9 Best Sights in Side Trips from Tokyo, Japan

This hillside complex overlooking Hakone has more than the average onsen. In addition to all the water-based attractions, amenities include a shopping mall modeled on a European outdoor market, a swimsuit rental shop, a massage salon, and a game center. The park is divided into two main zones, called Yunessun and Mori no Yu (Forest Bath). When signing in at reception, get a waterproof digital wristband that allows you to pay for lockers and drink machines within the complex.

In the Yunessun side, where you must wear a swimsuit, you can visit somewhat tacky re-creations of Turkish and ancient Roman baths or take a dip in coffee or red wine. It's all a bit corny, but fun. Younger visitors enjoy the waterslides on Rodeo Mountain. In the more secluded Mori no Yu side, you can go au naturel in a variety of indoor and outdoor, single-sex baths.

Only a few minutes' walk from the Miyanoshita Station (directions are posted in English), this museum houses an astonishing collection of 19th- and 20th-century Western and Japanese sculpture, most of it on display in a spacious, handsome garden. There are works here by Rodin, Moore, Taro Okamoto, and Kotaro Takamura. One section of the garden is devoted to Emilio Greco. Inside are works by Picasso, Léger, and Manzo, among others.

This temple is one of the most beautiful, and saddest, places of pilgrimage in the city. On a landing partway up the stone steps that lead to the temple's main hall are hundreds of small stone images of Jizo, one of the bodhisattvas in the Buddhist pantheon. Jizo is the savior of children, particularly the souls of the stillborn, aborted, and miscarried; the mothers of these children dress the statues of Jizo in bright red bibs and leave them small offerings of food, heartbreakingly touching acts of prayer.

The Kannon Hall (Kannon-do) at Hase-dera enshrines one of the largest carved-wood statues in Japan: the votive figure of Juichimen Kannon, the 11-headed goddess of mercy. Standing 30 feet tall, the goddess bears a crown of 10 smaller heads, symbolizing her ability to search in all directions for those in need of her compassion. No one knows for certain when the figure was carved. According to the temple records, a monk named Tokudo Shonin carved two images of the Juichimen Kannon from a huge laurel tree in 721. One was consecrated to the Hase-dera in present-day Nara Prefecture; the other was thrown into the sea to go wherever the waters decided that there were souls in need, and that image washed up on shore near Kamakura. Much later, in 1342, Takauji Ashikaga—the first of the 15 Ashikaga shoguns who followed the Kamakura era—had the statue covered with gold leaf.

The Amida Hall of Hase-dera enshrines the image of a seated Amida Buddha, who presides over the Western Paradise of the Pure Land. Minamoto no Yoritomo ordered the creation of this statue when he reached the age of 42; popular Japanese belief, adopted from China, holds that your 42nd year is particularly unlucky. Yoritomo's act of piety earned him another 11 years—he was 53 when he was thrown by a horse and died of his injuries. The Buddha is popularly known as the yakuyoke (good luck) Amida, and many visitors—especially students facing entrance exams—come here to pray. To the left of the main halls is a small restaurant where you can buy good-luck candy and admire the view of Kamakura Beach and Sagami Bay.

The single biggest attraction in Hase is the Great Buddha—a strong candidate for the quintessential image of Japan. The statue of the compassionate Amida Buddha sits cross-legged in the temple courtyard. The 37-foot bronze figure was cast in 1252, three centuries before Europeans reached Japan; the concept of the classical Greek lines in the Buddha's robe must have come over the Silk Route through China during the time of Alexander the Great. The casting was probably first conceived in 1180, by Minamoto no Yoritomo, who wanted a statue to rival the enormous Daibutsu in Nara. Until 1495 the Amida Buddha was housed in a wooden temple, which washed away in a great tidal wave.

It may seem sacrilegious to walk inside the Great Buddha, but for ¥50 you can enter the figure from a doorway in the right side and explore his stomach, with a stairway that leads up to two windows in his back, offering a nice view of the temple grounds (open until 4:15 pm). To reach Kotoku-in and the Great Buddha, take the Enoden Line from the west side of JR Kamakura Station three stops to Hase. From the main exit, turn right onto the main street (Route 32) and walk north about 10 minutes.

More than anything else, the country's most famous falls are what draw the crowds to Chuzenji. Fed by the eastward flow of the lake, the falls drop 97 meters (318 feet) into a rugged gorge; an elevator takes you to an observation platform at the bottom. The volume of water over the falls is carefully regulated, but it's especially impressive after a summer rain or a typhoon. In winter, the falls do not freeze completely, but they still transform into a beautiful cascade of icicles. The elevator is just a few minutes' walk east from the Chuzenji Onsen bus stop, downhill and off to the right at the far end of the parking lot.

Rising from the surrounding plains, the single, flat-topped peak of Mt. Fuji is a sight to behold. Spending a day—or more commonly an afternoon and the following morning—to hike Mt. Fuji can be a once-in-a-lifetime experience with a fascinating variety of terrain and a stunning view of the sunrise from the peak—provided you go into it with the right expectations.

Unlike Japan’s more remote mountains like the Japan Alps, Fuji is crowded, and the summer hiking season, when trails are open and accessible is short (roughly July to mid-September). Timing your hike to see the sunrise might mean that the final stretch to the summit feels more like waiting in line than hiking. Still, making the trek to the top and watching the sunrise from Japan’s most sacred mountain is a singularly incredible experience, and there is fun to be had climbing with the crowd.

There are four trails up Fuji, but the most common starting point is the Fuji-Subaru Line 5th Station (aka Kawaguchiko 5th Station), which is easily accessed by direct buses from Tokyo, Hakone, and many other cities. From here it takes between five to seven hours to reach the summit via the Yoshida Trail. The descent takes another three to four hours. There are numerous mountain huts on the way up to sleep for a few hours and adjust to the altitude (¥12,000–¥16,000 per person for a dorm spot, which includes dinner and breakfast), but they fill up quickly during peak times. Spots can be reserved for some huts online, but others require a phone call. The length and altitude require a decent level of fitness but no technical climbing skills.

When Shinjuku's concrete skyscrapers become too much, in about an hour, you can escape to the foot of 599-meter (1,965-foot) Mt. Takao and the heavily wooded Meiji Memorial Forest Park that surrounds it. While heading to the top of the peak—which is associated with tengu, one of the best known yokai (monster-spirits) of Japanese folklore—it's hard to believe that you're still within Tokyo's metropolitan area.

On weekends, the mountain gets unpleasantly crowded. Although there are still plenty of hikers, weekday excursions are pleasant. If you start early, you can get in a hike; stop at some viewpoints, temples, or shrines; perhaps visit the Monkey Zoo and Wild Plant Garden (¥500 for entrance to both)—which has indigenous primates and wild native plants—and be back in central Tokyo by nightfall. Note, too, that the Tokai Nature Trail, which runs all the way to Osaka, also starts at the mountain.

The Mt. Takao climb isn't nearly as grueling as that of Mt. Fuji, especially along Trail 1. This popular, fairly direct, paved route starts at Kiyotaka Station, the cable-car base station, and leads to the visitor center at the top. The 3.8-km (2.4-mile) hike takes about 1¾ hours. If you take the cable car or chairlift up, you'll join this trail a third of the way up.

Comfortable sneakers are fine, unless you plan to tackle unpaved trails, which get quite slippery and require hiking boots. In either case, dress in layers, and bring a raincoat. Although there's a seasonal beer hall and overpriced vending machines and food stalls, there's no running water, so bring plenty of your own water and snacks. It is mountain-climbing etiquette to greet people you overtake or meet coming the opposite direction. Smile and say "konnichiwa."

Near the start of Trail 1 is a short detour to konpira-dai, one of the mountain's several small shrines, where there is a clear view of central Tokyo. After backtracking to Trail 1, continue past Sanjo Station (the upper chairlift station) and Takaosan Station (the cable-car terminus) to reach the tenbodai, an observatory with another view of the Tokyo skyline.

Here you have choices. You could detour to Trail 2, a 30-minute loop that meets back up with Trail 1 farther up the mountain; heading to the right on Trail 2 means your first stop will be the hebitaki, a picturesque waterfall; head to the left to stop at the Monkey Zoo and Wild Plant Garden first. Alternatively, you could just continue on Trail 1 to the takosugi (octopus cedar), a tree with exposed roots so fantastical that they resemble a giant sea monster, and the Joshinmon Gate, the entrance to Takao's sacred grounds.

Continue to the busharito, a stone pagoda that literally means "Buddha's bone," and is said to mark one of the spots where pieces of Buddha's remains were spread around the world after his cremation. Just past this is Yakuoin Temple, dedicated to Yakushi Nyorai, the Buddha of Medicine, believed to have been built in 744. The 2,500 historical documents surviving in the temple explain Japanese religious beliefs during the Warring States (mid-1400s–1603) and Edo (1603–1868) periods. Trail 1 then continues on to the visitor center at the peak, passing beech, oak, and Japanese nutmeg trees along the way.

With its riot of colors and carvings, inlaid pillars, red-lacquer corridors, and extensive use of gold leaf, this 17th-century shrine to Ieyasu Tokugawa is one of the most elaborately decorated in Japan.

The Hon-den (Main Hall) of Toshogu is the ultimate purpose of the shrine. You approach it from the rows of lockers at the far end of the enclosure; here you remove and store your shoes, step up into the shrine, and follow a winding corridor to the Oratory (Hai-den)—the anteroom, resplendent in its lacquered pillars, carved friezes, and coffered ceilings bedecked with dragons. Over the lintels are paintings by Tosa Mitsuoki (1617–91) of the 36 great poets of the Heian period, with their poems in the calligraphy of Emperor Go-Mizunoo. At the back of the Oratory, is the Inner Chamber (Nai-jin)—repository of the Sacred Mirror that represents the spirit of the deity enshrined here. The hall is enclosed by a wall of painted and carved panel screens; opposite the right-hand corner of the wall, facing the shrine, is the Kito-den, a hall where annual prayers were once offered for the peace of the nation.

Behind the Inner Chamber is the Innermost Chamber (Nai-Nai-jin). No visitors come this far. Here, in the very heart of Toshogu, is the gold-lacquer shrine where the spirit of Ieyasu resides, along with two other deities, who the Tokugawas later decided were fit companions. One was Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Ieyasu's mentor and liege lord in the long wars of unification at the end of the 16th century. The other was Minamoto no Yoritomo, a brilliant military tactician and founder of the earlier (12th-century) Kamakura Shogunate (Ieyasu claimed Yoritomo for an ancestor).

Between the Goma-do and the Kagura-den (a hall where ceremonial dances are performed to honor the gods) is a passage to the Sakashita-mon (Gate at the Foot of the Hill). Above the gateway is another famous symbol of Toshogu: the Sleeping Cat—a small panel said to have been carved by Hidari Jingoro (Jingoro the Left-handed), a late-16th-century master carpenter and sculptor credited with important contributions to numerous Tokugawa-period temples, shrines, and palaces. Head up the flight of 200 stone steps through a forest of cryptomeria to arrive at Ieyasu's tomb. The climb is worth it for the view of the Yomei-mon and Kara-mon from above.

The centerpiece of Toshogu is the Yomei-mon (Gate of Sunlight), atop the second flight of stone steps. A designated National Treasure, it's also called the Higurashi-mon (Twilight Gate), implying that you could gape at its richness of detail all day, until sunset. And rich it is indeed: 36 feet high and dazzling white, the gate has 12 columns, beams, and roof brackets carved with dragons, lions, clouds, peonies, Chinese sages, and demigods, painted vivid hues of red, blue, green, and gold. On one of the central columns, there are two carved tigers; the natural grain of the wood is used to bring out the "fur." As you enter the Yomei-mon, there are galleries running east and west; their paneled fences are also carved and painted with nature motifs.

The portable shrines that appear in the Toshogu Grand Spring Festival, held yearly on May 17–18, are kept in the Shinyo-sha, a storeroom to the left as you come through the Twilight Gate into the heart of the shrine. The paintings on the ceiling, of tennin (Buddhist angels) playing harps, are by Tan-yu Kano (1602–74).

Mere mortals may not pass through the Chinese Gate (Kara-mon), which is the "official" entrance to the Toshogu inner shrine. Like its counterpart, the Yomei-mon, on the opposite side of the courtyard, the Kara-mon is a National Treasure—and, like the Yomei-mon, is carved and painted in elaborate detail with dragons and other auspicious figures.

History meets entertainment at Yokohama's Red Brick Warehouses, just a few minutes from World Porters Mall. Constructed in 1911 and 1913 to accommodate trade, partially destroyed ten years later in the Kanto earthquake, and then used for military storage in World War II before being taken over by the United States upon Japan's surrender, today these two redbrick warehouses are a fashionable hangout. You'll find event spaces and unique shops, as well as cafés, restaurants, and bars (some with balcony seating). There are also seasonal fairs and markets, and the seafront areas are perfect picnic spots.