sculpture.

A subshrine of the Futarasan Shrine at Toshogu, this is the major religious center on the north side of Lake Chuzenji, about 1½ km (1 miles) west of Kegon Falls. The Homotsu-den (Treasure House) contains an interesting historical collection, including swords, lacquerware, and medieval shrine palanquins.

An unhurried visit to the precincts of Toshogu should definitely include this treasure house, as it contains a collection of antiquities from its various shrines and temples. From the west gate of Rinno-ji temple, turn left off Omotesando, just below the pagoda, onto the cedar-lined avenue to Futarasan-jinja. A minute's walk brings you to the museum, on the left.

The centerpiece of the park immediately southeast of Landmark Tower is the Nippon Maru, a full-rigged three-mast ship popularly called the "Swan of the Pacific." Built in 1930, it served as a training vessel and although it's now retired, it's an occasional participant in tall-ships festivals. It's also open as a museum, with enough English explanations to help bring its nicely preserved quarters to life. Adjacent to the ship is the Yokohama Port Museum, a two-story collection of ship models, displays, and archival materials that celebrates the achievements of the Port of Yokohama from its earliest days to the present. There are also a couple of boat and gantry crane simulators there, if you fancy a hands-on taste of port life.

Just a 15-minute walk southwest from Atami Station, this geyser used to gush on schedule once every 24 hours but stopped after the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923. Not happy with this, the local chamber of commerce rigged a pump to raise the geyser every five minutes.

This temple belongs to the Tendai sect of Buddhism, the head temple of which is Enryaku-ji, on Mt. Hiei near Kyoto. The main hall of Rinno-ji Temple, called the Sanbutsu-do (or Hondo), is the largest single building at Toshogu. It enshrines an image of Amida Nyorai, the Buddha of the Western Paradise, flanked on the right by Senju (Thousand-Armed) Kannon, the goddess of mercy, and on the left by Bato-Kannon, the protector of animals. These three images are lacquered in gold and date from the early part of the 17th century. The original Sanbutsu-do is said to have been built in 848 by the priest Ennin (794–864), also known as Jikaku-Daishi. The present building dates from 1648.

In the temple compound's southwest corner, behind the abbot's residence, is an especially fine Japanese garden called Shoyo-en, created in 1815 and thoughtfully designed to present a different perspective of its rocks, ponds, and flowering plants along every turn on its path. To the right of the garden entrance is the Homotsu-den (Treasure Hall) of Rinno-ji Temple, a museum with some 30,000 works of lacquerware, painting, and Buddhist sculpture. The museum is rather small, so only a few of the pieces in the collection—many of them designated National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties—are on display at any given time.

This temple, which is especially pretty when its jasmines are in bloom in May, is where the negotiations took place that eventually led to the United States–Japan Treaty of Amity and Commerce of 1858. A museum on the grounds contains more than 300 original artifacts relating to Commodore Perry and the "black ships" that opened Japan to the West. Also don't miss Perry Road, a quaint but short canal-side street leading from the temple's gate toward the port. Some of its old buildings house cafés and restaurants.

The Kamakura story would not be complete without the tale of Nichiren (1222–82), the monk who founded the only native Japanese sect of Buddhism and is honored here. Nichiren's rejection of both Zen and Jodo (Pure Land) teachings brought him into conflict with the Kamakura Shogunate, and the Hojo regents sent him into exile on the Izu Peninsula in 1261. Later allowed to return, he continued to preach his own interpretation of the Lotus Sutra—and to assert the "blasphemy" of other Buddhist sects, a stance that finally persuaded the Hojo regency, in 1271, to condemn him to death.

The execution was to take place on a hill to the south of Hase. As the executioner swung his sword, legend has it that a lightning bolt struck the blade and snapped it in two. Taken aback, the executioner sat down to collect his wits, and a messenger was sent back to Kamakura to report the event. On his way, he met another messenger, who was carrying a writ from the Hojo regents commuting Nichiren's sentence to exile on the island of Sado.

Followers of Nichiren built Ryuko Temple in 1337, on the hill where he was to be executed, marking his miraculous deliverance from the headsman. There are other Nichiren temples closer to Kamakura—Myohon-ji and Ankokuron-ji, for example. But Ryuko has not only the typical Nichiren-style main hall, with gold tassels hanging from its roof, but also a beautiful pagoda, built in 1904.

If you've budgeted a second day for Nikko, you might want to consider a walk around the lake. A paved road along the north shore extends for about 8 km (5 miles), one-third of the whole distance, as far as the "beach" and campsite at Shobu-ga-hama. Here, where the road branches off to the north for the Senjogahara Marsh, are the lovely cascades of Ryuzu no Taki, literally Dragon's Head Falls. If you don't fancy retracing your steps, Tobu buses running between Yumoto Onsen and Tobu Nikko stop here.

Opened to the public in 1906, this was once the estate and gardens of Tomitaro Hara (1868–1939), one of Yokohama's wealthiest men, who made his money as a silk merchant before becoming a patron of the arts. On the estate's extensive grounds, he created is a kind of open-air museum of traditional Japanese architecture, some of which was brought here from Kamakura and the western part of the country. Especially noteworthy is Rinshun-kaku, a villa built for the Tokugawa clan in 1649. There's also a tea pavilion, Choshu-kaku, built by the third Tokugawa shogun, Iemitsu. Other buildings include a small temple transported from Kyoto's famed Daitoku-ji and a farmhouse from the Gifu district in the Japan Alps (around Takayama). If you need some refreshments while in the gardens, you'll find three tea shops serving tea, Japanese sweets, and light meals like soba noodles.

Shimoda's ropeway takes you to the top of 200-meter (656-foot) Mt. Nesugata, a stone's throw from Izukyu Shimoda Station. From the peak's observation decks you're treated to vistas of Shimoda and its picturesque bay, with clear days allowing views across the water to the Izu Islands. A café at the top serves light meals; there's also a small temple, called Aizendo, where you can try throwing small clay stones through a distant hoop in the hope of achieving a sense of wa (peace and harmony).

Calling this a museum might be a little misleading: it's home to a collection of ramen restaurants (seven currently), each serving a different style of Japan's favorite noodle, all packaged together in a streetscape designed to replicate 1950s Yokohama. While here, you could also try a noodle-making class or create your own instant ramen. There are also a few old-fashioned sweet shops for a post-noodle snack.

Built in 1636 for shoguns and imperial messengers visiting the shrine, the original bridge was destroyed in a flood; the present red-lacquer wooden structure dates to 1907. Buses leaving from either railway station at Nikko go straight up the main street to the bridge, opposite the first of the main entrances to Toshogu. The Sacred Bridge is just to the left of a modern bridge, where the road curves and crosses the Daiya-gawa (Daiya River).

This attractive stretch of coast running east and then north out of Shimoda is ideal for some beach time. On an inlet a short distance from town, the white sands of Sotoura Beach provide a calm point for swimming, paddling with kids, or even sea kayaking. A little ways north is Shirahama Beach, an 800-meter (875-yard) belt of sand that has become one of Izu's most popular beach spots: good for swimming and tanning in summer and surfing year-round. For the latter, you'll find several surf shops renting gear near the beach. There are also convenience stores and café–restaurants in the area.

From the opening of its borders to the beginning of the 20th century, silk was Japan's most sought-after export, and nearly all of it went through Yokohama. This museum, which pays tribute to this period, houses a collection of silk fabrics and an informative exhibit on the silk-making process. The hands-on exhibits include silk reeling and weaving machines. The museum is near the northwestern end of the Yamashita Park promenade, on the second floor of the Silk Center Building.

One of the two major centers of the Soto sect of Zen Buddhism, Soji-ji, in Yokohama's Tsurumi ward, was founded in 1321. The center was moved here from Ishikawa, on the Noto Peninsula (on the Sea of Japan, north of Kanazawa), after a fire in the 19th century. There's also a Soji-ji monastic complex at Eihei-ji in Fukui Prefecture. The Yokohama Soji-ji is one of Japan's largest and busiest Buddhist institutions, with more than 200 monks and novices in residence. The 14th-century patron of Soji-ji was the emperor Go-Daigo, who overthrew the Kamakura Shogunate; the emperor is buried here, but his mausoleum is off-limits to visitors. Nevertheless, you can see the Buddha Hall, the Main Hall, and the Treasure House. English tours of the complex are available by reservation.

This grandiose building is the resting place of the third Tokugawa shogun, Iemitsu (1604–51), who imposed a policy of national isolation on Japan that was to last more than 200 years. Iemitsu, one suspects, had it in mind to upstage his illustrious grandfather: he marked the approach to his own tomb with no fewer than six different decorative gates. The first is another Nio-mon—a Gate of the Deva Kings—like the one at Toshogu. The dragon painted on the ceiling is by Yasunobu Kano. A flight of stone steps leads from here to the second gate, the Niten-mon, a two-story structure protected front and back by carved and painted images of guardian gods. Beyond it, two more flights of steps lead to the middle courtyard.

As you climb the last steps to Iemitsu's shrine, you'll pass a bell tower on the right and a drum tower on the left; directly ahead is the third gate, the remarkable Yasha-mon, so named for the figures of yasha (she-demons) in the four niches. This structure is also known as the Peony Gate (Botan-mon) for the carvings that decorate it.

Just before the main building is the fourth gate, the Chinese-style Kara-mon, known for its gold-leaf and carvings of a crane and dragon. As you exit the shrine, on the west side, you come to the fifth gate: the Koka-mon, built in the style of the late Ming dynasty of China. The gate is normally closed, but from here another flight of stone steps leads to the sixth and last gate—the cast copper Inuki-mon, inscribed with characters in Sanskrit—and Iemitsu's tomb.

Built in the 1920s as a traditional inn (ryokan), this creaking old building south of JR Ito Station is now a local history museum and culture center. It's worth the small fee just to see the tatami-mat ryokan rooms and their traditional decor, but you can also pay extra for a soak in Tokaikan's modest hot-spring baths.

A Zen temple of the Rinzai sect, Tokei-ji provides an example of feminism in medieval Japan. More popularly known as the Enkiri-dera, or Divorce Temple, it was founded in 1285 by the widow of the Hojo regent Tokimune as a refuge for the victims of unhappy marriages. Under the shogunate, a husband of the warrior class could obtain a divorce simply by sending his wife back to her family. Not so for the wife: no matter what cruel and unusual treatment her husband meted out, she was stuck with him. If she ran away, however, and managed to reach Tokei-ji without being caught, she could receive sanctuary at the temple and remain there as a nun. After three years (later reduced to two), she was officially declared divorced.

The temple survived as a convent through the Meiji Restoration of 1868. The last abbess died in 1902; her headstone is in the cemetery behind the temple, beneath the plum trees that blossom in February. Tokei-ji was later reestablished as a monastery. The Matsugaoka Hozo (Treasure House) of Tokei-ji displays several Kamakura-period wooden Buddhas, ink paintings, scrolls, and works of calligraphy, some of which have been designated by the government as Important Cultural Objects. The library, called the Matsugaoka Bunko, was established in memory of the great Zen scholar D. T. Suzuki (1870–1966).

Tokei-ji is on the southwest side of the JR tracks (the side opposite Engaku-ji), less than a five-minute walk south from the station on the main road to Kamakura (Route 21), on the right.

This shrine is dedicated to the legendary emperor Ojin, his wife, and his mother, from whom Minamoto no Yoritomo claimed descent. At the entrance, the small, steeply arched, vermilion Taiko-bashi (Drum Bridge) crosses a stream between two lotus ponds, which were made to Yoritomo's specifications. His wife, Masako, suggested placing islands in each. In the larger Genji Pond, to the right, filled with white lotus flowers, she placed three islands, a number that signifies birth and prosperity. In the smaller Heike Pond, to the left, she put four islands. Heike (pronounced “heh-ee-keh”) was another name for the rival Taira clan, which the Minamoto had destroyed, and four—homophonous in Japanese with the word for "death"—is very unlucky indeed. Directly north of the Heike pond is the Kamakura Tsurugaoka Museum, where exhibitions focus on traditional arts and crafts.

Beyond the museum is the track where traditional horseback archery (yabusame) takes place during the shrine's spring and autumn festivals. Following the pathway north, you'll then see the Mai-den. This hall is the setting for a story of the Minamoto celebrated in Noh and Kabuki theater. Beyond the Mai-den, a flight of steps leads to the shrine's Hon-do (Main Hall). To the left of these steps is a ginkgo tree that—according to legend—was witness to a murder that ended the Minamoto line in 1219. From behind this tree, a priest named Kugyo leapt out and beheaded his uncle, the 26-year-old Sanetomo, Yoritomo's second son and the last Minamoto shogun. The priest was quickly apprehended, but Sanetomo's head was never found. As at all other Shinto shrines, the Hon-do is unadorned; the building itself, an 1828 reconstruction, is not particularly noteworthy.

A poetic description says it all and still holds true: "The water," wrote the great 17th-century poet Basho, "seemed to take a flying leap and drop a hundred feet from the top of a cave into a green pool surrounded by a thousand rocks. One was supposed to inch one's way into the cave and enjoy the falls from behind." The falls and the gorge are striking—but you should make the climb only if you have good hiking shoes and are willing to get wet in the process.

This shopping center, on the opposite side of Yokohama Cosmo World, is notable chiefly for its restaurants, which overlook the Minato Mirai area. Try arriving at sunset; the spectacular view of twinkling lights and the Landmark Tower, the Ferris wheel, and hotels occasionally include Mt. Fuji in the background.

This park is perhaps the only positive legacy of the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923. The debris of the warehouses and other buildings that once stood here were swept away, and the area was made into a 17-acre oasis of green along the waterfront. On spring and summer weekends, the park fills up with families, couples, and groups of friends, making it one of the best people-watching spots in town. In the rose garden at the park's center is a fountain, representing the Guardian of the Water, presented to Yokohama by San Diego, California, one of its sister cities.

Within the archives, housed in a small complex that once also included the British Consulate, are two rooms of items recording the history of Yokohama since the opening of the port to international trade in the mid-19th century. It's worth a quick look if you like old photos and newspaper clippings. Across the street is a monument to the U.S.–Japanese Friendship Treaty.

This amusement-park complex has—among its 30 or so very retro rides and attractions—everything from a four-story water-chute ride to sedate rides for toddlers. The Ferris wheel, which was once the world's tallest, towers over Yokohama. The park is east of Minato Mirai and Queen's Square, on both sides of the river.

This museum houses a collection of roughly 3,500 dolls from all over the world. In Japanese tradition, dolls are less to play with than to display—either in religious folk customs or as the embodiment of some spiritual quality. The museum is worth a quick visit, with or without a child in tow, although the puppet shows that sometimes take place on the fourth floor are especially good for kids. It's just across from the southeast end of Yamashita Park.

This landmark is a reminder of Yokohama's heritage as a port city. It was established in 1854 with a grant of land from the shogunate. The inscriptions on the crosses and headstones attest to some 40 different nationalities whose citizens lived and died in Yokohama. Although the first foreigners to be buried here were Russian sailors assassinated by xenophobes in the early days of the settlement, most of the 4,500 graves are English and American; about 120 are of the Japanese wives of foreigners.

Designed by Kenzo Tange and housed at Minato Mirai 21, this museum has 5,000 works in its permanent collection. You'll see paintings by both Western and Japanese artists, including Picasso, Dalí, Yoshitomo Nara, and Yokoyama Taikan.

If you love the sun, make sure you stop at Yumigahama. It's one of the nicest sandy stretches on the whole Izu Peninsula. Although the water is usually warm enough to swim from June, the crowds come out during Japan's beach season in July and August, which is when the beach has food and drink options as well as lifeguards. The bus from Izukyu Shimoda Station stops here before continuing to Iro-zaki, the last stop on the route. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; toilets; parking (fee). Best for: swimming; solitude.