{ "series": "HYAKKEI: 100 Scenes of Japan", "publisher": "SPECTRIP", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/", "license": "CC BY 4.0", "attribution": "SPECTRIP HYAKKEI (spectrip.com)", "generated": "2026-10-13", "count": 73, "planned_total": 100, "fields": "see https://spectrip.com/data/README.md", "scenes": [ { "no": 1, "slug": "ginzan-onsen", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/ginzan-onsen/", "title": "Ginzan Onsen — Gas Lamps in Deep Snow", "place": "Ginzan Onsen", "prefecture": "Yamagata", "region": "Tohoku", "lat": 38.56972, "lon": 140.53111, "hook": "Gas lamps over a river of light, and a town that closes its doors at eight to everyone but you.", "access_level": 3, "budget_level": 4, "best_window": "Dec – Feb", "tags": [ "After dusk", "Onsen", "Heritage" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "◎", "Feb": "◎", "Mar": "△", "Apr": "△", "May": "○", "Jun": "○", "Jul": "○", "Aug": "○", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "△", "Dec": "◎" }, "peak_months": [ "Jan", "Feb", "Dec" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · 1 night", "budget_text": "~¥60,000–80,000", "budget_jpy_low": 60000, "budget_jpy_high": 80000, "checked": "2026-09", "date_published": "2026-07-28", "date_modified": "2026-09-21", "review_rating": 4.6, "reddit_threads_cited": 4, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/50246bccba125baa.jpg", "coord_checked": "2026-09-20" }, { "no": 2, "slug": "zao-snow-monsters", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/zao-snow-monsters/", "title": "Zao — A Forest Encased in Ice", "place": "Zao Juhyo (Snow Monsters)", "prefecture": "Yamagata", "region": "Tohoku", "lat": 38.1417, "lon": 140.44, "hook": "A forest swallowed whole by ice, standing in the fog like something that noticed you.", "access_level": 3, "budget_level": 4, "best_window": "Jan – Feb", "tags": [ "Clear morning", "or the light-up", "Onsen", "Mountain" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "◎", "Feb": "◎", "Mar": "△", "Apr": "△", "May": "○", "Jun": "○", "Jul": "○", "Aug": "○", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "△", "Dec": "○" }, "peak_months": [ "Jan", "Feb" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · 1 night", "budget_text": "~¥48,000–78,000", "budget_jpy_low": 48000, "budget_jpy_high": 78000, "checked": "2026-09", "date_published": "2026-08-01", "date_modified": "2026-08-13", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 4, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/22cd487d6c3017dc.jpg", "coord_checked": "2026-09-20" }, { "no": 3, "slug": "kushiro-cranes", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/kushiro-cranes/", "title": "Kushiro — The Crane Japan Nearly Lost", "place": "Tsurui Crane Sanctuaries", "prefecture": "Hokkaido", "region": "Hokkaido", "lat": 43.22827, "lon": 144.33253, "hook": "The rarest dance in Japan, performed on a frozen marsh for whoever gets up early enough.", "access_level": 3, "budget_level": 4, "best_window": "Dec – Feb", "tags": [ "Coldest dawns win", "Wildlife", "Marsh" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "◎", "Feb": "◎", "Mar": "△", "Apr": "△", "May": "○", "Jun": "○", "Jul": "○", "Aug": "○", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "△", "Dec": "◎" }, "peak_months": [ "Jan", "Feb", "Dec" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · 1 night", "budget_text": "~¥53,000–73,000", "budget_jpy_low": 53000, "budget_jpy_high": 73000, "checked": "2026-08", "date_published": "2026-08-02", "date_modified": "2026-08-13", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 4, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/ac7e0735a96bf872.jpg", "coord_checked": "2026-09-20" }, { "no": 4, "slug": "shiretoko-drift-ice", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/shiretoko-drift-ice/", "title": "Shiretoko — Where the Frozen Sea Runs Aground", "place": "Shiretoko Drift Ice (Utoro)", "prefecture": "Hokkaido", "region": "Hokkaido", "lat": 44.067, "lon": 144.982, "hook": "The Arctic comes to you: walk on the frozen sea at the southern edge of the ice.", "access_level": 4, "budget_level": 4, "best_window": "Feb", "tags": [ "The sea freezes once a year", "Wilderness", "Onsen" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "△", "Feb": "◎", "Mar": "○", "Apr": "×", "May": "○", "Jun": "○", "Jul": "○", "Aug": "○", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "×", "Dec": "△" }, "peak_months": [ "Feb" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · 1 night", "budget_text": "~¥56,000–88,000", "budget_jpy_low": 56000, "budget_jpy_high": 88000, "checked": "2026-08", "date_published": "2026-08-05", "date_modified": "2026-08-13", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 4, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/a69ef49840e9e937.jpg", "coord_checked": "" }, { "no": 5, "slug": "gokayama", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/gokayama/", "title": "Gokayama — Shirakawa-go Without the Crowds", "place": "Gokayama Gassho Villages", "prefecture": "Toyama", "region": "Hokuriku", "lat": 36.42618, "lon": 136.93556, "hook": "The next valley over from Shirakawa-go, with gassho farmhouses you can sleep in.", "access_level": 4, "budget_level": 3, "best_window": "Dec – Feb", "tags": [ "After the day-trippers leave", "Heritage", "Village Stay" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "◎", "Feb": "◎", "Mar": "△", "Apr": "○", "May": "○", "Jun": "○", "Jul": "○", "Aug": "○", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "△", "Dec": "◎" }, "peak_months": [ "Jan", "Feb", "Dec" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · 1 night", "budget_text": "~¥44,000–50,000", "budget_jpy_low": 44000, "budget_jpy_high": 50000, "checked": "2026-08", "date_published": "2026-08-07", "date_modified": "2026-08-13", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 4, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/fc5867886beba190.jpg", "coord_checked": "2026-09-20" }, { "no": 6, "slug": "adachi-museum-garden", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/adachi-museum-garden/", "title": "Adachi Museum of Art — Japan's Best Garden, Seen Through Glass", "place": "Adachi Museum of Art", "prefecture": "Shimane", "region": "San'in", "lat": 35.38084, "lon": 133.19547, "hook": "Japan's best garden for twenty years running. Snow is the season to see it.", "access_level": 3, "budget_level": 4, "best_window": "Dec – Feb snow days", "tags": [ "Open every day of the year", "Art", "Garden", "Onsen" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "◎", "Feb": "◎", "Mar": "○", "Apr": "○", "May": "○", "Jun": "○", "Jul": "○", "Aug": "○", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "◎", "Dec": "◎" }, "peak_months": [ "Jan", "Feb", "Nov", "Dec" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · 1 night", "budget_text": "~¥52,000–97,000", "budget_jpy_low": 52000, "budget_jpy_high": 97000, "checked": "2026-08", "date_published": "2026-08-08", "date_modified": "2026-08-13", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 4, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/e7783888a15437f7.jpg", "coord_checked": "2026-09-20" }, { "no": 7, "slug": "oki-islands", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/oki-islands/", "title": "Oki Islands — Wild Horses on a 257-Meter Cliff", "place": "Oki Islands", "prefecture": "Shimane", "region": "San'in", "lat": 36.10662, "lon": 132.97177, "hook": "A plane, a taxi and a ferry to arrive, and Lv.5 on our Access Difficulty scale, its hardest grade.", "access_level": 5, "budget_level": 5, "best_window": "Apr – May", "tags": [ "The sea decides", "Cliffs", "Exile", "Geopark" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "×", "Feb": "×", "Mar": "△", "Apr": "◎", "May": "◎", "Jun": "○", "Jul": "○", "Aug": "○", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "◎", "Nov": "△", "Dec": "×" }, "peak_months": [ "Apr", "May", "Oct" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · 2 nights (this scene needs them)", "budget_text": "~¥79,000–121,000", "budget_jpy_low": 79000, "budget_jpy_high": 121000, "checked": "2026-09", "date_published": "2026-08-10", "date_modified": "2026-08-13", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 4, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/fe7d4cfe461d687c.jpg", "coord_checked": "2026-09-20" }, { "no": 8, "slug": "iya-valley", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/iya-valley/", "title": "Iya Valley — A Bridge Woven From Vines", "place": "Iya Valley", "prefecture": "Tokushima", "region": "Shikoku", "lat": 33.87509, "lon": 133.83542, "hook": "Vine bridges over a green gorge, and thatched farmhouses that take you in for the night.", "access_level": 4, "budget_level": 4, "best_window": "Nov · Apr", "tags": [ "4 buses a day", "Gorge", "Farmhouse Stay" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "△", "Feb": "△", "Mar": "○", "Apr": "◎", "May": "○", "Jun": "○", "Jul": "○", "Aug": "○", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "◎", "Dec": "△" }, "peak_months": [ "Apr", "Nov" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · 1 night", "budget_text": "~¥67,000–84,000", "budget_jpy_low": 67000, "budget_jpy_high": 84000, "checked": "2026-08", "date_published": "2026-08-10", "date_modified": "2026-08-13", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 4, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/1733a6b2db4891bb.jpg", "coord_checked": "2026-09-20" }, { "no": 9, "slug": "takachiho-gorge", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/takachiho-gorge/", "title": "Takachiho Gorge — Where the Sun Goddess Hid", "place": "Takachiho Gorge", "prefecture": "Miyazaki", "region": "Kyushu", "lat": 32.702, "lon": 131.301, "hook": "Where the myths say the sun goddess hid. On winter weekends, the gods still dance.", "access_level": 4, "budget_level": 3, "best_window": "Nov – Feb", "tags": [ "The gods dance at 20:00", "Myth", "Gorge" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "◎", "Feb": "○", "Mar": "○", "Apr": "○", "May": "○", "Jun": "○", "Jul": "○", "Aug": "○", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "◎", "Dec": "◎" }, "peak_months": [ "Jan", "Nov", "Dec" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · 1 night", "budget_text": "~¥46,000–72,000", "budget_jpy_low": 46000, "budget_jpy_high": 72000, "checked": "2026-09", "date_published": "2026-08-11", "date_modified": "2026-08-13", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 4, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/ae6da9aec6edca33.jpg", "coord_checked": "2026-09-20" }, { "no": 10, "slug": "beppu-kannawa", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/beppu-kannawa/", "title": "Kannawa, Beppu — A Town That Cooks in Steam", "place": "Kannawa District, Beppu", "prefecture": "Oita", "region": "Kyushu", "lat": 33.31617, "lon": 131.47778, "hook": "Steam rises from every alley. An easy first step beyond the Golden Route, one express train from Fukuoka.", "access_level": 2, "budget_level": 2, "best_window": "Dec – Feb (thickest steam)", "tags": [ "Light-up: weekends only", "Onsen", "Hells", "Toji" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "◎", "Feb": "◎", "Mar": "○", "Apr": "○", "May": "○", "Jun": "○", "Jul": "△", "Aug": "△", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "○", "Dec": "◎" }, "peak_months": [ "Jan", "Feb", "Dec" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Fukuoka · 1 night", "budget_text": "~¥20,000–56,000", "budget_jpy_low": 20000, "budget_jpy_high": 56000, "checked": "2026-08", "date_published": "2026-08-12", "date_modified": "2026-08-13", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 4, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/439337816c1138f4.jpg", "coord_checked": "2026-09-20" }, { "no": 11, "slug": "oirase-gorge", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/oirase-gorge/", "title": "Oirase Gorge — Fourteen Kilometers Beside One Stream", "place": "Oirase Gorge (Ishigedo)", "prefecture": "Aomori", "region": "Tohoku", "lat": 40.5478, "lon": 140.9206, "hook": "Fourteen kilometers of moss, waterfalls and beech beside a stream you walk all day. Gold in late October, green in June.", "access_level": 3, "budget_level": 4, "best_window": "late Oct · June", "tags": [ "JR Pass covers the bus", "Stream", "Forest Walk" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "△", "Feb": "△", "Mar": "△", "Apr": "△", "May": "○", "Jun": "◎", "Jul": "○", "Aug": "○", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "◎", "Nov": "△", "Dec": "△" }, "peak_months": [ "Jun", "Oct" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · 1 night", "budget_text": "~¥61,000–81,000", "budget_jpy_low": 61000, "budget_jpy_high": 81000, "checked": "2026-09", "date_published": "2026-08-22", "date_modified": "2026-08-22", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 3, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/c64a2db467da20a5.jpg", "coord_checked": "" }, { "no": 12, "slug": "asahidake", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/asahidake/", "title": "Asahidake — Japan's First Autumn", "place": "Asahidake, Daisetsuzan", "prefecture": "Hokkaido", "region": "Hokkaido", "lat": 43.6633, "lon": 142.8543, "hook": "Japan's autumn opens on this steaming volcano in mid-September, and a still pond shows it to you twice.", "access_level": 4, "budget_level": 4, "best_window": "mid – late Sep", "tags": [ "First cable car 6:30", "Volcano", "Alpine" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "△", "Feb": "△", "Mar": "△", "Apr": "△", "May": "△", "Jun": "○", "Jul": "○", "Aug": "○", "Sep": "◎", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "△", "Dec": "△" }, "peak_months": [ "Sep" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · 1 night", "budget_text": "~¥49,000–88,000", "budget_jpy_low": 49000, "budget_jpy_high": 88000, "checked": "2026-09", "date_published": "2026-08-22", "date_modified": "2026-08-22", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 3, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/c73111d4eb08d946.jpg", "coord_checked": "2026-09-20" }, { "no": 13, "slug": "gujo-odori", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/gujo-odori/", "title": "Gujo Odori — The Festival You Join", "place": "Gujo Hachiman (Gujo Odori)", "prefecture": "Gifu", "region": "Chubu", "lat": 35.748, "lon": 136.956, "hook": "A 400-year-old street dance with no stage and no rope. Rent the yukata, learn two songs, step off the curb; four nights in August it runs till dawn.", "access_level": 3, "budget_level": 3, "best_window": "Jul 11 – Sep 5 · all-night Aug 13–16", "tags": [ "No ticket, no rope", "Festival", "Water Town" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "△", "Feb": "△", "Mar": "△", "Apr": "○", "May": "○", "Jun": "○", "Jul": "◎", "Aug": "◎", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "○", "Dec": "△" }, "peak_months": [ "Jul", "Aug" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · 1 night", "budget_text": "~¥44,000–61,000", "budget_jpy_low": 44000, "budget_jpy_high": 61000, "checked": "2026-08", "date_published": "2026-08-22", "date_modified": "2026-08-22", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 4, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/06bfeecc4810e7f5.jpg", "coord_checked": "2026-09-20" }, { "no": 14, "slug": "achi-star-village", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/achi-star-village/", "title": "Achi Village — The Lights Go Out at 8:45", "place": "Heavens Sonohara, Achi", "prefecture": "Nagano", "region": "Chubu", "lat": 35.45527, "lon": 137.66863, "hook": "Japan's darkest measured sky, reached by gondola and switched on by a guide. Pick the moon, book two weeks out, and accept the six-in-ten odds.", "access_level": 3, "budget_level": 3, "best_window": "Aug – Sep · new moon", "tags": [ "Clear about 6 nights in 10", "Night Sky", "Onsen" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "○", "Feb": "○", "Mar": "○", "Apr": "○", "May": "△", "Jun": "△", "Jul": "○", "Aug": "◎", "Sep": "◎", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "○", "Dec": "○" }, "peak_months": [ "Aug", "Sep" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · 1 night", "budget_text": "~¥51,000–66,000", "budget_jpy_low": 51000, "budget_jpy_high": 66000, "checked": "2026-08", "date_published": "2026-08-22", "date_modified": "2026-08-22", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 4, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/4deb73e62a5483f7.jpg", "coord_checked": "2026-09-20" }, { "no": 15, "slug": "ogasawara-chichijima", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/ogasawara-chichijima/", "title": "Ogasawara — Tokyo, Twenty-Four Hours by Ship", "place": "Chichijima, Ogasawara Islands", "prefecture": "Tokyo", "region": "Tokyo Islands", "lat": 27.094, "lon": 142.195, "hook": "Part of Tokyo, a thousand kilometers out to sea, reached by one ship a week and twenty-four hours of ocean. Dolphins, an empty arch of sand, and a send-off where the guides jump in.", "access_level": 5, "budget_level": 5, "best_window": "Jun – Aug · whales Jan – Apr", "tags": [ "One ship a week", "6 days minimum", "Ocean", "Endemic Island" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "○", "Feb": "○", "Mar": "○", "Apr": "○", "May": "○", "Jun": "◎", "Jul": "◎", "Aug": "◎", "Sep": "△", "Oct": "△", "Nov": "○", "Dec": "○" }, "peak_months": [ "Jun", "Jul", "Aug" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · 5 nights (3 on the island)", "budget_text": "~¥112,000–175,000", "budget_jpy_low": 112000, "budget_jpy_high": 175000, "checked": "2026-08", "date_published": "2026-08-22", "date_modified": "2026-08-22", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 3, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/c95e7804c4ec18eb.jpg", "coord_checked": "" }, { "no": 16, "slug": "shimanto-river", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/shimanto-river/", "title": "Shimanto River — Forty-Seven Bridges, No Railings", "place": "Sada Chinkabashi, Shimanto River", "prefecture": "Kochi", "region": "Shikoku", "lat": 33.01536, "lon": 132.88529, "hook": "Forty-seven bridges built to go under the flood, a river you can still swim in, and a canoe seat that looks up at a deck with no edge.", "access_level": 4, "budget_level": 4, "best_window": "Jul – Aug", "tags": [ "Canoe under the bridges", "River", "Summer" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "△", "Feb": "△", "Mar": "○", "Apr": "○", "May": "○", "Jun": "△", "Jul": "◎", "Aug": "◎", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "○", "Dec": "△" }, "peak_months": [ "Jul", "Aug" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · 1 night", "budget_text": "~¥60,500–93,500", "budget_jpy_low": 60500, "budget_jpy_high": 93500, "checked": "2026-08", "date_published": "2026-08-22", "date_modified": "2026-08-22", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 4, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/bf5cbf5618f004a9.jpg", "coord_checked": "2026-09-20" }, { "no": 17, "slug": "kumano-nachi", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/kumano-nachi/", "title": "Kumano Kodo — The Last Mile to the Falls", "place": "Kumano Nachi Taisha & Nachi Falls", "prefecture": "Wakayama", "region": "Kansai", "lat": 33.669, "lon": 135.8905, "hook": "A thousand-year pilgrimage ends at a 133-meter waterfall worshipped as a god. We take you up the last cobbled mile of it.", "access_level": 3, "budget_level": 4, "best_window": "Oct – Nov", "tags": [ "Bus every 30–45 min", "Pilgrimage", "Waterfall" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "○", "Feb": "○", "Mar": "○", "Apr": "○", "May": "○", "Jun": "△", "Jul": "△", "Aug": "△", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "◎", "Nov": "◎", "Dec": "○" }, "peak_months": [ "Oct", "Nov" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · 1 night", "budget_text": "~¥58,000–75,000", "budget_jpy_low": 58000, "budget_jpy_high": 75000, "checked": "2026-08", "date_published": "2026-08-22", "date_modified": "2026-08-22", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 4, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/0095c483fb37b9bf.jpg", "coord_checked": "" }, { "no": 18, "slug": "shimanami-kaido", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/shimanami-kaido/", "title": "Shimanami Kaido — Seven Bridges, One Blue Line", "place": "Shimanami Kaido (Onomichi)", "prefecture": "Hiroshima", "region": "Setouchi", "lat": 34.4047, "lon": 133.1949, "hook": "Seventy kilometers, six islands, seven bridges, one blue line on the road, and a bike you can drop anywhere. The easy one.", "access_level": 2, "budget_level": 4, "best_window": "Oct – Nov · Apr – May", "tags": [ "Bikes ¥3,000", "drop at any of 10 stations", "Cycling", "Islands" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "△", "Feb": "△", "Mar": "○", "Apr": "◎", "May": "◎", "Jun": "△", "Jul": "△", "Aug": "△", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "◎", "Nov": "◎", "Dec": "○" }, "peak_months": [ "Apr", "May", "Oct", "Nov" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · 1 night", "budget_text": "~¥54,000–70,000", "budget_jpy_low": 54000, "budget_jpy_high": 70000, "checked": "2026-08", "date_published": "2026-08-22", "date_modified": "2026-08-22", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 3, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/395941393fe045b1.jpg", "coord_checked": "" }, { "no": 19, "slug": "aso-kusasenri", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/aso-kusasenri/", "title": "Mount Aso — Fifty Thousand People in the Crater", "place": "Kusasenri, Mount Aso", "prefecture": "Kumamoto", "region": "Kyushu", "lat": 32.88071, "lon": 131.05384, "hook": "A crater twenty-five kilometers wide with towns on its floor, horses on its meadow, and a volcano in the middle that never stopped. Green by June, burned black each March.", "access_level": 3, "budget_level": 4, "best_window": "Jun – Aug · the March burn", "tags": [ "Crater: closed at Level 2", "Volcano", "Grassland" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "△", "Feb": "○", "Mar": "◎", "Apr": "△", "May": "○", "Jun": "◎", "Jul": "◎", "Aug": "◎", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "○", "Dec": "△" }, "peak_months": [ "Mar", "Jun", "Jul", "Aug" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · 1 night", "budget_text": "~¥49,000–85,000", "budget_jpy_low": 49000, "budget_jpy_high": 85000, "checked": "2026-08", "date_published": "2026-08-22", "date_modified": "2026-08-22", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 3, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/bbb19f69d06a154d.jpg", "coord_checked": "2026-09-20" }, { "no": 20, "slug": "tateyama-snow-corridor", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/tateyama-snow-corridor/", "title": "Tateyama — A Road Dug Through the Snow", "place": "Murodo, Tateyama (Snow Corridor)", "prefecture": "Toyama", "region": "Hokuriku", "lat": 36.577, "lon": 137.596, "hook": "Every spring a crew digs a mountain highway out of twenty meters of snow, and for ten weeks you can walk the trench. Walls tallest in late April; sleep on the plateau to beat the buses.", "access_level": 2, "budget_level": 4, "best_window": "Apr 15 – early May", "tags": [ "Walk open Apr 15 – Jun 25", "9:30–15:00", "Alpine", "Snow" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "△", "Feb": "△", "Mar": "△", "Apr": "◎", "May": "◎", "Jun": "○", "Jul": "○", "Aug": "○", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "△", "Dec": "△" }, "peak_months": [ "Apr", "May" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · 1 night on the plateau · out via Nagano", "budget_text": "~¥60,000–65,000", "budget_jpy_low": 60000, "budget_jpy_high": 65000, "checked": "2026-09", "date_published": "2026-08-22", "date_modified": "2026-08-22", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 3, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/11aa96bda52de048.jpg", "coord_checked": "2026-09-20" }, { "no": 21, "slug": "himeji-castle", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/himeji-castle/", "title": "Himeji Castle — The Keep That Is Still Wood", "place": "Himeji Castle", "prefecture": "Hyogo", "region": "Kansai", "lat": 34.8394, "lon": 134.6939, "hook": "The only great castle in Japan that is still the original, and since March 2026 a ¥2,500 question. Go at nine, climb it in your socks, stay for the lights.", "access_level": 1, "budget_level": 2, "best_window": "early Apr · Nov · winter weekdays", "tags": [ "¥2,500 from Mar 2026", "under 18 free", "Castle", "Heritage" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "○", "Feb": "○", "Mar": "○", "Apr": "◎", "May": "○", "Jun": "△", "Jul": "△", "Aug": "△", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "◎", "Dec": "○" }, "peak_months": [ "Apr", "Nov" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Kyoto · 1 night", "budget_text": "~¥34,000–41,000", "budget_jpy_low": 34000, "budget_jpy_high": 41000, "checked": "2026-08", "date_published": "2026-08-22", "date_modified": "2026-08-22", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 3, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/bbbb1a4e21e788ec.jpg", "coord_checked": "2026-09-20" }, { "no": 22, "slug": "kenrokuen-winter", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/kenrokuen-winter/", "title": "Kenrokuen — Trees Tied Up for Snow", "place": "Kenrokuen Garden, Kanazawa", "prefecture": "Ishikawa", "region": "Hokuriku", "lat": 36.5622, "lon": 136.6626, "hook": "From November 1 the pines are rigged with ropes against the snow, and from six in the morning the side gates open for free. Crab season, a rainy city, and the best-kept secret in Kanazawa.", "access_level": 1, "budget_level": 3, "best_window": "Nov – Feb · snow days · 6:00 free entry", "tags": [ "Yukitsuri up Nov 1", "light-up Feb 2027", "Garden", "Winter City" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "◎", "Feb": "◎", "Mar": "○", "Apr": "○", "May": "○", "Jun": "△", "Jul": "△", "Aug": "△", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "◎", "Dec": "◎" }, "peak_months": [ "Jan", "Feb", "Nov", "Dec" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · 1 night", "budget_text": "~¥46,000–63,000", "budget_jpy_low": 46000, "budget_jpy_high": 63000, "checked": "2026-08", "date_published": "2026-08-22", "date_modified": "2026-08-22", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 3, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/412345d3417ef056.jpg", "coord_checked": "2026-09-20" }, { "no": 23, "slug": "karasawa-cirque", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/karasawa-cirque/", "title": "Karasawa Cirque — Six Hours Up, No Shortcut", "place": "Karasawa Cirque, Hotaka", "prefecture": "Nagano", "region": "Chubu", "lat": 36.2947, "lon": 137.669, "hook": "No road, no lift: a six-hour walk from Kamikochi into a glacial bowl under the Hotaka peaks that turns red and gold for ten days in October. Up to a thousand tents, two huts that sell out in seconds, and a dawn nobody talks through.", "access_level": 5, "budget_level": 3, "best_window": "Oct 1 – 10 · peak Sep 30 – Oct 3", "tags": [ "Huts open Apr 27 – Nov 3", "tents ¥2,000", "Alpine", "Hike-in" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "△", "Feb": "△", "Mar": "△", "Apr": "△", "May": "△", "Jun": "○", "Jul": "○", "Aug": "○", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "◎", "Nov": "△", "Dec": "△" }, "peak_months": [ "Oct" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · 2 nights (hut + valley)", "budget_text": "~¥51,000–58,000", "budget_jpy_low": 51000, "budget_jpy_high": 58000, "checked": "2026-08", "date_published": "2026-08-22", "date_modified": "2026-08-22", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 3, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/55e5c6e805e70c69.jpg", "coord_checked": "2026-09-20" }, { "no": 24, "slug": "miyajima-autumn", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/miyajima-autumn/", "title": "Miyajima — 560 Maples in One Valley", "place": "Itsukushima Shrine, Miyajima", "prefecture": "Hiroshima", "region": "Setouchi", "lat": 34.2959, "lon": 132.3197, "hook": "560 maples peak in the second half of November, and so does the crowd. The shrine opens at 6:30 and the last ferry leaves at 22:14, and almost nobody stays for the hours in between.", "access_level": 1, "budget_level": 2, "best_window": "mid–late Nov · Dec–Feb for quiet", "tags": [ "Shrine opens 6:30", "ferry ¥200", "island tax ¥100", "Island", "Heritage", "Autumn" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "◎", "Feb": "◎", "Mar": "○", "Apr": "○", "May": "○", "Jun": "△", "Jul": "△", "Aug": "△", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "◎", "Dec": "◎" }, "peak_months": [ "Jan", "Feb", "Nov", "Dec" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Hiroshima · 1 night on the island", "budget_text": "~¥29,000–43,000", "budget_jpy_low": 29000, "budget_jpy_high": 43000, "checked": "2026-09", "date_published": "2026-08-23", "date_modified": "2026-08-23", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 3, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/92cff93c3e57404d.jpg", "coord_checked": "2026-09-20" }, { "no": 25, "slug": "nyuto-onsen", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/nyuto-onsen/", "title": "Nyuto Onsen — Seven Baths, One Pass", "place": "Nyuto Onsen (Tsurunoyu)", "prefecture": "Akita", "region": "Tohoku", "lat": 39.796, "lon": 140.799, "hook": "Seven inns in a beech forest, each on its own spring, joined by a ¥2,500 bath-crawl pass. The milky mixed rotenburo at Tsurunoyu is the poster; the phone-only booking myth has an online workaround nobody mentions.", "access_level": 4, "budget_level": 3, "best_window": "mid-Oct beech · Jan–Feb snow", "tags": [ "7 baths", "one ¥2,500 pass", "Onsen", "Mixed Bathing", "Toji" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "◎", "Feb": "◎", "Mar": "○", "Apr": "△", "May": "○", "Jun": "○", "Jul": "○", "Aug": "○", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "◎", "Nov": "○", "Dec": "○" }, "peak_months": [ "Jan", "Feb", "Oct" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · 1 night", "budget_text": "~¥56,000–59,000", "budget_jpy_low": 56000, "budget_jpy_high": 59000, "checked": "2026-08", "date_published": "2026-08-27", "date_modified": "2026-08-27", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 3, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/59f8f8a07f032a4c.jpg", "coord_checked": "" }, { "no": 26, "slug": "eiheiji", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/eiheiji/", "title": "Eiheiji — Dogen's Schedule, Kept Since 1244", "place": "Eiheiji Temple", "prefecture": "Fukui", "region": "Hokuriku", "lat": 36.0553, "lon": 136.3556, "hook": "A hundred monks still keep Dogen's 1244 timetable in the Fukui mountains. Walk-in zazen three times a day, a 5 a.m. service you can actually attend, and the 2026 truth about staying overnight that old guides miss.", "access_level": 2, "budget_level": 4, "best_window": "Dec – Feb snow · quiet all year", "tags": [ "Zazen daily", "no reservation", "Zen", "Monastery", "Since 1244" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "◎", "Feb": "◎", "Mar": "○", "Apr": "○", "May": "○", "Jun": "○", "Jul": "○", "Aug": "○", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "○", "Dec": "◎" }, "peak_months": [ "Jan", "Feb", "Dec" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · 1 night", "budget_text": "~¥66,000–68,000", "budget_jpy_low": 66000, "budget_jpy_high": 68000, "checked": "2026-08", "date_published": "2026-08-29", "date_modified": "2026-08-29", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 3, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/9f650b726c020f41.jpg", "coord_checked": "" }, { "no": 27, "slug": "tadami-line", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/tadami-line/", "title": "Tadami Line — Three Trains a Day", "place": "No.1 Tadami River Bridge", "prefecture": "Fukushima", "region": "Tohoku", "lat": 37.471, "lon": 139.644, "hook": "A flood killed this railway in 2011; the villages bought the track and brought it back. The exact times the famous bridge carries a train, the four-hour gap when it doesn't, and a ¥35,000 Tokyo loop that never repeats a kilometer.", "access_level": 4, "budget_level": 2, "best_window": "Dec – Feb snow · late Oct color", "tags": [ "3 through-trains a day", "no reservations", "Railway", "River Gorge", "Since 2022, again" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "◎", "Feb": "◎", "Mar": "○", "Apr": "○", "May": "○", "Jun": "○", "Jul": "△", "Aug": "△", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "◎", "Nov": "○", "Dec": "◎" }, "peak_months": [ "Jan", "Feb", "Oct", "Dec" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · 1 night", "budget_text": "~¥31,000–38,000", "budget_jpy_low": 31000, "budget_jpy_high": 38000, "checked": "2026-08", "date_published": "2026-08-29", "date_modified": "2026-08-29", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 3, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/d2b16a498d35b059.jpg", "coord_checked": "" }, { "no": 28, "slug": "taketomi", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/taketomi/", "title": "Taketomi Island — 350 People After the Last Ferry", "place": "Taketomi Island", "prefecture": "Okinawa", "region": "Okinawa", "lat": 24.331, "lon": 124.086, "hook": "A coral-sand village 15 minutes from Ishigaki, 19°C in January. The 17:50 last boat splits it into two islands, and almost nobody sees the second one: sunset pier, star-lit lanes, raked sand at dawn.", "access_level": 3, "budget_level": 3, "best_window": "Dec – Mar escape · Apr – Jun sea", "tags": [ "Last ferry 17:50", "stay past it", "Island", "Preserved Village", "Dark Sky" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "◎", "Feb": "◎", "Mar": "◎", "Apr": "○", "May": "○", "Jun": "○", "Jul": "△", "Aug": "△", "Sep": "△", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "○", "Dec": "◎" }, "peak_months": [ "Jan", "Feb", "Mar", "Dec" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · 1 night", "budget_text": "~¥43,000–61,000", "budget_jpy_low": 43000, "budget_jpy_high": 61000, "checked": "2026-08", "date_published": "2026-08-29", "date_modified": "2026-08-29", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 3, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/ab1c7abdcb49dd86.jpg", "coord_checked": "" }, { "no": 29, "slug": "ine-funaya", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/ine-funaya/", "title": "Ine — Houses With Their Feet in the Sea", "place": "Funaya of Ine", "prefecture": "Kyoto", "region": "Kansai", "lat": 35.6752, "lon": 135.2867, "hook": "230 boathouses ring a bay two hours from Kyoto Station: boats below, bedrooms above, the only preservation district in Japan that includes the sea itself. Sea taxis, funaya stays, and winter yellowtail.", "access_level": 3, "budget_level": 4, "best_window": "Apr – May · Nov – Feb for buri", "tags": [ "2 h from Kyoto Station", "Fishing Village", "Funaya Stay", "Sea Taxi" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "○", "Feb": "○", "Mar": "○", "Apr": "◎", "May": "◎", "Jun": "○", "Jul": "△", "Aug": "△", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "◎", "Dec": "◎" }, "peak_months": [ "Apr", "May", "Nov", "Dec" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · 1 night", "budget_text": "~¥62,000–70,000", "budget_jpy_low": 62000, "budget_jpy_high": 70000, "checked": "2026-08", "date_published": "2026-08-29", "date_modified": "2026-08-29", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 3, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/0fe611baa0092fd6.jpg", "coord_checked": "2026-09-20" }, { "no": 30, "slug": "sado-island", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/sado-island/", "title": "Sado Island — Gold, Exiles and Taiko", "place": "Shukunegi, Sado Island", "prefecture": "Niigata", "region": "Chubu", "lat": 37.813, "lon": 138.272, "hook": "Exiled emperors, a 400-year gold mine turned World Heritage, a bird back from extinction, and the Kodo drummers' August festival the forums haven't found. Two hours of Shinkansen, one ferry, rent the car.", "access_level": 4, "budget_level": 4, "best_window": "Jun – Aug · Earth Celebration in Aug", "tags": [ "Rental car near-essential", "2 nights minimum", "Gold", "Exile", "Taiko", "World Heritage 2024" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "△", "Feb": "△", "Mar": "○", "Apr": "○", "May": "○", "Jun": "◎", "Jul": "◎", "Aug": "◎", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "△", "Dec": "△" }, "peak_months": [ "Jun", "Jul", "Aug" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · 2 nights", "budget_text": "~¥70,000–97,000", "budget_jpy_low": 70000, "budget_jpy_high": 97000, "checked": "2026-08", "date_published": "2026-08-29", "date_modified": "2026-08-29", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 3, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/4db53a7da62e3da7.jpg", "coord_checked": "" }, { "no": 31, "slug": "ozegahara", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/ozegahara/", "title": "Ozegahara — A Marsh Floating at 1,400 Meters", "place": "Ozegahara Marshland", "prefecture": "Gunma", "region": "Kanto", "lat": 36.933, "lon": 139.222, "hook": "Honshu's biggest highland marsh, two hours north of Tokyo. Night bus in, dawn mist on the boardwalk, huts with real baths, and crowds a quarter of what they were in 1996.", "access_level": 3, "budget_level": 2, "best_window": "Jun flowers · late Sep–Oct gold", "tags": [ "Open mid-Apr – early Nov", "National Park", "Boardwalks", "Huts" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "△", "Feb": "△", "Mar": "△", "Apr": "△", "May": "○", "Jun": "◎", "Jul": "○", "Aug": "○", "Sep": "◎", "Oct": "◎", "Nov": "△", "Dec": "△" }, "peak_months": [ "Jun", "Sep", "Oct" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · 1 hut night", "budget_text": "~¥35,000–41,000", "budget_jpy_low": 35000, "budget_jpy_high": 41000, "checked": "2026-08", "date_published": "2026-08-29", "date_modified": "2026-08-29", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 3, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/1f840a256a17e4f5.jpg", "coord_checked": "2026-09-20" }, { "no": 32, "slug": "yufuin", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/yufuin/", "title": "Yufuin Onsen — The Fog Comes Before the Crowds", "place": "Yufuin Onsen", "prefecture": "Oita", "region": "Kyushu", "lat": 33.2679, "lon": 131.3717, "hook": "Kyushu's busiest little onsen town, 68 percent day trippers. Sleep the night and the basin fills with morning fog, the warm lake steams, and it all burns off before the first coach.", "access_level": 2, "budget_level": 3, "best_window": "Oct–Dec fog mornings · Nov color", "tags": [ "Fog wants: clear, calm, cold", "Onsen town", "Ryokan", "Basin at 450 m" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "○", "Feb": "○", "Mar": "○", "Apr": "○", "May": "○", "Jun": "○", "Jul": "○", "Aug": "○", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "◎", "Nov": "◎", "Dec": "◎" }, "peak_months": [ "Oct", "Nov", "Dec" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Fukuoka · 1 ryokan night", "budget_text": "~¥50,000–57,000", "budget_jpy_low": 50000, "budget_jpy_high": 57000, "checked": "2026-08", "date_published": "2026-08-30", "date_modified": "2026-08-30", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 3, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/4fae3e0e402f8624.jpg", "coord_checked": "2026-09-20" }, { "no": 33, "slug": "owara-kaze-no-bon", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/owara-kaze-no-bon/", "title": "Owara Kaze no Bon — A Festival Danced in Silence", "place": "Owara Kaze no Bon, Yatsuo", "prefecture": "Toyama", "region": "Hokuriku", "lat": 36.6058, "lon": 137.1466, "hook": "Three September nights, veiled dancers, a mourning fiddle, and no cheering. The official program ends at eleven; some nights the real festival dances on past midnight.", "access_level": 3, "budget_level": 3, "best_window": "", "tags": [ "Sep 1–3, every year", "Rain stops the music", "Silk town", "Stone slopes", "Lanterns" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "△", "Feb": "△", "Mar": "△", "Apr": "△", "May": "○", "Jun": "△", "Jul": "△", "Aug": "△", "Sep": "◎", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "△", "Dec": "△" }, "peak_months": [ "Sep" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · 2 nights in Toyama", "budget_text": "~¥50,000–60,000", "budget_jpy_low": 50000, "budget_jpy_high": 60000, "checked": "2026-08", "date_published": "2026-08-30", "date_modified": "2026-08-30", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 3, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/3308db506763d6c0.jpg", "coord_checked": "" }, { "no": 34, "slug": "kusatsu", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/kusatsu/", "title": "Kusatsu Onsen — Thirty-Two Thousand Liters a Minute", "place": "Kusatsu Onsen", "prefecture": "Gunma", "region": "Kanto", "lat": 36.6229, "lon": 138.5964, "hook": "Japan's biggest natural hot-spring flow, pH 2.1, cooled by paddles and song. Tattoo-friendly in writing, best below freezing, and served by a bus Google Maps won't show you.", "access_level": 2, "budget_level": 3, "best_window": "Dec–Feb steam & snow", "tags": [ "Tattoo-friendly, officially", "pH 2.1", "32,300 L/min", "1,200 m" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "◎", "Feb": "◎", "Mar": "○", "Apr": "○", "May": "○", "Jun": "○", "Jul": "○", "Aug": "○", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "○", "Dec": "◎" }, "peak_months": [ "Jan", "Feb", "Dec" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · 1 ryokan night", "budget_text": "~¥42,000–53,000", "budget_jpy_low": 42000, "budget_jpy_high": 53000, "checked": "2026-08", "date_published": "2026-08-30", "date_modified": "2026-08-30", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 3, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/a3b7a4f437e423a9.jpg", "coord_checked": "2026-09-20" }, { "no": 35, "slug": "kamikochi", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/kamikochi/", "title": "Kamikochi — The Valley Before the Buses", "place": "Kamikochi", "prefecture": "Nagano", "region": "Chubu", "lat": 36.251, "lon": 137.635, "hook": "Japan's car-free alpine valley is a day trip for a million people and a dawn secret for the few hundred who sleep inside the gates. Mist on Taisho Pond 6–8 a.m., flat riverside walking, larch gold under first snow.", "access_level": 2, "budget_level": 3, "best_window": "new green in Jun · larch gold late Oct", "tags": [ "Closed Nov 16 – Apr 16", "car-free always", "Alps", "Riverside walking", "Lv.1 trails" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "×", "Feb": "×", "Mar": "×", "Apr": "△", "May": "○", "Jun": "◎", "Jul": "○", "Aug": "○", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "◎", "Nov": "◎", "Dec": "×" }, "peak_months": [ "Jun", "Oct", "Nov" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · 1 night", "budget_text": "~¥40,000–55,000", "budget_jpy_low": 40000, "budget_jpy_high": 55000, "checked": "2026-08", "date_published": "2026-09-01", "date_modified": "2026-09-01", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 3, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/f69739475ecdd37b.jpg", "coord_checked": "2026-09-20" }, { "no": 36, "slug": "yakushima", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/yakushima/", "title": "Yakushima — Thirty-Five Days of Rain a Month", "place": "Yakushima", "prefecture": "Kagoshima", "region": "Kyushu", "lat": 30.43, "lon": 130.57, "hook": "Japan's rainiest island grew its greenest forest: the Mononoke moss of Shiratani, the honest 10-hour Jomon Sugi math, tide-timed seaside onsen, and rain you learn to want.", "access_level": 3, "budget_level": 5, "best_window": "Apr – May · Oct – Nov · turtles May – Jul", "tags": [ "Rain gear always", "2 nights minimum", "World Heritage forest", "Moss", "Deer & monkeys" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "△", "Feb": "△", "Mar": "○", "Apr": "◎", "May": "◎", "Jun": "○", "Jul": "○", "Aug": "○", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "◎", "Nov": "◎", "Dec": "△" }, "peak_months": [ "Apr", "May", "Oct", "Nov" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · 2 nights", "budget_text": "~¥77,000–123,000", "budget_jpy_low": 77000, "budget_jpy_high": 123000, "checked": "2026-08", "date_published": "2026-09-02", "date_modified": "2026-09-02", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 3, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/16ce2a14da02d914.jpg", "coord_checked": "2026-09-20" }, { "no": 37, "slug": "koyasan", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/koyasan/", "title": "Koyasan — Everyone Leaves at Five", "place": "Koyasan", "prefecture": "Wakayama", "region": "Kansai", "lat": 34.213, "lon": 135.585, "hook": "A million day-trippers drain out each evening and a monastery town of 2,600 gets its mountain back. Temple beds, the lantern-lit cemetery at night, and a 6 a.m. rite unbroken for 1,200 years.", "access_level": 2, "budget_level": 4, "best_window": "maples late Oct – early Nov · fresh green May – Jun", "tags": [ "Temple lodging books 6 months out", "Night cemetery walk", "Morning prayers", "800 m up" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "△", "Feb": "△", "Mar": "△", "Apr": "○", "May": "◎", "Jun": "◎", "Jul": "○", "Aug": "○", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "◎", "Nov": "◎", "Dec": "△" }, "peak_months": [ "May", "Jun", "Oct", "Nov" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · 1 night", "budget_text": "~¥54,000–73,000", "budget_jpy_low": 54000, "budget_jpy_high": 73000, "checked": "2026-09", "date_published": "2026-09-02", "date_modified": "2026-09-02", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 3, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/502dea2d68d2163e.jpg", "coord_checked": "2026-09-20" }, { "no": 38, "slug": "jigokudani-snow-monkeys", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/jigokudani-snow-monkeys/", "title": "Jigokudani — Monkeys That Keep Office Hours", "place": "Jigokudani Monkey Park, Yamanouchi", "prefecture": "Nagano", "region": "Chubu", "lat": 36.7331, "lon": 138.4623, "hook": "Wild macaques walk down to their hot-spring pool around nine and back up around three, and the park posts their attendance forecast. Dated tickets since 2026, a 2 km snow trail, and the night before in Shibu Onsen with the key to nine baths.", "access_level": 3, "budget_level": 3, "best_window": "Dec – Feb snow · late Apr – Jun babies", "tags": [ "Dated online tickets since Aug 2026", "Wild Monkeys", "Nine Bathhouses", "Snow" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "◎", "Feb": "◎", "Mar": "○", "Apr": "△", "May": "○", "Jun": "○", "Jul": "△", "Aug": "△", "Sep": "△", "Oct": "△", "Nov": "△", "Dec": "◎" }, "peak_months": [ "Jan", "Feb", "Dec" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · 1 night", "budget_text": "~¥38,000–54,000", "budget_jpy_low": 38000, "budget_jpy_high": 54000, "checked": "2026-09", "date_published": "2026-09-04", "date_modified": "2026-09-04", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 4, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/00f0968e4c69c99e.jpg", "coord_checked": "2026-09-20" }, { "no": 39, "slug": "kinosaki-onsen", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/kinosaki-onsen/", "title": "Kinosaki Onsen — Cotton Robes on One Street", "place": "Kinosaki Onsen", "prefecture": "Hyogo", "region": "Kansai", "lat": 35.62616, "lon": 134.80953, "hook": "Seven public bathhouses, a pass that comes with your room, and a twenty-year lawsuit that kept the baths on the street. Five of the seven are open this autumn, tattoos are officially welcome, and the crab arrives on November 6.", "access_level": 2, "budget_level": 3, "best_window": "Nov 6 – Mar crab · Jan – Feb snow · Apr blossom", "tags": [ "5 of 7 bathhouses open until Oct 30, 2026", "Seven Baths", "Yukata", "Tattoo-Friendly" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "◎", "Feb": "◎", "Mar": "○", "Apr": "○", "May": "○", "Jun": "△", "Jul": "△", "Aug": "△", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "◎", "Dec": "◎" }, "peak_months": [ "Jan", "Feb", "Nov", "Dec" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Kyoto · 1 night", "budget_text": "~¥37,000–44,000", "budget_jpy_low": 37000, "budget_jpy_high": 44000, "checked": "2026-09", "date_published": "2026-09-05", "date_modified": "2026-09-05", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 4, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/83d4b0b57b889bde.jpg", "coord_checked": "2026-09-20" }, { "no": 40, "slug": "takeda-castle", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/takeda-castle/", "title": "Takeda Castle — One Morning in Three", "place": "Takeda Castle Ruins", "prefecture": "Hyogo", "region": "Kansai", "lat": 35.3009, "lon": 134.8283, "hook": "The sea of clouds fills the valley on about one autumn morning in three, by nine years of records, and no train reaches the lookout by dawn. A ruin of superb 1580s walls, a town of seven inns, a torch and a bell.", "access_level": 3, "budget_level": 2, "best_window": "Oct – Nov dawn · closed Jan 4 – Feb 28", "tags": [ "Clouds on ~36% of Oct, 41% of Nov mornings", "Stone Walls", "Sea of Clouds", "5 a.m. Gate" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "×", "Feb": "×", "Mar": "△", "Apr": "○", "May": "△", "Jun": "△", "Jul": "△", "Aug": "△", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "◎", "Nov": "◎", "Dec": "○" }, "peak_months": [ "Oct", "Nov" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Kyoto · 1 night", "budget_text": "~¥20,000–46,000", "budget_jpy_low": 20000, "budget_jpy_high": 46000, "checked": "2026-09", "date_published": "2026-09-05", "date_modified": "2026-09-05", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 4, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/1e9a96f6ef0b6b6a.jpg", "coord_checked": "2026-09-20" }, { "no": 41, "slug": "kurokawa-onsen", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/kurokawa-onsen/", "title": "Kurokawa Onsen — A Town Run as One Inn", "place": "Kurokawa Onsen", "prefecture": "Kumamoto", "region": "Kyushu", "lat": 33.07839, "lon": 131.1413, "hook": "Thirty inns that call themselves one, a ¥1,500 cedar pass for three open-air baths, and two clocks: the famous baths close to visitors at three. Reserved buses from Fukuoka, no ATM, and three hundred bamboo lanterns on the river from late December.", "access_level": 3, "budget_level": 2, "best_window": "late Dec – Mar lanterns · Nov leaves · year-round", "tags": [ "Reserved bus", "last one home 14:00", "Cedar Pass", "Cave Bath", "Bamboo Lanterns" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "◎", "Feb": "◎", "Mar": "○", "Apr": "○", "May": "○", "Jun": "△", "Jul": "△", "Aug": "○", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "◎", "Dec": "◎" }, "peak_months": [ "Jan", "Feb", "Nov", "Dec" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Fukuoka · 1 night", "budget_text": "~¥35,000–40,000", "budget_jpy_low": 35000, "budget_jpy_high": 40000, "checked": "2026-09", "date_published": "2026-09-06", "date_modified": "2026-09-06", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 4, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/dffec050888c8415.jpg", "coord_checked": "2026-09-20" }, { "no": 42, "slug": "dogo-onsen", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/dogo-onsen/", "title": "Dōgo Onsen — A ¥700 Bath at Six a.m.", "place": "Dogo Onsen Honkan, Matsuyama", "prefecture": "Ehime", "region": "Shikoku", "lat": 33.852, "lon": 132.7863, "hook": "The doors open at six and the first outsider off a plane or a ferry lands at 8:45. An 1894 bathhouse, a national cultural property, kept open through almost six years of repair. Four ticket tiers from ¥700, all on a 60-minute clock, and a live wait page nobody outside Japan reads.", "access_level": 2, "budget_level": 1, "best_window": "year-round · Mar–Apr & Oct–Nov", "tags": [ "Doors 6:00", "live wait page", "no booking", "¥700 Bath", "Imperial Wing", "Four Tiers" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "○", "Feb": "○", "Mar": "◎", "Apr": "◎", "May": "○", "Jun": "△", "Jul": "△", "Aug": "○", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "◎", "Nov": "◎", "Dec": "○" }, "peak_months": [ "Mar", "Apr", "Oct", "Nov" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from the airport · 1 night", "budget_text": "~¥8,500–33,000", "budget_jpy_low": 8500, "budget_jpy_high": 33000, "checked": "2026-09", "date_published": "2026-09-08", "date_modified": "2026-09-08", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 4, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/4274ec77d71b4a3b.jpg", "coord_checked": "2026-09-20" }, { "no": 43, "slug": "gero-onsen", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/gero-onsen/", "title": "Gero Onsen — Eighteen Doors, Two Hours at Noon", "place": "Gero Onsen, Gero", "prefecture": "Gifu", "region": "Chubu", "lat": 35.8055, "lon": 137.2435, "hook": "One of Japan's three great springs since a monk's diary of 1489, in a town of concrete inns nobody warns you about. A ¥2,500 pass opens eighteen baths, the best of them for two hours at noon and one on Thursdays only. The famous river bath closed in 2021. Nagoya 1 h 32.", "access_level": 2, "budget_level": 2, "best_window": "Dec–Feb & Nov · fireworks Saturdays", "tags": [ "Nagoya 1 h 32", "pass ¥2,500", "three stamps", "pH 9", "Three Great Springs", "footbath only" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "◎", "Feb": "◎", "Mar": "○", "Apr": "○", "May": "○", "Jun": "△", "Jul": "△", "Aug": "○", "Sep": "△", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "◎", "Dec": "◎" }, "peak_months": [ "Jan", "Feb", "Nov", "Dec" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Nagoya · 1 night", "budget_text": "~¥19,500–44,000", "budget_jpy_low": 19500, "budget_jpy_high": 44000, "checked": "2026-09", "date_published": "2026-09-12", "date_modified": "2026-09-12", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 3, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/b4a4bba7f48599bc.jpg", "coord_checked": "2026-09-20" }, { "no": 44, "slug": "mitokusan-nageiredo", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/mitokusan-nageiredo/", "title": "Mitokusan — The Temple That Checks Your Shoes", "place": "Nageiredo, Mitokusan Sanbutsuji", "prefecture": "Tottori", "region": "San'in", "lat": 35.3949, "lon": 133.9426, "hook": "A National Treasure from 1098 wedged in a cliff, reached by an hour of roots and chains and never entered. Two-person rule, shoe inspection, a three o'clock cutoff, rain closures, and the guide who takes solo climbers.", "access_level": 4, "budget_level": 3, "best_window": "late Oct – Nov leaves · Apr – May green · closed Dec – Mar", "tags": [ "Two-person rule", "desk 8:00–15:00", "Straw Sandals", "Chains", "Radon Baths" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "×", "Feb": "×", "Mar": "×", "Apr": "◎", "May": "◎", "Jun": "○", "Jul": "△", "Aug": "△", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "◎", "Nov": "◎", "Dec": "×" }, "peak_months": [ "Apr", "May", "Oct", "Nov" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Kyoto · 1 night", "budget_text": "~¥39,000–48,000", "budget_jpy_low": 39000, "budget_jpy_high": 48000, "checked": "2026-09", "date_published": "2026-09-06", "date_modified": "2026-09-06", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 4, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/bda318868bf1e02a.jpg", "coord_checked": "" }, { "no": 45, "slug": "naruto-whirlpools", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/naruto-whirlpools/", "title": "Naruto Whirlpools — Check the Hour, Not the Day", "place": "Naruto Strait, Tokushima", "prefecture": "Tokushima", "region": "Shikoku", "lat": 34.2436, "lon": 134.6464, "hook": "Every guide says come on a spring tide. In October 2026, three in ten spring-tide peaks arrive after the last boat has gone. The English tide table exists and almost nobody links it.", "access_level": 2, "budget_level": 1, "best_window": "Mar–Apr & Sep–Oct spring tides", "tags": [ "Boats ¥2,000", "walkway ¥510", "no IC on buses", "Peak window: ±90 min, the operators' figure" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "○", "Feb": "○", "Mar": "◎", "Apr": "◎", "May": "○", "Jun": "△", "Jul": "○", "Aug": "○", "Sep": "◎", "Oct": "◎", "Nov": "○", "Dec": "○" }, "peak_months": [ "Mar", "Apr", "Sep", "Oct" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Naruto station · one day", "budget_text": "~¥4,200–8,200", "budget_jpy_low": 4200, "budget_jpy_high": 8200, "checked": "2026-09", "date_published": "2026-09-12", "date_modified": "2026-09-12", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 3, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/cd7f157b274c237d.jpg", "coord_checked": "" }, { "no": 46, "slug": "naoshima", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/naoshima/", "title": "Naoshima — Everything Closes on a Different Day", "place": "Naoshima, Kagawa", "prefecture": "Kagawa", "region": "Shikoku", "lat": 34.4644, "lon": 133.9948, "hook": "Every English page says the island shuts on Monday. On a Monday its biggest museum is open until nine, and the free shuttle is what stops. Eleven venues, four schedules, and one table nobody publishes.", "access_level": 3, "budget_level": 1, "best_window": "Fri–Sun, when everything opens", "tags": [ "Chichu ¥2,500", "book it or miss it", "No shuttle on Mondays" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "△", "Feb": "△", "Mar": "○", "Apr": "◎", "May": "◎", "Jun": "△", "Jul": "○", "Aug": "○", "Sep": "◎", "Oct": "◎", "Nov": "○", "Dec": "△" }, "peak_months": [ "Apr", "May", "Sep", "Oct" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Okayama · one day", "budget_text": "~¥7,100–10,400", "budget_jpy_low": 7100, "budget_jpy_high": 10400, "checked": "2026-09", "date_published": "2026-09-12", "date_modified": "2026-09-12", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 4, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/f5b8965b48db97a7.jpg", "coord_checked": "" }, { "no": 47, "slug": "osorezan", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/osorezan/", "title": "Osorezan — Eight Days of Itako, Six Months of Temple", "place": "Osorezan Bodaiji, Mutsu", "prefecture": "Aomori", "region": "Tohoku", "lat": 41.3272, "lon": 141.0901, "hook": "Ten of the thirteen English pages we read mention the itako. They come for two festivals, eight days in a usual year, and only a few still do. The temple is open May to October, with three buses up and an earlier last bus from 1 October.", "access_level": 4, "budget_level": 1, "best_window": "", "tags": [ "Open 1 May – 31 Oct only", "Itako: festival days only", "entry ¥900", "Last bus down: 17:30, then 15:55 from 1 Oct" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "×", "Feb": "×", "Mar": "×", "Apr": "×", "May": "○", "Jun": "○", "Jul": "◎", "Aug": "○", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "◎", "Nov": "×", "Dec": "×" }, "peak_months": [ "Jul", "Oct" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Hachinohe · one day", "budget_text": "~¥8,200", "budget_jpy_low": 8200, "budget_jpy_high": 8200, "checked": "2026-09", "date_published": "2026-09-16", "date_modified": "2026-09-16", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 4, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/6d84ef724c73c392.jpg", "coord_checked": "" }, { "no": 48, "slug": "sakurajima", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/sakurajima/", "title": "Sakurajima — A City Under a Live Volcano", "place": "Sakurajima, Kagoshima", "prefecture": "Kagoshima", "region": "Kyushu", "lat": 31.585, "lon": 130.6571, "hook": "The alert has sat at level 3 since July 2022, and the agency's own criteria say it will not go lower. 2,903 people live on the volcano anyway. Fifteen minutes and ¥250 by ferry, and the whole day costs ¥1,400.", "access_level": 2, "budget_level": 1, "best_window": "Nov–Mar · clear air, ash blows east", "tags": [ "Ferry 15 min", "¥250", "no longer all night", "No climbing", "373 m of 1,117 m" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "◎", "Feb": "◎", "Mar": "◎", "Apr": "○", "May": "△", "Jun": "×", "Jul": "△", "Aug": "△", "Sep": "△", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "◎", "Dec": "◎" }, "peak_months": [ "Jan", "Feb", "Mar", "Nov", "Dec" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Kagoshima-Chuo · one day", "budget_text": "~¥1,400–4,700", "budget_jpy_low": 1400, "budget_jpy_high": 4700, "checked": "2026-09", "date_published": "2026-09-12", "date_modified": "2026-09-12", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 3, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/4bda32140a6b16b9.jpg", "coord_checked": "" }, { "no": 49, "slug": "matsushima", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/matsushima/", "title": "Matsushima — The Islands That Blunted the Wave", "place": "Matsushima Bay, Miyagi", "prefecture": "Miyagi", "region": "Tohoku", "lat": 38.369, "lon": 141.06, "hook": "The tourist board says this bay left Bashō lost for words. He wrote a page about it and withheld only the poem. Thirty-nine minutes from Sendai for ¥440, oysters from late November, and a temple whose last admission is three o'clock in winter.", "access_level": 1, "budget_level": 1, "best_window": "Nov–Mar · oysters & the early sun", "tags": [ "39 min", "¥440", "three trains an hour", "Zuiganji ¥1,000", "last entry 15:00 in winter" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "◎", "Feb": "◎", "Mar": "○", "Apr": "○", "May": "○", "Jun": "△", "Jul": "△", "Aug": "△", "Sep": "△", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "◎", "Dec": "◎" }, "peak_months": [ "Jan", "Feb", "Nov", "Dec" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Sendai · one day", "budget_text": "~¥4,400–9,000", "budget_jpy_low": 4400, "budget_jpy_high": 9000, "checked": "2026-09", "date_published": "2026-09-12", "date_modified": "2026-09-12", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 4, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/512a7d7a92e9bdfa.jpg", "coord_checked": "2026-09-20" }, { "no": 50, "slug": "matsumoto-castle", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/matsumoto-castle/", "title": "Matsumoto Castle — Climb It Before the Steel Goes In", "place": "Matsumoto Castle, Matsumoto", "prefecture": "Nagano", "region": "Chubu", "lat": 36.2386, "lon": 137.9689, "hook": "The city plans steel frames inside the keep from fiscal 2029 or later, and says it cannot be visited as it is today while the work lasts. Until then: the castle's own queue forecast, a ¥1,200 timed ticket, and 140 steps up to six floors.", "access_level": 2, "budget_level": 1, "best_window": "", "tags": [ "The keep: climbable until at least Mar 2029 (city plan)", "¥1,200 timed e-ticket", "¥1,300 at the gate", "Closed only 29–31 Dec" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "◎", "Feb": "○", "Mar": "○", "Apr": "◎", "May": "○", "Jun": "○", "Jul": "○", "Aug": "△", "Sep": "△", "Oct": "△", "Nov": "◎", "Dec": "○" }, "peak_months": [ "Jan", "Apr", "Nov" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Shinjuku · one day", "budget_text": "~¥14,700", "budget_jpy_low": 14700, "budget_jpy_high": 14700, "checked": "2026-09", "date_published": "2026-09-17", "date_modified": "2026-09-17", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 4, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/fb5267cf31a25b0c.jpg", "coord_checked": "2026-09-20" }, { "no": 51, "slug": "ise-jingu", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/ise-jingu/", "title": "Ise Jingu — The Gate Opens at Five", "place": "Ise Jingu Naiku, Ise", "prefecture": "Mie", "region": "Kansai", "lat": 34.455, "lon": 136.7256, "hook": "Both shrines open at five in the morning, every day of the year, and neither charges anything to enter. The buildings are thirteen years old and come down in 2033, and the eight-year schedule for replacing them is already running.", "access_level": 2, "budget_level": 3, "best_window": "year-round · Nov and Dec", "tags": [ "Open 05:00 daily", "no ticket at either shrine", "Timber hauled through town, May–Jul 2027" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "△", "Feb": "○", "Mar": "○", "Apr": "○", "May": "○", "Jun": "○", "Jul": "○", "Aug": "△", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "◎", "Dec": "◎" }, "peak_months": [ "Nov", "Dec" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · 1 night", "budget_text": "~¥49,300", "budget_jpy_low": 49300, "budget_jpy_high": 49300, "checked": "2026-09", "date_published": "2026-09-26", "date_modified": "2026-09-26", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 4, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/6c55c5ecf7520835.jpg", "coord_checked": "" }, { "no": 52, "slug": "gunkanjima", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/gunkanjima/", "title": "Gunkanjima — A City Left to the Sea in 1974", "place": "Gunkanjima (Hashima), Nagasaki", "prefecture": "Nagasaki", "region": "Kyushu", "lat": 32.6277, "lon": 129.7386, "hook": "A wave gauge ten kilometers off decides whether you land, and the boat can sail and still not tie up. What the operators' landing rates actually count, what you get back when it fails, and the hour you get if it works.", "access_level": 3, "budget_level": 5, "best_window": "year-round · Mar, May, Jun and Nov landed best", "tags": [ "Landing not guaranteed", "0.5 m wave limit", "¥650 refunded", "Island", "Industrial Heritage" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "△", "Feb": "△", "Mar": "◎", "Apr": "○", "May": "◎", "Jun": "◎", "Jul": "○", "Aug": "○", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "◎", "Dec": "○" }, "peak_months": [ "Mar", "May", "Jun", "Nov" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · 2 nights · by rail", "budget_text": "~¥116,800–123,500", "budget_jpy_low": 116800, "budget_jpy_high": 123500, "checked": "2026-09", "date_published": "2026-09-20", "date_modified": "2026-09-20", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 3, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/e318b6d1b4dfd658.jpg", "coord_checked": "2026-09-20" }, { "no": 53, "slug": "kurashiki", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/kurashiki/", "title": "Kurashiki — The Town Changes at Five", "place": "Bikan Quarter, Kurashiki", "prefecture": "Okayama", "region": "Setouchi", "lat": 34.595, "lon": 133.771, "hook": "The canal is a few blocks long and you can see both ends from the middle bridge. The shops shut at five, the crowd goes home, and the white walls stay lit until ten over an empty street.", "access_level": 1, "budget_level": 3, "best_window": "year-round · the quarter is free to walk", "tags": [ "Six museums shut on Mondays", "Lit nightly until 22:00 (Apr–Sep) or 21:00" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "○", "Feb": "○", "Mar": "◎", "Apr": "◎", "May": "◎", "Jun": "○", "Jul": "△", "Aug": "△", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "◎", "Nov": "◎", "Dec": "○" }, "peak_months": [ "Mar", "Apr", "May", "Oct", "Nov" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · 1 night", "budget_text": "~¥59,800", "budget_jpy_low": 59800, "budget_jpy_high": 59800, "checked": "2026-09", "date_published": "2026-09-20", "date_modified": "2026-09-20", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 2, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/24d14d2fd3bc5412.jpg", "coord_checked": "2026-09-20" }, { "no": 54, "slug": "rebun", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/rebun/", "title": "Rebun — The Eight-Hour Course Takes Six Hours Fifty", "place": "Rebun Island", "prefecture": "Hokkaido", "region": "Hokkaido", "lat": 45.292, "lon": 141.0302, "hook": "The island publishes 16.5 km and six hours fifty on a contour diagram, in Japanese, and the coastal half of the old route is shut. The trails are closed 220 days a year and the flowers come in two seasons, not one.", "access_level": 4, "budget_level": 4, "best_window": "Jun–Aug · two flower seasons, not one", "tags": [ "Ferry only", "3 sailings a day Apr 28 to Oct 31, 2 the rest", "Eight-hour course: 16.5 km, 6 h 50 m, graded hardest" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "×", "Feb": "×", "Mar": "×", "Apr": "△", "May": "○", "Jun": "◎", "Jul": "◎", "Aug": "◎", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "△", "Nov": "×", "Dec": "×" }, "peak_months": [ "Jun", "Jul", "Aug" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · 3 nights on the island", "budget_text": "~¥75,345", "budget_jpy_low": 75345, "budget_jpy_high": 75345, "checked": "2026-09", "date_published": "2026-09-21", "date_modified": "2026-09-21", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 3, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/4149269022d8f046.jpg", "coord_checked": "" }, { "no": 55, "slug": "hachijojima", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/hachijojima/", "title": "Hachijojima — A Volcano to Walk, Six Baths, and the Blue Divers Named", "place": "Hachijojima", "prefecture": "Tokyo", "region": "Tokyo Islands", "lat": 33.11, "lon": 139.79, "hook": "Humpbacks have wintered here only since 2015 and nobody knows why. The airline's 95% is the summer number. Parts of the island are still shut after last year's typhoons, and no English page says so.", "access_level": 3, "budget_level": 3, "best_window": "", "tags": [ "Sea Jun–Oct", "whales Jan–Apr", "glowing fungi to Sep 30", "55 min by air", "about 89% of flights land", "Parts of the island still shut after the 2025 typhoons" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "◎", "Feb": "◎", "Mar": "◎", "Apr": "○", "May": "○", "Jun": "○", "Jul": "◎", "Aug": "◎", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "△", "Dec": "○" }, "peak_months": [ "Jan", "Feb", "Mar", "Jul", "Aug" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · 3 nights", "budget_text": "~¥51,908", "budget_jpy_low": 51908, "budget_jpy_high": 51908, "checked": "2026-09", "date_published": "2026-09-21", "date_modified": "2026-09-21", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 3, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/e2a8216604423259.jpg", "coord_checked": "" }, { "no": 56, "slug": "fuji", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/fuji/", "title": "Mount Fuji — Climb It in Summer, See It in Winter", "place": "Mount Fuji", "prefecture": "Yamanashi", "region": "Chubu", "lat": 35.3606, "lon": 138.7274, "hook": "Somebody has recorded every morning since 1991 whether the mountain was visible. We read all thirty-five years: December shows it on nineteen mornings in thirty-one, July on two, and eight Julys produced none at all.", "access_level": 2, "budget_level": 1, "best_window": "", "tags": [ "To see it: Nov–Feb", "14–19 mornings in a month", "¥2,000 and 1 h 45 each way from Shinjuku", "To climb it: Jul 1–Sep 10 only", "¥4,000 toll" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "◎", "Feb": "◎", "Mar": "○", "Apr": "○", "May": "○", "Jun": "△", "Jul": "△", "Aug": "△", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "◎", "Dec": "◎" }, "peak_months": [ "Jan", "Feb", "Nov", "Dec" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · 1 night", "budget_text": "~¥16,620", "budget_jpy_low": 16620, "budget_jpy_high": 16620, "checked": "2026-09", "date_published": "2026-09-22", "date_modified": "2026-09-22", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 3, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/a4e6f4769558328b.jpg", "coord_checked": "" }, { "no": 57, "slug": "asuka", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/asuka/", "title": "Asuka — The Capital Before Nara", "place": "Asuka Village, Nara", "prefecture": "Nara", "region": "Kansai", "lat": 34.4665, "lon": 135.793, "hook": "The court left in 710 and the valley went back to being fields. The tombs, the temple and the carved stones stayed where they were, and almost all of it is free to walk into.", "access_level": 2, "budget_level": 1, "best_window": "Apr and May, Oct and Nov", "tags": [ "¥500 at the two big gates", "the valley is free", "Kitora paintings: ~120 days a year, free, on application" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "○", "Feb": "○", "Mar": "○", "Apr": "◎", "May": "◎", "Jun": "○", "Jul": "△", "Aug": "△", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "◎", "Nov": "◎", "Dec": "○" }, "peak_months": [ "Apr", "May", "Oct", "Nov" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Kyoto · one day", "budget_text": "~¥6,240", "budget_jpy_low": 6240, "budget_jpy_high": 6240, "checked": "2026-09", "date_published": "2026-09-26", "date_modified": "2026-09-26", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 2, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/b722b473965a072e.jpg", "coord_checked": "" }, { "no": 58, "slug": "akiyoshidai", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/akiyoshidai/", "title": "Akiyoshidai — The Plateau They Burn", "place": "Akiyoshidai and Akiyoshido", "prefecture": "Yamaguchi", "region": "Setouchi", "lat": 34.234, "lon": 131.304, "hook": "Once a year the grassland is set on fire, on a date that will not hold still: in 2025 it moved four times and then would not burn. Under it is one of Japan's longest caves, about seventeen degrees all year.", "access_level": 3, "budget_level": 1, "best_window": "late Feb and Mar · mid-Nov to early Dec", "tags": [ "The burn: a published date, then weekends and holidays to the first Sunday of March", "Cave ¥1,350–1,900 by season", "the plateau is free" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "○", "Feb": "◎", "Mar": "◎", "Apr": "○", "May": "○", "Jun": "△", "Jul": "△", "Aug": "△", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "◎", "Dec": "○" }, "peak_months": [ "Feb", "Mar", "Nov" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Hiroshima · one day", "budget_text": "~¥15,420", "budget_jpy_low": 15420, "budget_jpy_high": 15420, "checked": "2026-09", "date_published": "2026-09-26", "date_modified": "2026-09-26", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 0, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/c5ddd09f871f796b.jpg", "coord_checked": "" }, { "no": 59, "slug": "hitachi-seaside", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/hitachi-seaside/", "title": "Hitachi Seaside Park — A Hill the Government Predicts", "place": "Hitachi Seaside Park", "prefecture": "Ibaraki", "region": "Kanto", "lat": 36.406, "lon": 140.599, "hook": "A national park grows several million nemophila on one hill, then forecasts the peak like a weather service and revises it as the season plays out. The peak itself lasts about a week to ten days.", "access_level": 2, "budget_level": 1, "best_window": "mid-Apr to early May · a peak of about a week to ten days", "tags": [ "The forecast: published in early March, then revised as the season plays out", "Admission ¥450 → ¥800 in flower season", "Tuesdays closed" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "△", "Feb": "△", "Mar": "○", "Apr": "◎", "May": "○", "Jun": "△", "Jul": "△", "Aug": "△", "Sep": "△", "Oct": "◎", "Nov": "○", "Dec": "△" }, "peak_months": [ "Apr", "Oct" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo/Shinagawa · flower season · one day", "budget_text": "~¥11,500", "budget_jpy_low": 11500, "budget_jpy_high": 11500, "checked": "2026-09", "date_published": "2026-09-27", "date_modified": "2026-09-27", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 0, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/88ea8774145eb9c0.jpg", "coord_checked": "" }, { "no": 60, "slug": "kawazu", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/kawazu/", "title": "Kawazu — The Festival Waits for the Trees", "place": "Kawazu River, Kawazu", "prefecture": "Shizuoka", "region": "Chubu", "lat": 34.7486, "lon": 138.9876, "hook": "Four kilometres of cherry trees that flower in February. The official best-bloom day ranged over sixteen days in five years, and twice the festival was extended into March.", "access_level": 2, "budget_level": 1, "best_window": "February, and the first days of March in a late year", "tags": [ "Official best-bloom day: 12 to 28 Feb in 2022–2026", "Festival car parks ¥1,000 a day" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "×", "Feb": "◎", "Mar": "○", "Apr": "×", "May": "×", "Jun": "×", "Jul": "×", "Aug": "×", "Sep": "×", "Oct": "×", "Nov": "×", "Dec": "×" }, "peak_months": [ "Feb" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · one day", "budget_text": "~¥14,260", "budget_jpy_low": 14260, "budget_jpy_high": 14260, "checked": "2026-09", "date_published": "2026-09-27", "date_modified": "2026-09-27", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 0, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/9ba0e00073b2b1cd.jpg", "coord_checked": "" }, { "no": 61, "slug": "okunikko", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/okunikko/", "title": "Oku-Nikko — The Autumn That Comes in Three Steps", "place": "Lake Chuzenji, Oku-Nikko", "prefecture": "Tochigi", "region": "Kanto", "lat": 36.738, "lon": 139.5, "hook": "The lakes and the 97-meter waterfall above Nikko's shrines, where diplomats from several countries spent their summers. Sixteen years of the visitor center's color records, and the mountain road that fills on the same weekends.", "access_level": 2, "budget_level": 2, "best_window": "late Sep to early Nov for color · Jun–Aug for the cool", "tags": [ "Lake Yunoko first at its best: 9 to 20 Oct in 2010–2025", "Irohazaka: about 30 min normally, hours on peak weekends" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "△", "Feb": "△", "Mar": "×", "Apr": "△", "May": "○", "Jun": "◎", "Jul": "◎", "Aug": "◎", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "◎", "Nov": "○", "Dec": "△" }, "peak_months": [ "Jun", "Jul", "Aug", "Oct" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · one night", "budget_text": "~¥33,200–40,400", "budget_jpy_low": 33200, "budget_jpy_high": 40400, "checked": "2026-10", "date_published": "2026-10-03", "date_modified": "2026-10-03", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 3, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/4ae42a42bb0444db.jpg", "coord_checked": "" }, { "no": 62, "slug": "amami-oshima", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/amami-oshima/", "title": "Amami Oshima — The Rabbit That Came Back to the Road", "place": "Amami Oshima", "prefecture": "Kagoshima", "region": "Kyushu", "lat": 28.3, "lon": 129.42, "hook": "A dark rabbit found on two islands in the world, watched from a car on a forest road at night. The government thinks its numbers came back once the mongoose was cleared, and road deaths rose to 157 in 2025.", "access_level": 3, "budget_level": 3, "best_window": "Oct–Nov for the forest at night · Jul for the sea", "tags": [ "Shared night tours: ¥6,000–9,900; in English ¥9,000", "Forest road at night: book online first" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "○", "Feb": "○", "Mar": "○", "Apr": "○", "May": "○", "Jun": "△", "Jul": "◎", "Aug": "○", "Sep": "△", "Oct": "◎", "Nov": "◎", "Dec": "○" }, "peak_months": [ "Jul", "Oct", "Nov" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · one night", "budget_text": "~¥32,700–68,200", "budget_jpy_low": 32700, "budget_jpy_high": 68200, "checked": "2026-10", "date_published": "2026-10-04", "date_modified": "2026-10-04", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 3, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/8efe6cc468fb083d.jpg", "coord_checked": "" }, { "no": 63, "slug": "inuyama-castle", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/inuyama-castle/", "title": "Inuyama Castle — Climb by Day, the River by Night", "place": "Inuyama Castle, Inuyama", "prefecture": "Aichi", "region": "Chubu", "lat": 35.3883, "lon": 136.9395, "hook": "A National Treasure keep 26 minutes from Nagoya, with cormorant fishing on the river below. The city's monthly visitor figures show that, outside winter, the castle is quietest in the fishing season.", "access_level": 1, "budget_level": 1, "best_window": "Jun, Jul, Sep for the fishing and a shorter queue", "tags": [ "Climbs in 2025: 692,852, a record", "Cormorant fishing: 1 June to 15 October" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "△", "Feb": "△", "Mar": "○", "Apr": "○", "May": "○", "Jun": "◎", "Jul": "◎", "Aug": "○", "Sep": "◎", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "○", "Dec": "△" }, "peak_months": [ "Jun", "Jul", "Sep" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Nagoya · one day", "budget_text": "~¥5,800–9,300", "budget_jpy_low": 5800, "budget_jpy_high": 9300, "checked": "2026-10", "date_published": "2026-10-04", "date_modified": "2026-10-04", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 3, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/3e3de3c3023475c2.jpg", "coord_checked": "" }, { "no": 64, "slug": "sawara", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/sawara/", "title": "Sawara — Half a Day Before the Flight", "place": "Sawara, Katori", "prefecture": "Chiba", "region": "Kanto", "lat": 35.8906, "lon": 140.4985, "hook": "An old merchant town on the Ono River, about an hour from Narita Airport by JR. The trains back, where to leave your suitcase, and why Monday is the wrong day.", "access_level": 1, "budget_level": 1, "best_window": "June for the irises · any day but Monday", "tags": [ "From the airport: about 1 h, one change at Narita", "Back to the airport: about 50 min from Sawara, noon to five" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "○", "Feb": "○", "Mar": "○", "Apr": "○", "May": "○", "Jun": "◎", "Jul": "○", "Aug": "○", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "○", "Dec": "○" }, "peak_months": [ "Jun" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Narita Airport · one day", "budget_text": "~¥3,200–4,200", "budget_jpy_low": 3200, "budget_jpy_high": 4200, "checked": "2026-10", "date_published": "2026-10-10", "date_modified": "2026-10-10", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 3, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/86780005a141d6b8.jpg", "coord_checked": "" }, { "no": 65, "slug": "chichibu-nagatoro", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/chichibu-nagatoro/", "title": "Chichibu Shibazakura and Nagatoro — Go Before Golden Week", "place": "Hitsujiyama Park, Chichibu", "prefecture": "Saitama", "region": "Kanto", "lat": 35.9815, "lon": 139.0885, "hook": "A hill of moss phlox below Mount Buko, 77 minutes from Ikebukuro, and the river boats at Nagatoro. Twenty years of the city's bloom notes put the hill in bloom in April, and it is often free to enter from early May.", "access_level": 2, "budget_level": 1, "best_window": "mid to late April, before Golden Week", "tags": [ "Whole hill in bloom: first called 10–29 Apr, 2007–2026", "Nagatoro: one of the 1927 Hundred Views" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "△", "Feb": "△", "Mar": "△", "Apr": "◎", "May": "△", "Jun": "△", "Jul": "△", "Aug": "△", "Sep": "△", "Oct": "△", "Nov": "○", "Dec": "△" }, "peak_months": [ "Apr" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · flower season · one day", "budget_text": "~¥7,800–9,200", "budget_jpy_low": 7800, "budget_jpy_high": 9200, "checked": "2026-10", "date_published": "2026-10-10", "date_modified": "2026-10-10", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 3, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/38cc4ee0aec9852c.jpg", "coord_checked": "" }, { "no": 66, "slug": "yanagawa", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/yanagawa/", "title": "Yanagawa — December and January, Under the Kotatsu", "place": "Okinohata, Yanagawa", "prefecture": "Fukuoka", "region": "Kyushu", "lat": 33.1583, "lon": 130.397, "hook": "Flat boats poled along the canals of an old castle town, 49 minutes from Fukuoka. The city's monthly boat counts show March and November busiest, and January, with kotatsu on board, quieter.", "access_level": 1, "budget_level": 1, "best_window": "Dec–Jan, for the kotatsu boats and a quieter canal", "tags": [ "Boat riders in 2025: 447,671, a record", "Kotatsu boats: 1 Dec to the end of Feb" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "◎", "Feb": "○", "Mar": "○", "Apr": "○", "May": "○", "Jun": "△", "Jul": "△", "Aug": "△", "Sep": "△", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "○", "Dec": "◎" }, "peak_months": [ "Jan", "Dec" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Fukuoka · one day", "budget_text": "~¥7,100–9,100", "budget_jpy_low": 7100, "budget_jpy_high": 9100, "checked": "2026-10", "date_published": "2026-10-10", "date_modified": "2026-10-10", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 3, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/42dd5009fa10abe0.jpg", "coord_checked": "" }, { "no": 67, "slug": "arita", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/arita/", "title": "Arita — Go Midweek, Not in Pottery Fair Week", "place": "Uchiyama, Arita", "prefecture": "Saga", "region": "Kyushu", "lat": 33.191, "lon": 129.892, "hook": "Credited with Japan's first porcelain, 80 minutes from Hakata. By the town's own count, up to half its visitors come in May, the month of the pottery fair; midweek in other months, the town is quiet and the kilns are at work.", "access_level": 1, "budget_level": 1, "best_window": "Wed–Fri, outside fair week", "tags": [ "May: 37–51% of the year's visitors", "Pottery fair: 29 Apr – 5 May, every year" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "○", "Feb": "○", "Mar": "○", "Apr": "○", "May": "△", "Jun": "△", "Jul": "△", "Aug": "△", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "◎", "Nov": "◎", "Dec": "○" }, "peak_months": [ "Oct", "Nov" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Fukuoka · one day", "budget_text": "~¥8,700–12,000", "budget_jpy_low": 8700, "budget_jpy_high": 12000, "checked": "2026-10", "date_published": "2026-10-11", "date_modified": "2026-10-11", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 4, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/4df50d327ff97402.jpg", "coord_checked": "" }, { "no": 68, "slug": "hikone-castle", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/hikone-castle/", "title": "Hikone Castle — A Whole Castle, Fifty Minutes from Kyoto", "place": "Hikone Castle, Hikone", "prefecture": "Shiga", "region": "Kansai", "lat": 35.2764, "lon": 136.2519, "hook": "One train and about 50 minutes from Kyoto: a National Treasure keep with its moats, turrets and garden around it, ¥1,000 for the castle and garden. Japan's World Heritage nomination, with a decision due in 2028.", "access_level": 1, "budget_level": 1, "best_window": "weekdays in early April or November", "tags": [ "Busiest day: 4 May", "Keep stairs: 62° and 60°" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "○", "Feb": "○", "Mar": "○", "Apr": "◎", "May": "○", "Jun": "△", "Jul": "△", "Aug": "△", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "◎", "Dec": "○" }, "peak_months": [ "Apr", "Nov" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Kyoto · one day", "budget_text": "~¥4,800–8,000", "budget_jpy_low": 4800, "budget_jpy_high": 8000, "checked": "2026-10", "date_published": "2026-10-11", "date_modified": "2026-10-11", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 4, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/b1811a30bb9584f4.jpg", "coord_checked": "" }, { "no": 69, "slug": "minoh-falls", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/minoh-falls/", "title": "Minoh Falls — Where the Monkeys Were Fed, Then Weaned", "place": "Minoh Falls, Minoh", "prefecture": "Osaka", "region": "Kansai", "lat": 34.8535, "lon": 135.4719, "hook": "The color reaches the falls at the end of November, and the monkeys, once fed for study, are now seldom seen. A paved 2.7 km path climbs a gorge to a 33-meter waterfall from the 1927 list, 26 minutes from Osaka-umeda.", "access_level": 1, "budget_level": 1, "best_window": "weekdays, late Nov to early Dec", "tags": [ "The walk: 2.7 km each way, paved", "Feeding the monkeys: banned" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "△", "Feb": "△", "Mar": "△", "Apr": "○", "May": "○", "Jun": "○", "Jul": "○", "Aug": "○", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "◎", "Dec": "○" }, "peak_months": [ "Nov" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Osaka-umeda · one day", "budget_text": "~¥600–5,000", "budget_jpy_low": 600, "budget_jpy_high": 5000, "checked": "2026-10", "date_published": "2026-10-11", "date_modified": "2026-10-11", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 4, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/d65d3e120e5db0fa.jpg", "coord_checked": "" }, { "no": 70, "slug": "sarushima", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/sarushima/", "title": "Sarushima — A Fortress Island, Ten Minutes by Boat off Yokosuka", "place": "Sarushima, Yokosuka", "prefecture": "Kanagawa", "region": "Kanto", "lat": 35.2861, "lon": 139.6942, "hook": "The only natural island in Tokyo Bay, as Yokosuka puts it, and nobody lives on it: a fort dug into the cliffs from 1881, with brick tunnels, whose cannon never fired at an enemy, 47 minutes from Shinagawa and a 10-minute boat. Boats every day of the year; 241,000 visitors in 2025, the most in eighteen years.", "access_level": 1, "budget_level": 1, "best_window": "weekdays, Oct–Nov or Apr–May", "tags": [ "Last boat back: 17:00 Mar–Oct", "16:00 Nov–Feb", "No booking: first come, first served" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "○", "Feb": "○", "Mar": "○", "Apr": "◎", "May": "◎", "Jun": "○", "Jul": "△", "Aug": "△", "Sep": "○", "Oct": "◎", "Nov": "◎", "Dec": "○" }, "peak_months": [ "Apr", "May", "Oct", "Nov" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · one day", "budget_text": "~¥4,800–8,000", "budget_jpy_low": 4800, "budget_jpy_high": 8000, "checked": "2026-10", "date_published": "2026-10-11", "date_modified": "2026-10-11", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 4, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/28e4065ffdcebe82.jpg", "coord_checked": "" }, { "no": 71, "slug": "kankakei-gorge", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/kankakei-gorge/", "title": "Kankakei Gorge — The Color Takes a Month to Come Down the Mountain", "place": "Kankakei, Shodoshima", "prefecture": "Kagawa", "region": "Shikoku", "lat": 34.516, "lon": 134.301, "hook": "A five-minute ropeway over a gorge of volcanic rock on an island in the Inland Sea, an hour by ferry from Takamatsu. The operator's reports for thirteen autumns put the peak between 9 and 22 November; the color takes a month to come down the mountain, and the last bus down leaves at 16:00.", "access_level": 3, "budget_level": 1, "best_window": "mid Nov · late Apr", "tags": [ "The ropeway: 5 min, no booking", "Last bus down: 16:00" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "△", "Feb": "△", "Mar": "△", "Apr": "◎", "May": "○", "Jun": "△", "Jul": "△", "Aug": "△", "Sep": "△", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "◎", "Dec": "△" }, "peak_months": [ "Apr", "Nov" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Takamatsu · one day", "budget_text": "~¥5,200–8,900", "budget_jpy_low": 5200, "budget_jpy_high": 8900, "checked": "2026-10", "date_published": "2026-10-12", "date_modified": "2026-10-12", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 4, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/88f07c50c6b30212.jpg", "coord_checked": "" }, { "no": 75, "slug": "kumamoto-castle", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/kumamoto-castle/", "title": "Kumamoto Castle — The Castle Still Being Put Back Together", "place": "Kumamoto Castle, Kumamoto", "prefecture": "Kumamoto", "region": "Kyushu", "lat": 32.8063, "lon": 130.7058, "hook": "A castle ten years into its repairs: walls broken in the 2016 earthquakes, a keep reopened in 2021, and another earthquake in July 2026; it reopened that August. A raised walkway crosses the work, 32 to 50 minutes from Hakata, and the cherry blooms around the turn of March and April.", "access_level": 1, "budget_level": 1, "best_window": "late March to early April", "tags": [ "Reopened: 13 Aug 2026", "Weekdays: south gate only" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "○", "Feb": "○", "Mar": "◎", "Apr": "○", "May": "○", "Jun": "△", "Jul": "△", "Aug": "△", "Sep": "△", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "○", "Dec": "○" }, "peak_months": [ "Mar" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Fukuoka · one day", "budget_text": "~¥7,400–16,400", "budget_jpy_low": 7400, "budget_jpy_high": 16400, "checked": "2026-10", "date_published": "2026-10-13", "date_modified": "2026-10-13", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 4, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/6f46aa4dc73f8fca.jpg", "coord_checked": "" }, { "no": 77, "slug": "atami", "url": "https://spectrip.com/hyakkei/atami/", "title": "Atami — Forty-Five Minutes from Tokyo, Cherry in January", "place": "Atami Onsen, Atami", "prefecture": "Shizuoka", "region": "Chubu", "lat": 35.1034, "lon": 139.0791, "hook": "A hot-spring town about 45 minutes from Tokyo on the Kodama, chosen among Japan's great landscapes in 1927: the Atami cherry along the Itokawa from late January, 469 plum trees into February, fireworks over the bay, and the last train back at 22:41.", "access_level": 1, "budget_level": 2, "best_window": "mid-Jan to mid-Feb, cherry then plums", "tags": [ "Last train to Tokyo: 22:41 by shinkansen, 22:09 local", "Plum festival 2027: 9 Jan–7 Mar" ], "calendar": { "Jan": "◎", "Feb": "◎", "Mar": "△", "Apr": "○", "May": "○", "Jun": "△", "Jul": "○", "Aug": "○", "Sep": "△", "Oct": "○", "Nov": "○", "Dec": "○" }, "peak_months": [ "Jan", "Feb" ], "budget_basis": "per person · from Tokyo · one night", "budget_text": "~¥26,000–47,000", "budget_jpy_low": 26000, "budget_jpy_high": 47000, "checked": "2026-10", "date_published": "2026-10-12", "date_modified": "2026-10-12", "review_rating": null, "reddit_threads_cited": 4, "hero_image": "https://spectrip.com/assets/img/5091a67bf7937ea4.jpg", "coord_checked": "" } ] }