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HistoryApproximate

The Pony Express: St. Joseph to Sacramento

For eighteen months in 1860 and 1861, relays of light riders on fast horses carried letters 1,900 miles from the Missouri River to California. It took about ten days, was never profitable, and was made obsolete by the telegraph within a year and a half — yet it became one of the great legends of the Old West. The route follows the mail west through eight places: the stables where the first rider set out, a surviving station in Kansas, Fort Kearny, Julesburg, the plains where Mark Twain saw a rider flash past his stagecoach, Utah, the Nevada desert and the terminus in Sacramento. Where legend (Buffalo Bill, Twain's eight days) outruns the record, the text says so.

8 locations8/8 visitable

BooksApproximate

Three Men in a Boat: Kingston to Oxford

Jerome K. Jerome's 1889 comic novel sends three friends, J., George and Harris, and the dog Montmorency up the Thames in a rowing skiff, from Kingston to Oxford, camping out for a fortnight. What follows is one of the funniest books ever written about getting nowhere fast: a hedge maze with a guide who cannot find the exit, a punt run down at sunset, a dog who treats every cat as a personal enemy, and a provision-buying procession that staggers the whole town. The route follows the boat in the book's own order: Kingston's back streets, Hampton Court's maze, the lock opposite Weybridge where George joins them, the island where King John is said to have signed the Charter, tea below Cookham, a night in Marlow, Henley before the regatta, the old walls of Wallingford, and the difficult last mile into Oxford.

9 locations8/9 visitable

HistoryApproximate

Kūkai: From Shikoku to China and Mount Kōya

Kūkai (Kōbō Daishi) was born in Shikoku, studied in Xi'an and founded Shingon Buddhism at Jingo-ji, Tō-ji and Mount Kōya, where he is entombed at Okunoin. The route follows the monk from his birthplace at Zentsū-ji to Qinglong Temple in Tang China, then back to the temples near Kyoto and the mountain retreat he asked for in 816. It ends at his mausoleum, where monks still bring him meals.

6 locations6/6 visitable

HistorySpeculative

Himiko and Yamatai: Yoshinogari vs Makimuku

Where was Yamatai, the kingdom of Queen Himiko? The two leading answers are Yoshinogari in Saga, northern Kyushu, and Makimuku beside the Hashihaka Kofun in Sakurai, Nara. The route follows the Wei Zhi account of Himiko from Iki Island and the Shikanoshima gold seal to the two rival sites, and ends at the burial mound often linked with her grave. The location of Yamatai is still unsettled.

5 locations1/5 visitable

HistoryApproximate

Emperor Shōmu and the Great Buddha of Nara

The Great Buddha of Nara at Tōdai-ji was the work of Emperor Shōmu, who also ordered a temple in every province and moved his capital from Heijō Palace to Kuni-kyō and Shigaraki. After smallpox, rebellion and poor harvests, Shōmu turned to Buddhism for protection. This route follows him from Nara through two short-lived capitals and a provincial temple in today's Tokyo, back to the Eye-opening Ceremony of 752. Some sites are only ruins or remain approximate.

5 locations4/5 visitable

HistorySpeculative

Prince Shōtoku: Asuka, Ikaruga and Hōryū-ji

Prince Shōtoku's temples in Japan run from Tachibana-dera and Asuka-dera in Asuka to Hōryū-ji and Chūgū-ji in Ikaruga, plus Shitennō-ji in Osaka. The route follows the regent who promoted Buddhism, from the place said to be his birthplace to his palace site at Ikaruga and the embroidery made after his death in 622. Several dates rest on temple tradition rather than firm records, and the birthplace is marked as traditional.

6 locations2/6 visitable

HistoryApproximate

Hiroo Onoda: Holdout on Lubang Island

Hiroo Onoda, the Japanese soldier who kept fighting on Lubang Island in the Philippines until 1974, is traced here from the Nakano School in Tokyo to Lubang's mountains and Manila's Malacañang Palace. Sent to Lubang on 26 December 1944 with orders never to surrender, Onoda stayed in hiding for 28 years, 6 months and 8 days after Japan's surrender. The route follows his training, his years in the hills, his surrender in March 1974 and a disputed return visit in 1996. Several locations are approximate, and accounts of the violence on the island are contested.

5 locations0/5 visitable

MoviesApproximate

Amachan: Kuji and the Sanriku Coast

Amachan, the 2013 NHK morning drama, is set in Kitasanriku, a fictional town modelled on Kuji, Iwate; this route visits Kuji Station, Kosode Coast and railway stations along the Sanriku Coast. Aki, a shy Tokyo girl, becomes a sea-urchin diver and a local idol in a small seaside town. This route follows the hometown chapter through five real places: Kuji Station, Kosode Coast, Horinai Station, Tanohata Station and Taneichi High School. Several stand in for places the drama names differently.

5 locations4/5 visitable

MoviesFictional

The Last Samurai: Filming Locations from Taranaki to Kyoto

The Last Samurai (2003) is set in Japan in 1876 but was filmed mostly in Taranaki, New Zealand, where Mount Taranaki stands in for Mount Fuji, plus Engyō-ji near Himeji, Chion-in in Kyoto and Castle Green in Pasadena. This route follows Nathan Algren's story from the opening restaurant scene to the parade ground, the fog battle, Katsumoto's village, his temple and the emperor's palace, and shows where each one really is. Several stops are sets or stand-ins.

6 locations3/6 visitable

MoviesFictional

Love Letter: Filming Locations in Otaru

Shunji Iwai's Love Letter (1995) is set in snowy Otaru and Kobe, but Otaru stands in for both. This route follows the filming locations: the Former Nippon Yusen Otaru Branch as the library, Otaru City Hall as the hospital, Irinai crossing and Temiya Park. It starts at the Former Suhara Residence, which doubles as the Fujii house in Kobe, and follows Hiroko's letters to Itsuki. Some sites are open to visitors; others are a city office or a public street.

5 locations5/5 visitable

HistoryApproximate

Kusunoki Masashige: Chihaya Castle to Minatogawa

Kusunoki Masashige, Japan's famous loyal samurai, fought from Akasaka and Chihaya Castle in Osaka Prefecture and died at Minatogawa in Kobe in 1336. Five stops follow his life from a temple school to his statue in Tokyo. The route runs from Kanshin-ji in Kawachinagano, where he studied, through the two mountain fortresses that made his name, to the shrine at Minatogawa and the bronze monument beside the Imperial Palace. Where the exact spot is not known, the pin marks the area.

5 locations5/5 visitable

HistoryApproximate

Shakushain's War: The Ainu Revolt in Hokkaido

Shakushain's War (1669) was the Ainu uprising against the Matsumae clan of Japan, fought between Shinhidaka, Matsumae Castle and Kunnui in Hokkaido. The route follows the revolt from the feud on the Shibechari River to the mediation at Matsumae, the fighting at Kunnui and the leader's death at Piypok. It ends with the Shakushain statue in Shinhidaka. Several sites are approximate and are marked as such.

5 locations1/5 visitable

MoviesApproximate

Tokyo Story: Onomichi, Atami and Tokyo

Tokyo Story (1953) follows an elderly couple from Onomichi to Tokyo and the hot spring town of Atami, with filming at Jōdo-ji temple, Ueno Park, Tokyo Station and Osaka Castle. The route follows the film in order: the Onomichi temple of its famous dawn scene, the Adachi suburbs, the Atami seawall, Ueno Park, Tokyo Station and Osaka Castle. Several original film spots, such as the Atami seawall, are gone.

6 locations5/6 visitable

HistoryExact

Ryukyu Kingdom: Shuri Castle and the Gusuku of Okinawa

The Ryukyu Kingdom ruled Okinawa from Shuri Castle in Naha, and its story can still be walked at Nakijin, Zakimi and Katsuren castles and the Tamaudun royal tombs. The route follows the kingdom from the three-principality era and Shō Hashi's unification in 1429, through a rival lord's fall in 1458, to the royal tombs of 1501. Most of these castle sites are ruins or reconstructions.

5 locations5/5 visitable

HistoryApproximate

Russo-Japanese War: Port Arthur, Mukden and Tsushima

The Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05 was fought at Port Arthur, on the Yalu River, at Mukden and in the Tsushima Strait, and ended at Portsmouth, Maine. This route follows the war from the first night attack on Port Arthur in February 1904 to the peace treaty signed in September 1905. Battlefields are pinned approximately; only the Mikasa and the Portsmouth shipyard are exact.

7 locations1/7 visitable

MoviesFictional

The Wolverine: Tokyo to Tomonoura

The Wolverine (2013) is set in Tokyo and Nagasaki, but it was filmed at Zojo-ji Temple, Nakagin Capsule Tower, Fukuyama Station and the port of Tomonoura, plus a reserve near Sydney standing in for 1945. The route follows Logan from a prisoner-of-war camp in August 1945 to Yashida's funeral in Tokyo, a bullet-train fight and a hideout in a love hotel, ending in the fishing port of Tomonoura. Several scenes were shot in Australia, and the Nakagin tower no longer stands.

5 locations3/5 visitable

MoviesFictional

Tokyo Drift: Shibuya, Tokyo and Where It Was Really Filmed

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift is set in Tokyo, but most of it was shot in Los Angeles; Shibuya Crossing is the best-known real Tokyo spot. This route follows Sean Boswell from his Arizona school to the car meets, garages and mountain pass of the film, and shows the Los Angeles locations that stood in for Tokyo, from Hawthorne Plaza to San Gabriel Dam. Several scenes are pinned to the stand-in, not the story setting.

7 locations1/7 visitable

HistoryApproximate

Battle of Okinawa 1945: From Kerama to Mabuni

The Battle of Okinawa, fought from March to June 1945, ran from the Kerama Islands and the Kadena landing beaches to Shuri Castle and Mabuni Hill in the south of the island. This route follows the land campaign through six places you can find on a map today, from the first landing to the Cornerstone of Peace, where the names of those who died on all sides are inscribed. Several sites are memorials, and the pins for the Kerama Islands and Kakazu Ridge are approximate.

6 locations4/6 visitable

HistoryApproximate

Atsuhime: From Kagoshima to Edo Castle

NHK's 2008 drama Atsuhime follows Tenshō-in from Kagoshima and Sakurajima in Satsuma to Edo Castle in Tokyo, where she became wife of the 13th shōgun. Born Okatsu in the Imaizumi branch of the Shimazu clan, she is adopted by Shimazu Nariakira, moves into Tsurumaru Castle and leaves for the shōgun's court in 1853, the year of Perry's Black Ships. The route follows five places from the drama's first half in Satsuma to the Ōoku. The Imaizumi pin and the Kurihama stop are approximate.

5 locations5/5 visitable

MythologyApproximate

Hagoromo: The Feather Robe at Miho no Matsubara

The Hagoromo legend, retold in the Noh play Hagoromo, is set at Miho no Matsubara, a pine-lined beach in Shimizu Ward, Shizuoka, with Miho Shrine nearby and Mount Fuji in the distance. A fisherman finds a celestial maiden's feather robe hanging on a pine and will not give it back until she dances. The route follows the tale from the beach and the legendary pine to the maiden's ascent toward Mount Fuji, the shrine that keeps her plumage, and the monument to a French dancer who loved the story.

5 locations4/5 visitable

HistorySpeculative

Sanada Yukimura: Ueda to the Siege of Osaka

Sanada Yukimura's story runs from Ueda Castle to exile in Kudoyama and a last stand at Osaka Castle, Sanada Maru and Tennōji. He held Ueda against a far larger Tokugawa army in 1600, then died in 1615. The route follows him from the Sekigahara campaign through exile below Mount Kōya to the Winter and Summer sieges of Osaka. Some sites are marked approximately, because the sources do not give exact spots.

5 locations4/5 visitable

BooksApproximate

Nansō Satomi Hakkenden: Tateyama to Koga

Nansō Satomi Hakkenden (Hakkenden) opens in Awa, today southern Chiba, with Takida Castle, Tateyama Castle and Mount Tomi in Chiba, then Koga Castle and Gyōtoku. A lord's careless joke to his dog brings down a curse, and eight dog warriors are born from a princess's scattered prayer beads. The route follows the opening tale from the old castles of Awa to Princess Fuse's mountain, then the first dog warriors' duel at Koga and rescue at Gyōtoku. The novel's Tateyama and Hōryūkaku are not the same as the real sites, so most pins are approximate.

5 locations3/5 visitable

HistoryApproximate

Ashikaga Shoguns: Kinkaku-ji, Ginkaku-ji and Muromachi Kyoto

The Ashikaga shoguns ruled Japan from Kyoto from 1336 to 1573, and their temples survive as Tenryū-ji, Shōkoku-ji, Kinkaku-ji (the Golden Pavilion), Ryōan-ji and Ginkaku-ji (the Silver Pavilion). The route follows the dynasty from Ashikaga Takauji's memorial temple for Emperor Go-Daigo, through Yoshimitsu's Flower Palace and golden villa, to the Ōnin War and Yoshimasa's unfinished silver pavilion. The Flower Palace itself is gone; only a stone marker commemorates it.

6 locations6/6 visitable

MythologyApproximate

Sugawara no Michizane: From Kyoto to Dazaifu and Tenjin

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.

5 locations3/5 visitable