What is the difference between Japan's SA-tier and A-tier tourism rankings?+
Japan's National Tourism Resource Ledger (全国観光資源台帳), maintained by the JTB Foundation, uses two top tiers. SA-tier — written 特A級 in Japanese — designates 47 resources of exceptional national and international significance, sites considered worth visiting at least once in a lifetime. A-tier (A級) covers 383 sites of high regional importance that anchor each prefecture's tourism identity. The tiers inform Japan's official tourism investment and promotion priorities.
What is the JTB Foundation's National Tourism Resource Ledger?+
The National Tourism Resource Ledger (全国観光資源台帳) is Japan's authoritative ranking of tourism resources, maintained by the JTB Foundation (公益財団法人日本交通公社) — a non-profit research institute affiliated with JTB Corp., Japan's largest travel agency. The ledger evaluates and tier-ranks places that represent Japan's natural, cultural, and historical identity, and is used across the Japanese travel industry as the canonical reference for what's worth visiting nationally. It is updated periodically and published in Japanese on tabi.jtb.or.jp.
What are Japan's most famous tourist attractions according to official rankings?+
The JTB Foundation's official ledger ranks 430 tourism resources nationally — 47 SA-tier and 383 A-tier. SA-tier sites include Mount Fuji, Kiyomizu-dera, Itsukushima Shrine (the floating torii at Miyajima), Kinkaku-ji, Tōdai-ji, Hōryū-ji, the Konjikidō at Hiraizumi, and Mount Kōya. Together they represent the Japanese government's official answer to "the most famous places in Japan."
How do Japan's official landmark rankings compare to UNESCO World Heritage Sites?+
They overlap but serve different purposes. Japan has 26 UNESCO World Heritage Sites (21 cultural, 5 natural), and nearly all of them appear in the JTB Foundation's ledger — most as SA-tier entries. But the ledger covers 430 sites in total, including hot springs, festivals, regional cuisines, and modern attractions that fall outside UNESCO's "outstanding universal value" mandate. The two are complementary: UNESCO highlights sites of global significance, while the JTB ledger reflects Japan's own tourism priorities at national and prefectural scale.
Is there an English map of Japan's official tourism rankings?+
The JTB Foundation publishes its National Tourism Resource Ledger in Japanese only. This Stardrift map is the only English-language interactive visualization of all 430 officially-ranked landmarks, filterable by tier (SA / A) and by category — mountain, hot spring, shrine, castle, festival, garden, and 18 others.
Which Japanese prefectures have the most must-see attractions?+
Kyoto leads decisively with 47 officially-ranked landmarks (9 SA-tier and 38 A-tier) — more than any other prefecture. Hokkaidō follows with 34, Tokyo with 30, Nagano with 23, and Okinawa with 20. For travelers planning multi-region routes, the JTB ledger is a useful prioritization framework: build days around prefectures with the highest density of ranked sites.
What are Japan's hidden gems according to official sources?+
The 383 A-tier sites in the JTB Foundation's ledger are nationally recognized but rarely covered in English travel guides. Examples include Kitayamazaki (Iwate's 200m sea cliffs), Mount Tateyama (granite alpine peaks in Toyama), the Mozu Kofun Group (4th–5th-century burial mounds in Osaka), and Ōsugi Gorge in Mie. They're "officially ranked but overlooked" — exactly what travelers searching for hidden gems want.
How can I plan a Japan itinerary using official tourism rankings?+
Start with the SA-tier sites in the regions you'll visit — Kyoto for temples, the Mt Fuji area for mountains, Itsukushima for the iconic torii, Hiraizumi for medieval Buddhist art. Then fill remaining days with nearby A-tier resources — they're the second-tier draws each prefecture is officially proud of. The interactive map shows geographic clusters so you can minimize transit time between top-tier landmarks.
How many landmarks are on this map?+
430 anchor places by default — the 47 SA-tier and 383 A-tier resources from the JTB Foundation's official ledger. Toggling the "+ B" filter adds 2,148 B-tier sites (B級), locally significant resources that sit just below A-tier in the official ranking.
Where can I see the original Japanese ledger entries?+
Every place card on this map links to the original entry on tabi.jtb.or.jp, where the JTB Foundation publishes the full National Tourism Resource Ledger in Japanese.
