Best Historic Sites Spot List

Familiarize yourself with history, culture, and art

Hokkaido's oldest railway played an important role during the frontier age

Tourists like journey here for their own ”start to happiness” (kofuku)

A faithful reconstruction of a mid-19th century government office

*Temporarily closed for renovation work from Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019 to fiscal year 2022.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Mausoleum architecture representative of the early Edo period

Feel the history of 5,000 years in the remains of Japan's largest Jomon Period settlement.

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