Lafcadio Hearn's Japan runs from Matsue Castle and Izumo Taisha to Kumamoto, Yaizu and Akama Shrine in Shimonoseki, home of the Kwaidan ghost tale of Hōïchi the Earless.
The route follows his years as a teacher and writer: the samurai house in Matsue, a railway station scene from Kokoro, a fishing town he wrote about, and the shrine that keeps Hōïchi's statue. Hearn does not name the Kumamoto station, so that pin is approximate.
Sugawara no Michizane, the scholar-poet worshipped today as Tenjin, rose at the Heian Palace in Kyoto, was exiled to Dazaifu in Kyushu and is buried at Dazaifu Tenmangū. Kitano Tenmangū in Kyoto was built for him.
The route follows his career from court professor to governor of Sanuki, then to exile in 901, death in 903 and the shrines that turned a feared spirit into the god of scholarship. Both shrines can be visited; the palace and the exile site are approximate.
The Mongol invasions of Japan in 1274 and 1281 were fought at Tsushima, Iki Island and Hakata Bay in Fukuoka, and ended off Takashima, where a typhoon struck the fleet.
This route follows the two attempts in order: the 1274 landings on Tsushima and Iki, the Battle of Bun'ei at Hakata Bay and Hakozaki Shrine, then the stone wall built afterwards, the fleet anchored off Shikanoshima and the storm of 15 August 1281. Several spots are approximate, and the exact site of the Takashima episode is only the island's general area.
Haruki Murakami's A Wild Sheep Chase is set in Tokyo and Hokkaido in 1978, from an advertising agency in the capital to Sapporo, Asahikawa and a lonely farm house in the north.
The route follows the narrator's hunt for a star-marked sheep in five stops. Only Tokyo and Sapporo are named in the book, so the later stops follow readers' inferences about the real setting, and the Dolphin Hotel and the Rat's villa are fictional.
Nobu Shirase led Japan's first Antarctic expedition in 1910–12, sailing the small ship Kainan Maru from Wellington and Sydney to the ice shelf, Bay of Whales and King Edward VII Land.
The route follows the doubtful welcome in Wellington, a winter camp at Parsley Bay in Sydney, a dash across the ice near Amundsen's Fram, and the museum in Shirase's hometown of Nikaho. Antarctic pins are approximate.
Taira no Masakado, the rebel who declared himself New Emperor, is remembered at Masakado's Mound in Ōtemachi and at Kanda Shrine in Tokyo, with battle sites in Ibaraki and a head legend in Gifu.
The route follows his feud and rebellion, his death in 940, the story of his flying head and the Tokyo mound that is said to punish neglect. Some places are traditional identifications, marked as such.
Minamoto no Yoritomo founded Japan's first shogunate in Kamakura. This route follows him from his exile in Izu and Mishima Taisha to Ōkura, Hiraizumi and Tsurugaoka Hachimangū.
The stops trace his rise from exile in 1160, his first residence in Kamakura, the fall of Hiraizumi in 1189, the shogunate of 1192, his grave and the Hōjō regents who followed. Some sites, including the exile and the grave, are traditional identifications.
Kintarō, Japan's "Golden Boy", is said to have grown up on Mount Ashigara near Hakone, wrestling bears before Minamoto no Yorimitsu met him at Ashigara Pass and took him as a retainer.
The route follows the folk legend from several claimed birthplaces, Oyama and Yuhi Falls, through Mount Kintoki and Ashigara Pass to Mount Ōe, home of the demon Shuten-dōji. Versions differ, so most pins mark traditional sites rather than proven ones.
The Shinsengumi, the squad of Kondō Isami and Hijikata Toshizō, began in Hino in the Tama region and ended in Hakodate. Their story runs through Mibu-dera and the Ikedaya Inn in Kyoto, the battle of Fushimi, and Kondō's execution in Itabashi.
The route follows Kondō Isami and Hijikata Toshizō from a dojo in Hino to the Boshin War. Several stops can still be visited, though some pins mark an area rather than the exact spot.
Lycoris Recoil is set in Tokyo, and its café LycoReco sits in Sumida, near Kinshichō Station, with Kinshi Park, the Sumida River water bus, Sumida Aquarium and Tokyo Skytree nearby.
This route follows the series from the café and the real streets around it to the river, Ryōgoku and the aquarium, ending at the tower of the finale. LycoReco is fictional, and the link between the story's tower and Tokyo Skytree is a guess.
Hiroshige's One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, a series of 119 ukiyo-e prints, shows Edo, as Tokyo was then called: Nihonbashi, Kanda Shrine, Shinobazu Pond, Kameido Tenjin, Zōjō-ji and Sensō-ji in Asakusa.
This route follows seven of its views in print order, from Nihonbashi in snow to the gates of Sensō-ji, each tied to a place you can still visit. The Sumida River bridge of the famous sudden shower, and the Nihonbashi stop, have approximate pins.
Sakamoto Ryōma, the Tosa samurai of the last shogunate years, is remembered across Kōchi, Nagasaki and Kyoto: from his birthplace memorial to Kameyama Shachū, the Teradaya inn and the Ōmiya Inn.
The route follows him from his birth in 1836 through the founding of Kameyama Shachū in 1865, the Teradaya raid of 1866 and his death at the Ōmiya Inn in 1867, then ends at the Katsurahama museum that keeps his letters.
Mishima's novel The Sound of Waves (Shiosai) is set on Utajima, a fishing island based on Kamishima in Mie Prefecture, with a lighthouse, a shrine and a ruined observation post that fans still visit.
The route follows young fisherman Shinji and the pearl diver Hatsue from the island to a typhoon in Okinawa's Unten Port and back to the lighthouse. Kamishima is the model for the island; the novel renames it, so the island stops share one approximate pin.
The Iwakura Mission was a Japanese embassy that sailed from Yokohama in 1871 and travelled through San Francisco, Liverpool, Sheffield and Windsor Castle on a two-year tour of the West.
From 1871 to 1873, about 50 government officials of the newly established Meiji government studied the political, military, economic and educational institutions of the United States and Europe. This route follows the British leg in detail: a textile mill near Bradford, a country house in Sheffield, Chatsworth, and an audience with Queen Victoria. The Yokohama, San Francisco and Liverpool pins mark the port or station area, not an exact landing spot.
Tamamo-no-Mae, the nine-tailed fox of Japanese legend, ends at the Sesshō-seki, the Killing Stone at Nasu, after a path through Yin Xu in China and Emperor Konoe's court in Kyoto.
The route follows the fox from Daji at the Shang court to the hunt on the Nasu plain, the poison stone and its scattered fragments. The legend names few exact places, so most pins are approximate.
Date Masamune, the One-Eyed Dragon, was born at Yonezawa Castle and ended his life as lord of Sendai. This route follows him through Yonezawa, Aizu, Iwadeyama, Sendai Castle, Zuigan-ji at Matsushima and his mausoleum at Zuihoden.
It covers the castles he took, rebuilt or founded between 1584 and 1636, and the temple and tomb that survive him. Most of the original buildings are gone, so several stops are sites or rebuilds.
In This Corner of the World is set in Hiroshima and Kure, Japan, during the Second World War. Suzu Urano grows up in Eba, sketches at the Atomic Bomb Dome building, and marries into a family in the naval port of Kure.
The route follows Fumiyo Kōno's story from Suzu's hometown of Eba to the Kure Naval Arsenal and Niko Park, where the Hōjō family goes to see the cherry blossoms in spring 1945. Kure's Hōjō home is only approximately placed.
The legend of Benkei, Japan's warrior monk, runs from Gojō Bridge and Kiyomizu-dera in Kyoto to the Ataka Barrier in Ishikawa and the Koromogawa battle site at Hiraizumi.
Benkei is said to have lost a duel to the young Minamoto no Yoshitsune on a Kyoto bridge, then served him to the end. The route follows that story through five places, from the duel to the famous "Standing Death of Benkei". Most tales come from later writings, and no records from Benkei's own time survive.
The Satsuma Rebellion of 1877 began in Kagoshima, besieged Kumamoto Castle, was fought out at Tabaruzaka and ended on Shiroyama, where Saigō Takamori died. This route follows the samurai army from its first march to its last stand.
Six stops run from Kagoshima Castle through Kumamoto, Hitoyoshi and Mount Enodake and back to Kagoshima. Three are exact landmarks you can visit; the battlefield and retreat stops are approximate.
Sōseki's novel Kokoro is set between Kamakura, Zōshigaya Cemetery, Ueno Park, Nogi Shrine and Koishikawa in Tokyo. This route follows the student narrator and his mysterious teacher, "Sensei", through places the book names.
Starting at a summer beach in Kamakura, the route visits the cemetery where Sensei brings flowers each month, the cherry trees of Ueno, the Akasaka house of General Nogi, whose death in 1912 changes everything, and Koishikawa, where Sensei's story of K unfolds. Some stops are approximate, since the novel names districts, not addresses.
Sansho the Bailiff (Sanshō Dayū) follows Anju and Zushiō, two noble children sold into slavery, from Naoetsu in Niigata to Tango in northern Kyoto and back to Sado Island. Mizoguchi's 1954 film and Mori Ōgai's 1915 story both retell an older oral tale.
The route runs from the Naoetsu bridge where the family is torn apart, through Yura and the Tango Kokubunji to Kyoto and Sado, and ends on Mount Iwaki, where Anju's memory lives on. The legend is fictional, so most pins are approximate.
The Siege of Odawara of 1590 was fought at Odawara Castle in Kanagawa, with Toyotomi Hideyoshi's one-night castle at Ishigakiyama and Hōjō outposts at Hachigata, Hachiōji and Oshi.
Hideyoshi's army surrounded the Hōjō capital while other forces took its castles across the region one by one. This route follows the campaign through five castle sites, from the siege to the last holdouts, and most can still be visited as parks or ruins.
Francis Xavier, the missionary, came ashore at Kagoshima in 1549 and spent more than two years in Japan, preaching in Hirado and Yamaguchi before a failed trip to Kyoto.
The route follows his path through Kagoshima, Hirado, Yamaguchi and Kyoto, with dates from his life. Pins mark towns and areas, since the exact spots are not recorded.
Tomoe Gozen, the woman warrior of The Tale of the Heike, rode with Kiso Yoshinaka from the Kiso Valley through Kurikara Pass and the Uji River to the battle of Awazu, near Gichū-ji temple in Ōtsu.
The route follows her legend from Shinano to Yoshinaka's last stand in 1184, then to the places that claim her afterlife as a nun. Her later life is uncertain, so the last stops rest on temple and local tradition.
