Japan's Famous Lists
Japan ranks its own treasures in official lists: the 12 castles that kept their original keeps, 100 fine castles with a stamp at each gate, and even 100 soundscapes and 100 fragrant landscapes chosen by Japan's environment authorities. Each list here is checked against its official source, mapped from real coordinates, and ready to tick off as you go.
Being verified now, one entry at a time: The 100 Soundscapes of Japan and The 100 Remarkable Waters of Japan.
Why Japan Ranks Everything in Hundreds
In the spring of 1927, two newspapers, the Osaka Mainichi and the Tokyo Nichi Nichi, asked readers to vote by postcard for the new great views of Japan, with the Railway Ministry backing the contest. Around 93 million postcards arrived, roughly one and a half for every person in the country. A panel of writers, artists and scholars then picked the winners from the top vote-getters, and alongside the headline eight views came a list of 100 Landscapes of Japan, one of the earliest national lists of its kind.
The format stuck. From the 1980s onward, government agencies took it up: 100 remarkable waters in 1985, 100 soundscapes in 1996, 100 fragrant landscapes in 2001. Private bodies followed with castles, onsen, night views and local foods, and prefectures and city wards made their own. The Japanese Wikipedia article on hyakusen names more than 200 such lists.
The name is looser than the lists themselves. The rice terrace list holds 134 terraces, the hometown onigiri list 132 rice balls, and the Fuji views list 104 viewpoints, while the local-dishes list stops at 99 so the public could add the hundredth. What they share is authority: someone with standing looked at the whole country and decided these were the ones worth the trip.
That makes them unusually good travel plans, and good games: the 100 Soundscapes and the 100 Remarkable Waters both turned up as challenges in the Japan season of Jet Lag: The Game. We map each list from real coordinates, check every entry against the official source, and mark the ones that have closed or disappeared, so you can plan around them and tick them off.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a hyakusen list?
Hyakusen (百選) means "a hundred selections": a list of the best examples of one kind of thing, chosen by an identifiable body. Ministries, foundations, newspapers and individual authors have all made them, covering castles, mountains, waterfalls, spring water, local dishes, and even sounds and smells.
How many famous 100 lists does Japan have?
Hundreds. The Japanese Wikipedia article on hyakusen alone names more than 200, from national lists made by government ministries since the 1980s down to lists for single prefectures and city wards. Plenty of them don't contain exactly 100 entries: the rice terrace list has 134, and the local-dishes list stops at 99 on purpose.
Which famous list should I start with on a first trip to Japan?
The 12 Original Castles. It's short, most of the castles sit in compact castle towns on JR lines, Himeji is an easy half day from Osaka or Kyoto, and Matsumoto makes a good overnight between Tokyo and the Alps. Each visit takes one to three hours.
Can I keep track of the ones I've visited?
Yes. Every list page has a checklist: tick an entry and it fills in on the map. Ticks are saved on your device without an account, and if you sign in they sync to your account and follow you to other devices.