Kanagawa

Odawara Castle and Castle Park (Odawara-joshi Koen)

Though today's castle is a concrete reproduction, the original castle was built during the Muromachi period ( 1392-1573). In the 16th century it became a resident castle of the Hojo family lord of Odawara, who ruled the entire Kanto region (today's Greater Tokyo). The wooden structure was destroyed during the Meiji era (1868-1912), and the present concrete reconstruction was completed in 1960. The entire site of the castle is designated an important historical monument.

Hakone Wetland Horticultural Garden (Hakone shissei Ka-en)

Containing some 1700 species of plants, the garden is divided into eight zones: one can see plants in various stages ranging from low altitudes to alpine heights and from primitive to evolved wetlands.

Hakone-the Old Highway (Hakone Kyukaido)

Portions of the historic Tokaido Highway, which extended from Edo (today's Tokyo) to Kyoto and Osaka during the Edo period (1600-1868), are still extant in Hakone, bordered by gigantic centuries-old cedars in places and paved with stone. The highway was constructed by the shogunate in 1618, and some parts of the old Hakone highway were precipitous and perilous; today the tamer, stone-paved sections of the old highway in Hakone have been designated an important historical monument.