Why travel to Japan?
Japan offers 8 curated city guides, 139 attractions and 56 signature dishes hand-picked by Korean travelers. Below you'll find essentials Korean passport holders actually need — visa requirements, daily budgets in USD, best season, and on-the-ground transport tips.
Best Season
Best in spring (March-April) for cherry blossoms and autumn (October-November) for foliage. Summers are hot and humid.
Budget
Daily budget around $70-145 (lodging $35-85; food $20-35; transport $7-15).
Visa
Korean passport holders may enter visa-free for up to 90 days.
Transport
From Narita Airport, the Skyliner reaches Ueno in 36 minutes; from Haneda, the monorail takes 20 minutes into the city. Within Tokyo, the JR Yamanote Line and subway are most convenient. SIM cards and pocket WiFi rentals are available at the airport (about JPY 500-800/day). IC cards (Suica/Pasmo) are convenient, and most places accept both cash and cards. Tipping is not customary.
🏙️ Top Cities
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🗺️ Attractions Across the Country
Asakusa Senso-ji Temple
Tokyo's oldest Buddhist temple. A must-visit along with the Nakamise shopping street.
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Tokyo Tower
Tokyo's iconic symbol. A 333m red steel tower offering spectacular night views.
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Shibuya Scramble Crossing
The world's busiest intersection where thousands cross at once in a remarkable spectacle.
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Meiji Jingu Shrine
Japan's largest shrine, nestled in a lush forest in the heart of Tokyo.
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Akihabara Electric Town
The holy land of anime, gaming, and electronics — the epicenter of Japanese otaku culture.
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Tokyo Skytree
At 634m, the world's second-tallest tower and Tokyo's modern landmark.
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Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
A 58-hectare Japanese garden in the heart of Tokyo, famed for cherry blossoms and autumn foliage.
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teamLab Planets Tokyo
An immersive digital art museum where visitors walk through water and flower installations.
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Ueno Park
Tokyo's largest city park, a top cherry blossom spot and cultural hub with museums and a zoo.
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Tokyo National Museum
Japan's oldest and largest museum, founded in 1872, housing a treasure trove of Japanese art and archaeology.
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Tokyo Imperial Palace
Home of Japan's Emperor, surrounded by moats and gardens offering a tranquil escape in the city center.
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Ginza
Japan's premier shopping district, lined with luxury brands and historic department stores.
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Roppongi Hills
A massive mixed-use complex combining shopping, art, and an observatory, crowned by Mori Tower's night views.
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Rainbow Bridge
A suspension bridge spanning Tokyo Bay, the symbol of Odaiba and a famed night-view spot.
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Yanaka
A neighborhood spared from WWII bombing, retaining old Tokyo's atmosphere and the famous Yanaka Ginza shopping street.
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Ameya-Yokocho
A bustling Ueno market street that began as a postwar black market, packed with cheap seafood and street food.
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Rikugien Garden
A masterpiece Edo-period daimyo garden, especially famed for its illuminated autumn foliage.
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Ghibli Museum
A Studio Ghibli museum in Mitaka, designed with direct input from director Hayao Miyazaki.
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Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion)
Kyoto's iconic gold-leaf-covered three-story pavilion reflected in a tranquil pond.
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Fushimi Inari Taisha
A mystical shrine famed for its endless tunnels of vermilion torii gates.
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Arashiyama Bamboo Grove
A dreamlike tunnel path beneath a canopy of towering bamboo.
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Kiyomizu-dera Temple
A UNESCO World Heritage temple with a breathtaking 13m wooden stage overlooking Kyoto.
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Nijo Castle
A UNESCO-listed castle built by Tokugawa Ieyasu, famous for its 'nightingale floors' that chirp when walked upon.
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Gion Geisha District
Kyoto's traditional geisha district lined with wooden machiya houses, where you might glimpse a maiko.
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Nishiki Market
Known as 'Kyoto's Kitchen', a 400-year-old narrow arcade with around 130 specialty shops.
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Ryoan-ji Temple
Zen temple home to the world's most famous karesansui (dry landscape) rock garden.
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Ginkaku-ji (Silver Pavilion)
A Zen temple beloved for its refined garden and understated beauty, despite never being covered in silver.
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Sanjusangen-do
Japan's longest wooden building, lined with 1,001 gilded statues of the thousand-armed Kannon.
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Tenryu-ji
Arashiyama's leading Zen temple, home to Sogenchi Garden, Japan's first officially designated scenic garden.
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Nanzen-ji
The highest-ranked Zen temple in Japan, famous for its striking red-brick aqueduct.
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Philosopher's Walk
A cherry-tree-lined 2km canal path where philosopher Nishida Kitaro once walked in contemplation.
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Byodo-in
The Phoenix Hall depicted on the 10-yen coin — a masterpiece of Heian-era Pure Land architecture in Uji.
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Kyoto Imperial Palace
The former residence of Japan's emperors until the Meiji-era move to Tokyo, with expansive gardens and palace architecture.
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Pontocho
A narrow traditional entertainment alley along the Kamo River, famed for summer riverside 'kawadoko' terraces.
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Kodai-ji
A Zen temple built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi's widow Nene in his memory, famed for its bamboo grove and night illuminations.
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Kyoto Tower
A 131m observation tower rising above Kyoto Station, uniquely designed to resemble a lighthouse.
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Dotonbori
Osaka's vibrant heart, packed with neon and the iconic Glico running man sign.
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Osaka Castle
Osaka's iconic castle, originally built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
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Universal Studios Japan
Osaka's largest theme park, bringing Harry Potter, Mario, Minions and more under one roof.
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Umeda Sky Building
A striking landmark of two towers linked by a sky garden, with a stunning 360-degree night view.
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Shinsekai & Tsutenkaku
Osaka's retro Showa-era district anchored by the 100m Tsutenkaku Tower.
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Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan
One of the world's largest aquariums, with a giant Pacific tank starring whale sharks.
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Shitenno-ji Temple
Japan's first state-built Buddhist temple, founded in 593, with a 1,400-year-old layout.
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Abeno Harukas
Japan's tallest building at 300m, combining a department store, art museum, and observation deck.
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Sumiyoshi-taisha
The head shrine of Japan's roughly 2,000 Sumiyoshi shrines, with National Treasure halls in the distinctive 'Sumiyoshi-zukuri' style.
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Shinsaibashi
A 600m covered shopping arcade connecting to Dotonbori, Osaka's biggest downtown district.
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Tempozan Ferris Wheel
A 112.5m giant Ferris wheel offering panoramic views of Osaka Bay and the city skyline.
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Osaka Museum of History
Built atop the ancient Naniwa Palace ruins, this museum spans 2,000 years of Osaka's history.
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Osaka Tenmangu
A shrine dedicated to the god of learning Sugawara no Michizane, and the stage for the Tenjin Matsuri, one of Japan's three great festivals.
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Hozen-ji
A small temple tucked in a Dotonbori back alley, where visitors splash water on a moss-covered Fudo Myo-o statue to make wishes.
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Osaka City Central Public Hall
A Neo-Renaissance Western-style building completed in 1918, a landmark of Nakanoshima.
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Nakanoshima Park
Osaka's first public park, opened in 1891, an urban oasis with a rose garden and riverside promenade.
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Kishiwada Castle
The symbol of Kishiwada City in southern Osaka, home to the nationally designated 'Hachijin-no-zu' garden.
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Dazaifu Tenmangu
Head shrine of Japan's Tenmangu shrines, dedicated to the deity of learning — the top day-trip from Fukuoka.
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Kyushu National Museum
Japan's fourth national museum, themed on Asian cultural exchange, housed in a striking wave-shaped glass hall.
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Ohori Park
A downtown lake park built around Fukuoka Castle's old moat, with a beloved 2km loop path circling the water.
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Fukuoka Castle Ruins (Maizuru Park)
The stone ramparts and turrets of what was Kyushu's largest castle, now a park blanketed by 1,000 cherry trees each spring.
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Fukuoka Tower
At 234m Japan's tallest seaside tower, sheathed in 8,000 half-mirror panels with sweeping Hakata Bay views.
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Momochi Seaside Park
A man-made white-sand beach below Fukuoka Tower, famous for sunsets and the Marizon wedding hall on the water.
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Canal City Hakata
A canal runs through this mega shopping complex, with hourly fountain shows and evening 3D projection mapping.
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Kushida Shrine
Hakata's guardian shrine and home of July's Gion Yamakasa festival, with a 10m+ decorated float on year-round display.
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Tochoji Temple (Fukuoka Daibutsu)
A Shingon temple founded by Kobo Daishi, home to the Fukuoka Daibutsu — one of Japan's largest wooden seated Buddhas at 10.8m.
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Shofukuji Temple
Japan's first Zen temple, founded in 1195 by Eisai — the monk who brought tea culture to Japan.
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Sumiyoshi Shrine Fukuoka
Reputedly the oldest of Japan's 2,000+ Sumiyoshi shrines, with a power-deity statue said to grant strength to matched palms.
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Nakasu Yatai Street
Riverside rows of yatai food stalls — ramen, yakitori and oden shoulder-to-shoulder, the symbol of Fukuoka's night culture.
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Tenjin
Kyushu's biggest downtown — department stores, an underground mall and the Daimyo backstreets in one walkable core.
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Uminonakamichi Seaside Park
A vast national park on a sandbar between two seas — seasonal flower fields, cycling routes and a petting zoo fill a whole day.
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Marine World Uminonakamichi
An aquarium themed on Kyushu's seas — dolphin shows against a real ocean backdrop and a shark-filled open-sea tank.
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Nokonoshima Island Park
A flower park on a small Hakata Bay island, where rapeseed and cosmos fields overlook the sea and the city skyline.
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Yanagibashi Market
A century-old market called 'Hakata's Kitchen', its lane packed with fresh seafood and mentaiko shops.
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Fukuoka Asian Art Museum
The world's only museum systematically collecting modern and contemporary Asian art — a rainy-day savior in Hakata.
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Churaumi Aquarium
Japan's most beloved aquarium, famed for whale sharks gliding through the vast Kuroshio Sea tank — Okinawa's undisputed #1 sight.
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Emerald Beach
The free beach of Ocean Expo Park beside Churaumi Aquarium — a Y-shaped white strand wrapped in true emerald water.
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Shuri Castle
The 450-year royal palace of the Ryukyu Kingdom and a World Heritage site, now showcasing the open-to-view reconstruction of its fire-lost main hall.
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Kokusai Street
Naha's 1.6km main drag — the 'Miracle Mile' of souvenir shops, Okinawan restaurants and live-music izakaya running late into the night.
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Makishi Public Market
'Okinawa's Kitchen' — buy rainbow-colored tropical fish or Agu pork downstairs and the 2nd-floor eateries cook it on the spot.
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American Village
A retro-Americana town built on returned US base land, packed with photo spots and capped by Sunset Beach's famous dusk.
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Cape Manzamo
Okinawa's signature seascape — an elephant-trunk cliff on a raised coral cape 'where ten thousand could sit'.
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Kouri Island & Bridge
Cross a 1,960m bridge over emerald shallows to the 'Island of Love', home of the famous Heart Rock.
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Okinawa World
A theme park bundling the 5km Gyokusendo limestone cave, a Ryukyu craft village and eisa dance performances.
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Sefa-utaki
The Ryukyu Kingdom's holiest site and a World Heritage — through the great triangular rock cleft lies a view of sacred Kudaka Island.
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Nakijin Castle Ruins
A World Heritage gusuku fortress of the old Hokuzan kingdom, famed for 1.5km of undulating ramparts and Japan's earliest cherry blossoms each January.
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Kaichu Road
A free 4.7km causeway straight across the sea, linking four outer islands with water on both sides the whole way.
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Cape Maeda (Blue Cave)
Home of the Blue Cave, where sunlight turns the water electric blue — Okinawa's snorkeling and diving mecca, with clifftop walks above.
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Naminoue Shrine & Beach
The Ryukyus' foremost shrine perched on a seaside cliff, with Naha's only city beach below — a perfect last dip before the airport.
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Fukushuen Garden
A full-scale Chinese garden in downtown Naha — pavilions, ponds and waterfalls built to honor ties with Fuzhou.
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Ryukyu Mura
A village theme park of relocated century-old farmhouses — eisa performances, shisa crafting and hands-on Ryukyu culture.
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Cape Zanpa
Two kilometers of 30m cliffs in Yomitan, crowned by a white lighthouse — the main island's last-light sunset spot.
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Senagajima Umikaji Terrace
White terraced shops cascade down an islet by the airport — 'Okinawa's Santorini', where sunsets share the sky with landing jets.
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Odori Park
Sapporo's green spine running 1.5km through downtown — main stage of the February Snow Festival and summer beer gardens.
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Sapporo TV Tower
The 147m landmark at Odori Park's east end — its deck looks straight down the park through Sapporo's grid.
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Sapporo Clock Tower
Sapporo's pioneer-era symbol from 1878 — an American-style wooden hall whose clock has kept time for over 140 years.
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Former Hokkaido Government Building
The 1888 neo-Baroque 'Red Brick' capitol, reopened in 2025 after renovation — the emblem of Hokkaido's pioneer era.
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Mt. Moiwa Observatory
One of Japan's 'New Top 3 Night Views' — two cable rides to the 531m summit, where the city's lights spill to the horizon.
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Okurayama Ski Jump Stadium
The 1972 Winter Olympics ski-jump hill doubles as an observatory — see Sapporo from the jumper's start gate.
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Shiroi Koibito Park
The factory of Hokkaido's signature Shiroi Koibito cookies turned theme park, with European gardens and baking workshops.
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Sapporo Beer Museum
Japan's only beer museum — 140 years of brewing history in a red-brick former factory, capped with a fresh draft tasting.
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Nijo Market
Sapporo's century-old downtown fish market — start the day with crab, uni and salmon-roe kaisendon.
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Susukino
One of Japan's three great nightlife districts — neon-lit blocks of ramen alleys, izakaya and crab restaurants.
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Hokkaido Shrine
Hokkaido's chief shrine to its pioneer guardians, wrapped in Maruyama's old-growth forest — famed for cherry and plum blooming together.
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Hokkaido University Campus
Dr. Clark's 'Boys, be ambitious' university — a 1.77M㎡ downtown campus famed for its ginkgo avenue and poplar lane.
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Moerenuma Park
A land-art park by sculptor Isamu Noguchi — a former landfill reborn as glass pyramids and sculpted hills.
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Jozankei Onsen
A gorge hot-spring town an hour from downtown — 'Sapporo's back parlor', ablaze with maples in autumn.
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Otaru Canal
Forty minutes by train from Sapporo — a gas-lit canal lined with stone warehouses, famous for glasswork and music boxes.
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Hitsujigaoka Observation Hill
The hill of Dr. Clark's 'Boys, be ambitious' statue, where sheep graze against a panorama of Sapporo.
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Tanukikoji Shopping Street
A 150-year-old, 900m covered arcade — Sapporo's all-weather artery for souvenirs and drugstore hauls.
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JR Tower Observatory T38
Hokkaido's highest observatory at 160m, directly above Sapporo Station — floor-to-ceiling glass over the grid-lit city.
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Todai-ji
Nara's icon, home to a 15m bronze Great Buddha inside one of the world's largest wooden halls.
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Nara Park
A vast park where some 1,200 free-roaming deer mingle with visitors — Todai-ji, Kasuga Taisha and the National Museum all sit within it.
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Kasuga Taisha
A vermilion shrine strung with some 3,000 stone and bronze lanterns, reached through a primeval forest approach — a World Heritage Site.
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Kofuku-ji
The Fujiwara clan temple whose five-story pagoda is Nara's skyline landmark; the treasure hall's Ashura statue is beloved nationwide.
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Naramachi
The old merchant quarter of Edo-to-Meiji era machiya townhouses, its latticed lanes hiding cafes and craft studios.
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Isuien Garden
Nara's finest strolling garden, borrowing Todai-ji's Nandaimon gate and Mount Wakakusa as its backdrop.
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Heijo Palace Site
The palace grounds of the 710 capital — the Suzaku Gate and Daigokuden hall stand rebuilt on a vast open field.
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Yakushi-ji
A Hakuho-era temple with paired east and west pagodas — the 1,300-year-old East Pagoda is famed as 'frozen music.'
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Toshodai-ji
Founded by the blind Tang monk Jianzhen (Ganjin), the head temple of the Ritsu school preserves its original Tenpyo-era Golden Hall.
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Mount Wakakusa
A grass-covered 342m bald mountain — a 30-minute climb buys the best panorama of Nara.
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Horyu-ji
Prince Shotoku's temple, home to the world's oldest surviving wooden buildings and Japan's first World Heritage Site.
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Nara National Museum
The national museum devoted to Buddhist art; its autumn Shosoin exhibition draws visitors from all over Japan.
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Gango-ji
Successor to Asuka-dera, Japan's first full-scale temple — a World Heritage Site tucked into the Naramachi lanes.
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Nigatsu-do
Todai-ji's hillside hall with a free balcony panorama, famed for the torch-swinging Omizutori rite each March.
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Shin-Yakushi-ji
An 8th-century temple whose ring of Twelve Heavenly Generals around the Yakushi Buddha stuns — a gem off the tourist track.
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Chugu-ji
The nunnery beside Horyu-ji, home to the meditating Miroku Bosatsu — 'Japan's Mona Lisa.'
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Nagoya Castle
Nagoya's landmark castle, crowned by golden shachihoko — the lavishly restored Honmaru Palace is the highlight.
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Atsuta Shrine
A 1,900-year-old grand shrine housing the sacred Kusanagi sword, wrapped in a deep urban forest.
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Osu Shopping District
1,200-plus shops arcading out from Osu Kannon temple — vintage, electronics and street food in Nagoya's liveliest quarter.
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Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology
In Toyota's original red-brick mill, live machine demos trace the company's century from looms to cars.
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Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium
Orcas, belugas and one of Japan's biggest dolphin-show pools — a top-tier aquarium by any measure.
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Legoland Japan
Japan's only Legoland, built from 17 million bricks — the go-to for families with kids aged 2-12.
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Sakae & Oasis 21
The glass 'Spaceship-Aqua' crowning Sakae, Nagoya's biggest downtown — its night view with the Mirai Tower is the city's signature shot.
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Nagoya TV Tower (Chubu Electric Power Mirai Tower)
Japan's first multi-purpose broadcast tower (1954), elder sibling to Tokyo Tower — now famously housing a hotel inside its frame.
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Shirotori Garden
The Chubu region's largest strolling garden, miniaturizing the Kiso River's journey, crowned by the Seiu-tei teahouse.
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Tokugawa Garden & Tokugawa Art Museum
The Owari Tokugawa clan's 10,000-piece treasury — including the National Treasure Tale of Genji scrolls — beside a superb daimyo garden.
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Ghibli Park
Studio Ghibli's worlds made real — the Grand Warehouse and Howl's castle in the Valley of Witches are the showstoppers.
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SCMAGLEV and Railway Park
JR Central's rail museum lines up 39 real trains, from record-breaking maglevs to generations of Shinkansen — awe-inspiring even for non-railfans.
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Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens
One of Japan's largest zoos with some 500 species — nationally famous for Shabani, the 'handsome gorilla'.
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Nagoya City Science Museum
Home to 'Brother Earth', one of the world's largest planetarium domes at 35m — the silver sphere is a landmark in itself.
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Midland Square Sky Promenade
An open-air observation walk on floors 44-46 of the tower facing Nagoya Station — feel the wind above the skyscraper district.
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Inuyama Castle
One of Japan's five National Treasure castles, its 1537 keep intact — the top-floor balcony over the Kiso River is breathtaking.
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