Make Your Osaka Trip Even Better! Must-See Attractions in Osaka’s Suburbs and Nearby Areas

A renowned hot spring that represents Kansai, bubbling up on the northern foothills of Mount Rokko.
It’s a historic onsen that appears in the Nihon Shoki and Fudoki, and is counted as one of Japan’s three oldest hot springs.
While it’s surrounded by abundant nature that doesn’t feel like you’re still in Kobe City, it’s also lined with well-known traditional ryokan, and the atmospheric hot spring town charms visitors.

A famed castle of Japan, registered as a World Heritage Site.
Built in the early Edo period by Terumasa Ikeda, the main keep is a five-story, six-floor structure with one basement level, and is the largest surviving Edo-period castle keep in Japan.
It’s also a so-called “sogamae” castle, where the entire castle town is inside the outer moat, large enough to encompass the entire central area of modern Himeji City.
It’s said that the outer moat was located around what is now Himeji Station.

Awaji Hanasajiki is a park spanning around 15 hectares across the northern hills of Awaji Island in Hyogo Prefecture.
You can enjoy spectacular, flower-filled scenery in every season, with blooms such as rapeseed flowers, poppies, cleome, cosmos, and stock.
It’s a prime viewing spot where you can enjoy both the grand panoramas of the Akashi Strait and Osaka Bay, and a colorful carpet of seasonal flowers at the same time.

Mount Koya was founded in 816 (Kōnin 7) by Kobo Daishi (Kukai).
A sacred site of Shingon esoteric Buddhism centered on Kongobu-ji Temple, it is a religious city where the entire town—spreading across a mountain basin at an elevation of Approx. 800 m, surrounded by 1,000-meter-class peaks—is considered temple grounds.
From Danjo Garan, home to the Kondo and the site’s symbol, the Konpon Daito pagoda (Japan’s first tahoto pagoda), to Okunoin, where Kobo Daishi’s mausoleum lies, there are countless highlights that let you feel its Approx. 1,200 years of history.

From the three-tiered white main keep, you can see the Kino River, a first-class river, as it flows by, along with the full view of the city that formed around it.
There are many other highlights as well, including Ichinohashi Bridge and the Otemon Gate, plus Okaguchi Gate, one of the few remaining structures from the former domain era.
Above all, the Nishinomaru Garden, famous as a scenic spot, is especially impressive.
This stroll-style pond garden strongly retains the atmosphere of early Edo-period daimyo gardens, and is known for its design that skillfully uses the slope of Torafusu-yama.

A historic shrine said to have originated in 662 BC, when Kamuyamato Iwarebiko no Mikoto (later Emperor Jimmu) enshrined Nachi Falls as a deity.
It is the head shrine of Kumano shrines across Japan, and is also known as one of the Kumano Sanzan. It’s not only a place of worship, but also a shrine said to connect people’s relationships and many kinds of wishes, giving it the alternate name “Musubimiya.”
Registered as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site in 2004.

A park where you can enjoy valuable historical and cultural heritage such as Kasuga Taisha Shrine, Kofuku-ji Temple, Todai-ji Temple, the Nara National Museum, and the Shosoin Repository, along with the grand, lush natural greenery that surrounds them. Located in the city center, it’s also attractive for its convenient access to nearby sightseeing spots.
Many features are designated as Natural Monuments, including the Kasugayama Primeval Forest (a Special Natural Monument), as well as the Nara deer, the nagi tree grove in the Kasuga Shrine precincts, the Chisoku-in Nara-no-yaezakura, and the habitat of the Loomis blue butterfly.

In the Nara period, the Rushana Daibutsu (Vairocana Buddha), commissioned by Emperor Shomu, had its eye-opening ceremony in 752. After that, the temple complex was developed over nearly 40 years, making it one of Nara’s representative temples.
On the grounds are many National Treasure buildings, including the Daibutsuden (Great Buddha Hall), one of the world’s largest wooden structures housing the seated Vairocana Buddha statue known as the “Great Buddha of Nara,” as well as the Hokke-do (Sangatsu-do), the oldest building at Todai-ji, and the Nandaimon Gate, the largest temple gate in Japan.

A kofun located in the “Ishibutai area” of Asuka Historical National Government Park, which covers a total area of Approx. 60 ha and consists of five areas: the Takamatsuzuka Surrounding Area (home to the Takamatsuzuka Tumulus), the Amakashi Hill Area (with an observation deck overlooking the Asuka landscape), the Iwaido Area (with a walking path leading to Ishibutai Tumulus), the Kitora Tumulus Surrounding Area (home to the Kitora Tumulus), and the Ishibutai Area. The park was developed for purposes including protecting its rich nature and cultural heritage.

Founded in 778, it was registered as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site in 1994. Its 130,000㎡ grounds spread across the hillside of Mount Otowa and include more than 30 halls and monuments, including National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties. Kiyomizu-dera is also a must-see for its seasonal scenery—cherry blossoms in spring, lush greenery in summer, fall foliage in autumn, and snow in winter.
The temple’s main hall is a highlight you won’t want to miss. Built to jut out over the hillside, it was constructed using traditional Japanese methods that join wooden beams without using nails.

A deity loved across Japan as the god of bountiful harvests, thriving business, household safety, recovery from illness, and wishes granted, this is the head shrine of Inari shrines, said to number around 30,000 nationwide. It was founded in 711.
The most famous spot is the Senbon Torii (“Thousand Torii Gates”).
Behind the main shrine, vermilion torii gates form tunnel-like paths in long rows.
They began as offerings dedicated by worshippers with prayers and gratitude, and across all of Mount Inari there are said to be more than 10,000.

A temple that traces its origins to Kitayama-dono, the residence of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the third shogun of the Muromachi shogunate. Named Rokuon-ji after Yoshimitsu’s Buddhist name, it is a detached sub-temple of Shokoku-ji (a temple established in a different location from the main temple, created by turning a post-retirement hermitage into a temple).
The bell in the bell tower just inside the gate is said to date back to the Kamakura period, and is tuned to the oshikicho scale (close to an A in Western music). The common name Kinkaku-ji comes from the gold-leaf-covered shariden hall that stands in front of the pond. Its shingle-style (kokera-buki) roof made from thin sawara cypress boards, and the pure gold applied to the second and third floors using lacquer as an adhesive, still convey the splendor of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu today.