Fukui Prefecture
Fukui Prefecture (福井県, Fukui-ken) is located along the Sea of Japan coast in the Chubu Region. Among its most famous attractions are Eiheiji Temple, a leading Zen temple, and the Fukui Dinosaur Museum, Japan’s best museum of its kind. The prefectural capital is Fukui City.
Read MoreOita Prefecture
Oita Prefecture (大分県, Ōita-ken) is located on the eastern coast of Kyushu. The prefectural capital is Oita City. The prefecture is famous for its large amount of hot spring waters and popular hot spring resorts, including Beppu and Yufuin.
Read MoreGunma Prefecture
Gunma (群馬県, Gunma-ken) is a landlocked prefecture in the Kanto Region, famous for its many high quality hot springs and beautiful mountains. Among Gunma’s best known hot spring resorts are Kusatsu Onsen, Ikaho Onsen, Minakami Onsen, Shima Onsen and Manza Onsen. The prefectural capital is Maebashi.
Read MoreYamagata Prefecture
Yamagata (山形県, Yamagata-ken) is a large prefecture along the Sea of Japan coast in the southern Tohoku Region. The prefectural capital is Yamagata City. The prefecture is known for its agricultural products, especially cherries, hot springs, rural flair and natural beauty.
Read MoreNiigata Prefecture
Niigata Prefecture (新潟県, Niigata-ken) is located along the coast of the Sea of Japan in the Chubu Region. It is famous for its high quality rice, beautiful coastal and mountainous sceneries, spectacular firework displays in summer, skiing in winter and hot spring bathing around the year. The prefectural capital is Niigata City.
Read MoreBandai
The Bandai (磐梯) region in Fukushima Prefecture is an attractive outdoor destination, offering various walking and hiking opportunities in summer and skiing in winter. It centers around Mount Bandai, a volcano which last erupted in 1888. The eruption reshaped the mountain and created the pond-dotted Bandai Highlands, also know as Urabandai (literally “behind Bandai”). Further…
Read MoreAkita Prefecture
Akita (秋田県, Akita-ken) is a large prefecture at the Sea of Japan coast in the northern Tohoku Region. Prefectural capital is Akita City. Among Akita’s main attractions are its natural beauty of mountains and the sea, hot springs and the town of Kakunodate, which preserves one of Japan’s most interesting samurai districts.
Read MoreHokkaido
Hokkaido (北海道, Hokkaidō) is the second largest, northernmost and least developed of Japan’s four main islands. Its weather is harsh in winter with lots of snowfall, below zero temperatures and frozen seas, while in summer it does not get as hot and humid as in the other parts of the country. With its unspoiled nature,…
Read MoreNagano Prefecture
Nagano (長野県, Nagano-ken) is a mountainous, landlocked prefecture in the center of Honshu, belonging to the Chubu Region. Located only an hour by shinkansen from Tokyo, the large prefecture is famous for its natural and rural beauty. Nagano hosted the Olympic Winter Games 1998. Prefectural capital is Nagano City.
Read MoreGifu Prefecture
Gifu (岐阜県, Gifu-ken) is a large, landlocked prefecture in the center of Honshu. Takayama, a beautiful town in the mountains, and Shirakawa-go, a collection of small villages even deeper in the mountains, are Gifu’s main tourist attractions. The prefectural capital Gifu City is famous for cormorant fishing.
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