JAPANESE COUNTRYSIDE

Witness the best sightseeing spots Japan has to offer in four official, comprehensive lists.

Here are three great options in the Kumamoto area if you're looking to reconnect with creatures past and present, as well as the earth below!

Tokyo’s great, but it’s nice to get away from time to time. Fortunately, from the capital, the short-trip traveler has access to some great weekend-away spots. We've selected some of the classics, and assess their travel budgets.

Called 'sanmeijo' in Japanese, the three castles on this list have been chosen based on their significance to history and culture, as well as their scale and grandeur.

Inuyama Castle is a National Treasure, and one of the oldest original castles still standing in Japan.

These castles may not have keeps, but many of them are much older than any of Japan's so-called "original construction" castles.

Two castles peer out into the sea from Saga Prefecture’s picturesque coastal city of Karatsu.

From Okayama Castle's rare black walls to the charms of Okayama Korakuen Garden, one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan, there's plenty to see and do in Okayama.