Japan: History and Nature
Ryoichi Imai1

自然 NATURE

2高尾山 Mt. Takao Tokyo•Mt. Takao is one of themost favorite places forpeople living in Tokyo,
which is ranked at ☆☆☆
by the Michelin guide.
•It is located within one
hour ride by train or
automobile from thecenter of Tokyo.
•The best season isNovember, when you canadmire beautiful autumncolors.

3吉野山 Mt. Yoshino•The mountain is in the
Nara prefecture, and isfamous for the
beautiful cherry
blossom in April.
•Many emperors andToyotomi Hideyoshi
visited here andadmired its beauty.
•The Kinpusanji Temple
is the starting point for
the Shugendopilgrimage road, which
is selected one of theWorld Heritages ofJapan.
4

鳳凰山 Mt. Houou•The mountain is
located in theYamanashi prefecture
and is 2800m high.
•Since the medieval
age, people havebrought baby-likebuddhist statues (ojizosama), believing thatthey could have babies
by praying to Buddha.
•You need to walk
more than 7 hours toreach the top of Jizoga-take peak, which isfamous for the Phenixlike rock tower(Obelisk).
5

栗駒山 Mt. Kurikoma-yama•The mountain is inthe Miyagi
prefecture.
•It is famous for its
autumn leaves,covering the whole
mountain andturning it red.
•The mountain isoften praised as
the best place toadmire the autumn
leaves.

6

東尋坊 Tojinbo Rock Fukui•Tojinbo is located in
the northern coast ofthe Fukui prefecture.
•In the past, the rockwas notorious for thebest spot to commit
suicide, and is now
often used for movie
shooting of crime
drama.

7

華厳の滝 Kegon Fall, Nikko•One of the threegreat waterfalls(Kegon, Nachi, andFukuroda) in Japan.
•Another notorious
spot to commit
suicide in the past.
•Today it is prohibitedto approach the edgeof the water fall, but
is still attracting manyvisitors.

8草津温泉 Kusatsu Onsen Gumma•One of the mostpopular onsen hotsprings, which isapproachablefrom Tokyo.
•The Kusatsu
onsen isconsidered torepresent theJapanese Onsen
culture, developedsince thebeginning of theEdo era.

9

城郭
CASTLES AND PALACES
10

姫路城 The Himeji Castle• The castle wasbuilt by Lord
Ikeda at theend of theSengoku era.
• This is a rare
castle in thesense that theoriginal towerremains today.

11

兼六園 Kenroku-en Garden•The garden was madeat the Kanazawa cityby the lord Maeda in
the early Edo era, andis considered to be thebest Japanese garden
made by the daimyos.
•The Maeda family
was the ruler of theKaga domain (Ishikawa
prefecture today) andis the largest daimyo
under the Tokugawabakufu.

12

寺院と神社
TEMPLES AND SHRINES
13

永平寺 Eiheiji Temple Fukui•The temple
was founded bya famous Zen
Priest Dogen in
the early
Kamakura era.
•The Sodo Zen
brought byPriest Dogenfrom China toJapan is thelargest Zen
Buddhism sectin Japan today.

14

伊勢神宮 Great Shrine of Ise•The shrine is located in
the Mie prefecture, and is
the most holy shrine in
the Japanese Shintoism.
•In the shrine, believers
worship the goddess
Amaterasu, the ruler ofthe Heaven.
•PM Abe held a G7
summit 2016 meeting in
the Ise city and invited thewestern leaders to theshrine.
•The main hall is thesacred place where
nobody is allowed to takephotographs.
15

出雲大社 Great Shrine of Izumo•In the ancient time,
there was a country
ruled by King
Ohkuninushi in the Sanin region, the northerncoast of the westernJapan.
•The kingdom wasconquered by theYamato dynasty.
•The king Ohkuninush is
now worshiped as thegod of marriage andgood harvest.

16

厳島神社 Itukushima Shrine•The shrine in theHiroshima prefecture
was built by the warlord
Taira-no Kiyomori in the12th century.
•The shrine is famous
for its red gate,
simmered in the waterof the full tides.
•One of the mostpopular place fortourists and listed in theWorld Heritage of theUNESCO.

17

熊野那智大社
Kumano Nachi Taisha Shrine•The shrine is located at
the southern coast of
the Wakayamaprefecture.
•The shrine is one of thethree shrines (NachiTaisha, Hongu Taisha,and Hayatama Taisha)located at the goal of
the Kumano Pilgrimage
Road.

18

日光東照宮 Nikko Toshogu Shrine•The shrine was built in
the Tochigi prefectureby the third Shogun
Iemitsu, a grandson of
Tokugawa Ieyasu, inorder to worship Ieyasu
as a god.
•The shrine isdecorated by colorful
sculpture works,
created by the genius
master, Hidari Jingoro.
•The Three Moneys
illustrate the threeConfucius warnings: Do
not see, say, or listen toany bad things.
19

京都 KYOTO20

清水寺 Kiyomizudera Temple•The most populartemple in Kyoto.
•You can admire thebeauty of the autumn
colors, if you visit thetemple at the end ofNovember.

21

嵐山 Arashiyama•Arashiyama isthe northerngate to enter
Kyoto city.
•The Togetsu
Bridge is thegood point tostart your tourin Kyoto.
•You can enjoy
the walking tour
around the Sagazone by startingfrom here.

22

醍醐寺三宝院
Sanpo-in Garden, Daigoji Temple•The Buddhist temple
was supported byToyotomi Hideyoshi
and Tokugawa Ieyasu
at the late Sengoku era.
•The beautiful garden
was made in the early
Edo era, and is now
listed as a National
Treasure of Japan.

23醍醐寺弁天堂
Benten Tower, Daigoji Temple
The pond near theBeneten Tower is
one of the mostbeautiful places in
Kyoto in the autumn
season, attracting
tourists.

24

瑠璃光院 Ruriko-in Temple•This is a hidden
treasure in Kyoto.
•The small temple
was not known bypeople in the past.
•Now it is the mostpopular place inKyoto in autumn.
•You need to follow
the line of people towait for being
admitted to enter
the temple forlonger than 2 hours!

25

東福寺 Toufukuji Temple•Toufukuji temple
near the Kyoto
Station, is one of
the authoritative
Zen temples built
in the Muromachi
era.
•Today it is themost popular placein Kyoto to admire
autumn leaves,
where you will see
more foreign
travelers than in
any other places inJapan.
26

永観堂 Eikando Temple
This is the mostpopular place toadmire autumn
leaves in Kyoto,comparable toTofukuji.

27