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Shizuoka

76 places

• Act Tower Viewpoint (展望回廊) The tallest building in the prefecture (213 m), shaped like a harmonica: a terrace on the 45th floor.
• Air Park — Hamamatsu Air Force Museum (航空自衛隊浜松広報館エアーパーク) The last of the 5,195 F-4 Phantoms ever built in the world (No. 440) is here. Free entry.
• Akiha Main Shrine Head shrine of the Akiha shrines since 1952: the walk up from the bottom takes an hour and a half to two hours.
• Amagi Wasabi Fields (天城わさびの里) Izu grows 70% of the wasabi of Shizuoka, Japan's leading producer.
• Bentenjima Red Torii Planted in the water of Lake Hamana: its official name is ‘tourism symbol tower’.
• Bentenjima Station A small station on the Tōkaidō Main Line on the island of Bentenjima, inside Lake Hamana: station building, ticket gates and waiting room…
• Dōgashima Tombolo (堂ヶ島のトンボロ) At low tide a 30 m wide strip of sand emerges, reaching as far as Zōshima Island.
• Fujinokuni Tea Museum (ふじのくに茶の都ミュージアム) On the Makinohara plateau, among the plantations seen from its windows.
• Futamata Castle Nobuyasu, son of Ieyasu, took his own life here in 1579: a national historic site since 2018.
• Gotemba Premium Outlets (御殿場プレミアム・アウトレット) 422,200 m², the largest outlet in Japan: opened in 2000 on the site of a closed amusement park.
• Granship (グランシップ) By Arata Isozaki, Pritzker Prize winner: its hull shape earned it the name ‘ship’.
• Hamamatsu Castle Ieyasu held it for 17 years before the shogunate: it is called ‘the career castle’.
• Hamamatsu Flower Park (はままつフラワーパーク) 300,000 m²: free in July–August, otherwise 500–1,200 yen depending on what is in bloom.
• Hamamatsu Hachiman-gū The name ‘Hamamatsu’ comes from the shrine: the legend of the white fox and the pine, in the year 938.
• Hamamatsu Kōnan High School A public prefectural high school opened in 1983, in the middle of the fields of 馬郡町, between Bentenjima and the centre of Hamamatsu. It has…
• Hamamatsu Museum of Musical Instruments (浜松市楽器博物館) Opened in 1995, the first public museum of musical instruments in Japan.
• Hamamatsu Nishi Library Neighbourhood library of the municipality of Hamamatsu, in a residential area west of the station. Next to it is the JR Tōkai depot where…
• Hamamatsu Rosai Hospital General hospital in the public network for work injuries (労災病院), in the eastern part of Hamamatsu, about twenty minutes by bus from the…
• Hamamatsu Shusse Yokochō Alley (浜松出世横丁) Seven izakaya on a ‘shusse’ theme: the rise to power of Ieyasu, who ruled from here.
• Hamamatsu Station North Plaza The north exit of Hamamatsu Station opens beneath Mayone, the shopping centre that is also the station building. On the plaza in front…
• Hamamatsu Zoo (浜松市動物園) Founded in 1950 in the castle park, it has been here since 1983, on a site six times larger.
• Hamanako Garden Park (浜名湖ガーデンパーク) A 56-hectare park with free entry: the 50 m observation tower costs 300 yen.
• Hamanako-Sakume Station In winter the gulls on the platform outnumber the passengers: ‘the station where they dance’.
• Hananomai Sake Brewery Sake since 1864: a free 60-minute guided tour, or just a tasting in 30.
• Hashiriyu (走り湯) Among the three oldest hot springs in Japan: 70°C from a cave discovered 1,300 years ago.
• Hatsuyama Hōrin-ji Buddha hall from 1667 in Ming style, with no columns inside: a national cultural property.
• Hōkō-ji (方広寺) Founded in 1371: 500 statues of the Buddha's disciples, each with a different face.
• Ishimatsu Gyōza, original restaurant Gyōza in a circle since 1953: in 2025 Hamamatsu was the 1st city in Japan for spending on gyōza.
• Izu Shaboten Zoo and Cactus Park (伊豆シャボテン動物公園) The capybaras’ hot-spring bath began here in 1982, by chance, and runs from Nov to Apr.
• Jōgasaki Coast (城ヶ崎海岸) Lava from Mount Ōmuro, 4,000 years ago: the Jōgasaki Suspension Bridge is 23 m above the waves.
• Kaba Shinmei-gū The oldest shrine in Hamamatsu (806): it renews its buildings every 20 years, like Ise.
• Kajimachi (鍛冶町) In 1951 a half-arcade on Kajimachi Street; then neon signs in Renjaku and Tamachi.
• Kakegawa Castle (掛川城) Rebuilt in wood in 1994: the first keep rebuilt this way in the whole of Japan.
• Kakegawa Kachoen (掛川花鳥園) A 7,000 m² greenhouse, the largest of its kind in Japan, opened on 20/09/2003.
• Kamoe-ji, Kamoe Kannon (鴨江寺・鴨江観音) It holds documents of the Ashikaga, Imagawa, Toyotomi and Tokugawa that escaped war.
• Kanzan-ji Temple (舘山寺) Founded, according to tradition, in 810 by Kūkai: it gives its name to the hot-spring town at its foot.
• Kanzanji Ropeway and Lake Hamana Music Box Museum (かんざんじロープウェイ・浜名湖オルゴールミュージアム) According to the operator, the only ropeway in Japan over a lake: 4 minutes to the music box museum.
• Kiga Checkpoint A checkpoint from 1601 on the ‘road of the princesses’, rebuilt in 1990.
• Kinomiya Shrine (來宮神社) A camphor tree over 2,000 years old, 24 m in circumference: a natural monument since 1933.
• Kunōzan Tōshōgū Shrine (久能山東照宮) Ieyasu wanted to be buried here in 1616: this is the original Tōshōgū, 19 years before Nikkō.
• Lake Inohana Shrine Founding date unknown, already in the tenth-century Engishiki: the only way in is a red bridge.
• Lake Sanaru Park (佐鳴湖公園) 49.72 hectares around Lake Sanaru, free parking for 327 cars at nine locations.
• LOLO Cafe (Hamamatsu) A café still in business in Chūō 1-chōme (中央一丁目4-10, Park Avenue Building, 1st floor), in central Hamamatsu, about 350 m from Enshū-byōin…
• Maisaka Waki-honjin An 1838 inn for daimyō: the only waki-honjin left on the old Tōkaidō.
• Meijiya Soy Sauce A soy sauce factory since 1875, a Registered Tangible Cultural Property since 2016: tours for 275 yen.
• Miho Pine Grove (三保松原) Japan's first 名勝, since 1922: here, the legend says, a goddess lost her feather robe.
• Mirai-ra Science Museum (浜松科学館 みらいーら) Planetarium with a 20 m dome and live narration of about 45 minutes.
• Mishima Skywalk (三島スカイウォーク) 400 m, 70.6 m high: it was the longest pedestrian bridge in Japan, from 2015 to 2025.
• MOA Museum of Art (MOA美術館) 3 National Treasures and 67 Important Cultural Properties, out of 3,500 works: opened in 1982.
• Motoshiro-chō Tōshō-gū (元城町東照宮) On the site of Hikuma Castle, where Ieyasu lived: burnt down in 1945, rebuilt in 1958.
• Mount Fuji Kaguya-hime Museum (富士山かぐや姫ミュージアム) Five rooms, free to enter, on the legend of Kaguya-hime, born at the foot of Fuji.
• Mount Ōmuro (大室山) A 4,000-year-old scoria cone: 6 minutes by chairlift, then you walk round the crater.
• Murakushi Shore (windsurfing beach) No sand: you get into the water from a ladder on the embankment, and 50 m out you can still touch the bottom.
• Nakamura House (中村家住宅) Thatched roof, a national cultural property since 1973: open only Friday to Sunday.
• Nakatajima Dunes (中田島砂丘) One of the three great dunes of Japan: on 3–5 May, battles are fought with kites.
• Nihondaira Ropeway (日本平ロープウェイ) In service since 1957: 47-seat cabins, a 120 m vertical rise in five minutes.
• Numazu Port (沼津港) Japan's leading port for dried aji, on the deepest bay in the country.
• Ōi Shrine and the Shimada Ōbi Matsuri (大井神社・島田大祭 帯まつり) Every 3 years a procession carries brides' obi threaded onto swords, as if they were blades.
• Okuni Shrine First shrine of ancient Tōtōmi: one of its January rites is national heritage.
• Rakuju-en Garden (楽寿園) Kohama Pond, a Natural Monument, wells up from Fuji lava of 10–17 thousand years ago.
• Ryōtan-ji (龍潭寺) Garden by Kobori Enshū, a national 名勝 since 1936: the family temple of the Ii clan since 733.
• Ryūgashi Cave (竜ヶ岩洞) A 74-year-old man dug it out by hand from 1981 onwards: 1,046 m of cave, with a 30 m waterfall inside.
• Sagara Oil Field (相良油田・油田の里公園) The only oil field on the Pacific side: in 1874, the country's first mechanical drill.
• Saigagake: battlefield and archive hall (犀ヶ崖古戦場・資料館) In 1572 a fake cloth bridge sent Takeda soldiers falling into the ravine at night.
• Saito Central Park Neighbourhood park along the Shin River, in a residential area west of Hamamatsu, with ten free parking spaces, two of them reserved. Not…
• Shijimizuka: Jōmon site and Hamamatsu Museum (蜆塚遺跡・浜松市博物館) A Jōmon settlement (Japanese prehistory), a National Historic Site since 13 May 1959.
• Shimizu Port — Hinode Pier (清水港 日の出ふ頭) An international port since 1899: one of the three most beautiful in Japan, with Kobe and Nagasaki.
• Shirahama Ōhama Beach (白浜大浜海水浴場) 700 m of white sand, the largest beach in Izu, with lifeguards six weeks a year.
• Shiraito Falls (白糸の滝) Hundreds of rivulets pour down 150 m of curved rock: a component of Fuji's UNESCO site.
• Shuzenji Onsen, temple and bamboo path (修善寺温泉・竹林の小径) In 807 Kūkai split a rock with his vajra: from it sprang the oldest spring in Izu.
• Suzuki Historical Museum Suzuki's museum, free and by booking only: the average visit lasts an hour and a half.
• Toro Archaeological Site (登呂遺跡) Yayoi village rebuilt on its real foundations: houses, granaries, well, cultivated rice paddies.
• Washizawa Wind Cave (鷲沢風穴) A horizontal ceiling, unique in Japan among limestone caves; 400 yen, helmet included.
• Wotto — Lake Hamana Experience Centre (浜名湖体験学習施設ウォット) Tanks holding only species from Lake Hamana, where the sea mixes with the rivers.
• Yamaha Innovation Road A free Yamaha museum, by booking only: three sessions a day, up to two hours.
• Yume no Tsuribashi Suspension Bridge (夢のつり橋) Ninety metres suspended over the emerald lake of Ōima: ten people cross at a time.

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