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World Heritage site

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

A World Heritage hot spring town with retro bathhouses and seafood feasts.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Mt Fuji railway project receives approval from Yamanashi officials

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. 

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

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

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Lucky #18! Japan gets another UNESCO World Heritage site

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!

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  • May 5, 2014

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

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!

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

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.

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