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Shimane has a secret hot spring town that feels like stepping into an old Japanese film

Elliot Hale
Dec 14, 2025
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A World Heritage hot spring town with retro bathhouses and seafood feasts.

Japan
(COK • culture • hot spring • hot springs • Iwami Ginzan • Japan travel • Marie Morimoto • nostalgia • Oda • onsen • Shimane • SNJO • tourism • travel • UNESCO World Heritage Site • World Heritage site • Yunotsu)

Go back in time at this off-the-beaten tourist site in Japan

Oona McGee
May 6, 2025

Historic World Heritage Site is a living breathing town that looks like it did when samurai roamed the streets.

Japan
(accommodation • culture • hot spring • Japanese accommodation • off the beaten path • off the beaten track • onsen • retreats • ryokan • Shimane • shrines • spa • temples • tourism • tourist sites • tradition • travel • UNESCO World Heritage Site • World Heritage site)

We take part in a T-Rex race at Nara, Japan, turns out to be a wet and wild event

Oona McGee
Apr 1, 2024

Extinct theropods take over Unesco World Heritage Site for a race like no other.

Japan
(activities • COK • cool • costumes • cute • dinosaurs • events • funny • Heijo Palace • K. Masami • Nara • SNJO • sport • T-Rex • T-Rex race • travel • World Heritage site)

Shiratani Unsuikyo: The breathtaking anime setting where Princess Mononoke was born

Oona McGee
Sep 28, 2022

Ancient cedar trees that inspired Hayao Miyazaki and his Studio Ghibli team are just one reason why this forest in Yakushima is so magical.

Japan
(anime • COK • film locations • hiking • Mountains • movies • nature • Princess Mononoke • Seiji Nakazawa • SNJO • Studio Ghibli • travel • UNESCO World Heritage sites • World Heritage site • Yakushima)

Travelling to Miyajima and Itsukushima Shrine? Best to be a glass-half-full type of tourist

Oona McGee
Aug 29, 2022

Heartfelt advice for those hoping to visit the World Heritage site before the end of the year.

Japan
(COK • deer • Hiroshima • Itsukushima • Mari Morimoto • Miyajima • shrines • SNJO • torii • tourism • tourist sites • travel • UNESCO World Heritage sites • World Heritage site)

Mt Fuji railway project receives approval from Yamanashi officials

Oona McGee
Feb 9, 2021

A railway up the mountain aims to eliminate vehicles on the road to the fifth station but the round-trip fare for passengers won’t be cheap.

Japan
(COK • environment • Fuji • light rail • Mount fuji • Mt. Fuji • nature • news • tourism • tourist sites • tourists • trains • transport • travel • UNESCO • World Heritage site • Yamanashi Prefecture)

Gorgeous funicular route in China is so beautiful, it looks like something out of a movie【Video】

Koh Ruide
Dec 6, 2018

This is one eight-minute long ride you will remember for the rest of your life.

China
(awesome • beautiful • funicular • Mountains • nature • travel • video • World Heritage site)

Lucky #18! Japan gets another UNESCO World Heritage site

KK Miller
Jun 24, 2014

Japanese people love visiting UNESCO World Heritage sites. Good thing there are plenty of sites in Japan for people to pilgrimage to–17 before this week started. With the addition of Mt. Fuji in 2013, World Heritage site “completionists” finally had a new location to travel to after two years of waiting.

Well, the list just got a little bit longer, as another site has officially been added to bring Japan’s UNESCO sites to a total of 18. Pack your bags, we’re heading to Gunma!

Japan
(Gunma • silk • silk worms • souvenirs • Tomioka Silk Mill • World Heritage site)

We try extra-unique souvenir sold by soon-to-be world heritage site — silkworm chocolate!

Kay
May 5, 2014

One of the happier pieces of news to grace media headlines in Japan recently has been the announcement that the Tomioka Silk Mill, located in Gunma Prefecture, is expected to make the list of UNESCO’s World Heritage sites in June this year. With everyone excited about this historic building becoming the eighteenth recognized World Heritage site in Japan, the mill is sure to attract an enormous tourist crowd during the current Golden Week holidays which go on until next Tuesday, as well as the upcoming summer season.

But even before all this buzz, Tomioka Silk Mill had its very own brand of souvenir chocolates, and they have now been attracting quite a bit of attention in Japan — not just because of the silk mill’s soon-to-be expected World Heritage status, but because of the utterly unique (and some may even say grotesque) appearance of the chocolates. Yes, as you can see from the picture, they’re silkworm chocolates!

Japan
(chocolate • Kaiko no Okoku • silkworm • Tomioka Silk Mill • weird • World Heritage site)

Japanese Man Creates Incredible LEGO “Pop-Up Book” That Opens to Reveal Buddhist Temple

Steven
Nov 16, 2012

LEGO reconstructions of famous structures, while certainly impressive, are nothing new. Japanese LEGO artisan Talapz, however, brings his miniature brick models to a whole new level by turning them into fantastic colorful pop-up books.

Check out a video of his latest creation, the famous Japanese Buddhist temple complex, Todai-ji, below.