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A Tendai temple founded by Ennin featuring Japan's largest tengu mask with a 2.8-meter nose, blazing with autumn maples and ancient ginkgos

The castle-town guardian on the Naka River bluffs where Basho wandered during his journey along the narrow road north

Revitalized by the Zen master Muso Soseki — the ancient cedar temple where Basho visited his teacher and composed verse for the Narrow Road

The shrine where Nasu no Yoichi prayed before his legendary arrow shot — its Momoyama tower gate is a national treasure of warrior faith

Seven Edo-era Zen halls designated as national treasures — the moss-roofed temple where Basho rested on his narrow road north

Founded in 1545 by the Otawara clan, one of the Nasu Seven Warriors — successive domain lords rest in graves beneath its Pure Land temple grounds

Founded the same year Otawara Castle was built in 1545 — the chief guardian shrine where stone walls and cherry blossoms intertwine in the castle-site park

Where the epic archer Nasu no Yoichi offered prayers before his famous feat — the Muromachi-era tower gate stands as a national Important Cultural Property

A castle-town temple from the Keicho era housing a miniature Shikoku 88-site pilgrimage circuit within its grounds

The front-square-rear-square tomb where Tokugawa Mitsukuni ordered Japan's first scholarly excavation