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The statue of the loyal dog “Hachiko” can be found just outside Shibuya Station’s Hachiko gate. The 162cm-tall statue was built in 1934, and stands elevated 180cm from the ground. Today, the statue of Hachiko has become a symbol of Shibuya and a popular landmark for meetups and tourism. Hachiko is based on an Akita dog named Hachi, whose owner was a professor of the Tokyo Imperial University. Even after the sudden death of his owner, Hachi continued to wait for his return at the ticketing gate. The story of this loyal dog, Hachiko inspired film and literature worldwide, time and again. Another statue of Hachiko can be found in front of Tower Records Shibuya, but this one is warped diagonally in a peculiar way. In front of the Hachiko statue is a green train car formerly used on the Toyoko line, and by Shibuya Station’s south gate is a lesser-known monument named the “Moyai Statue”. The nearby department stores also carry souvenirs related to Hachiko.
Category: Educational tourArea: Shibuya / EbisuBlood Pond Hell, in the hot spring town of Beppu, is a spring that is blood red. It has existed for over 1,300 years, and its color is said to be a result of some chemical reaction occurring underground. At the shop in front of Blood Pond Hell, a special ointment using the substances from the spring is sold. The ointment is said to help with pimples, and many people come back to purchase this ointment from all over Japan.
Category: Beauty / healthArea: BeppuSante Park Tahara is an agriculture-themed park. Here, you can experience farming, have fun with animals, try flower arranging and more. The Sante Garden is beautiful throughout the year too. You can feel summer through your skin when the sunflower and lavender fields blossom, and come back again the fall for the cosmos flowers.
Category: Parks / gardensArea: Atsumi PeninsulaNotojima Ohashi Bridge connects the town of Ishizaki and Notojima Island in Ishikawa prefecture. The 1,050 meters bridge spans across the Nanao Bay, and you can enjoy the view of it as you drive across the bridge. There is a sidewalk on the bridge, so you can walk across it, too. On the bridge’s Ishizaki side, there is the Notojima Ohashi Road Park. From the observatory here, you can enjoy a view of the bridge and Notojima Island. At the Notojima Aquarium, on Notojima Island, you can see sea creatures such as the whale shark. There is also a dolphin-watching event, where you can see go dolphin watching in the Nanao Bay. There is even a special event where you can swim with dolphins in the bay.
Category: Nature / sceneryArea: Noto / WajimaThe "Three Wise Monkeys" refers to the monkey carvings on the walls of the Shinkyusha building of Nikko Tosho-gu Shrine. The Shinkyusha building was built to tie down the god horses. The monkey carvings were engraved to protect over the horses. The monkey carvings show the life span of a human being, and the 3 monkeys appear on the second panel. The 3 monkeys, which are quite famous for the phrase, "monkey don't see, monkey don't say, monkey don't hear", was made to protect children. This phrase has a purpose to protect children from all bad things and only expose them to positive things.
Category: Shrine / templeArea: NikkoThe Kanagawa Prefectural Government Office Building, located in Yokohama City of Kanagawa Prefecture, is the second oldest government building in Japan. This building is also loved by the name of "King's Tower". The current government building is the 4th model, as of 1928, after the previous building was unfortunately burnt down during the Great Kanto Earthquake. In 1996, the building was registered as a national tangible cultural asset for its western geometric art deco. You can learn all about the history of the 4 generations at the historical exhibition hall on the 6th floor. You can see all of Yokohama's representative spots, such as the Bay Bridge, the Red Brick Warehouse, and the Landmark Tower from the observatory on the rooftop. (Closed for construction until March of 2019)
Category: Shrine / templeArea: Yokohama
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