Best Historic Sites around Tokyo and Surroundings Spot List

Some of the samurai houses dating back to the Edo Period (1600/1603-1868) still remain in the castle town Sakura (Chiba), a place where you can get a glimpse of the daily lives of the samurai.

The Chidori-ga-fuchi Moat is located northwest of the Imperial Palace. The nature-rich sidewalk along the moat is called the Chidori-ga-fuchi Ryokudo (a green road), which runs for 700 meters. It is one of the most famous cherry blossom viewing sites in Japan.

These are memorial towers for Anjin Miura, the British foreign adviser to Ieyasu Tokugawa (the first shogun), and Anjin's wife, who was Japanese.

It is a 106-meter-long zenpo-koen-fun that is a mound shaped like a keyhole. This tumulus is the largest in Tokyo and is said to have been built in the 5th century.

Yushima Seido is a temple whose traditions as a place of study have been handed down to posterity. It is well-known as the birthplace of modern Japanese education.

It is a poetic monument of the Namagumi Incident also known as the Richardson Affair, which took place in 1862, retelling the story of the death of an Englishman.

The Tumulus cluster dates back to the latter of the Kofun (tumulus) period (250 - 538). Excavations unearthed horse tack like bits for horses, Sue ware (type of unglazed pottery made from the middle of the Kofun era through the Heian era), Haji ware (plain, unglazed, reddish-brown Japanese pottery made from the Kofun era through the Heian era), and haniwa (clay figures from the Kofun period).

The Noge Otsuka Tumulus is the largest tumulus of the Noge Tumulus Cluster. Excavations have unearthed objects like armor, stone tools, and grave goods made out of beads.

Kawagoe Castle Honmaru Goten has been preserved at Kawagoe Castle, listed among Japan's Top 100 Castles. It is also registered as a Cultural Property of Saitama.

This is a memorial monument of a samurai commander in the mid-10th century with his decapitated head used to be buried in a corner of the office jungle in Otemachi, Tokyo.

In 1180, Yoritomo Minamoto raised an army to destroy the Taira family and revive the Minamoto family. He lost the Battle of Ishibashiyama, and guided by Sanehira Doi, hid in “Shitodo-no-Iwaya” (Shitodo Cave). Springwater flows down there and the rocks have become covered in moss. The cave, where it is cool even in summer, has an enchanted atmosphere as it contains rows of statues of Kannon and stone pagodas. Access: From Yugawara Station, take the bus headed to Motohakone for about 40 minutes The cave is a 10-minute walk from the Shitodo-no-Iwaya Iriguchi bus stop