Boso Peninsula (Chiba) — 7 days, car

An easy loop around Chiba’s Boso Peninsula from Tokyo: Kameyama Lake, Mt. Nokogiri’s giant Buddha, Katsuura’s morning market, the Byobugaura cliffs and Choshi fishing port, the Kujukuri coast, and Naritasan.

Don't miss

Katsuura tantanmen from the origin shop near the morning market.

• Day 1 — Tokyo → Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line + Umihotaru (artificial-island rest stop) → Kameyama Lake (largest dam lake in Chiba). (drive ~2.5h). Stay Kamogawa. — Route map
• Day 2 — Oyama Senmaida (rice terraces) → Mt. Nokogiri (giant Buddha, views over Tokyo Bay) → Cape Taito Lighthouse → Katsuura morning market. (drive ~2h). Stay Katsuura. — Route map
• Day 3 — Katsuura morning market → Byobugaura cliffs (“Dover of the East”) → Choshi fishing port + Inubosaki Lighthouse. (drive ~1.5h). Stay Choshi. — Route map
• Day 4 — Choshi → Kujukuri coast (Japan’s longest sandy beach) → Onjuku (fishing village, seafood lunch) → Kujukuri onsen (seaside bath, sunset). (drive ~2h). Stay Kujukuri onsen (tattoos: ❌ no tattoos). — Route map
• Day 5 — Kujukuri → Yoro Gorge / Awamata Falls → Sawara (Edo canal town) + Katori Shrine → Naritasan. (drive ~1.5h). Stay Narita. — Route map
• Day 6 — Narita → Naritasan (Omotesando, temple) + Narita Park → Sakura (castle ruins, samurai) → Narita. (drive ~1h). Stay Narita. — Route map
• Day 7 — Narita morning — Narita Museum of Aeronautical Sciences (aviation museum near the airport) or relaxed Omotesando morning → return car → evening train to Tokyo (drive ~0.5h). — Route map

Highlights

🛕 Mt. Nokogiri Daibutsu — Japan's largest pre-modern stone Buddha

🌊 Byobugaura cliffs — the "Dover of the East" white sea cliffs

🌊 Inubosaki Lighthouse — Choshi's beacon at the Pacific's first-sunrise point

🛕 Naritasan temple — the great hall of Naritasan Shinsho-ji

🏞️ Kameyama Lake — island-dotted lake

🌿 Oyama Senmaida — 375 rice terraces to the sea

🌊 Kujukuri coast — Japan's longest straight sandy beach

🛶 Sawara — the "Little Edo" canal town with merchants' storehouses

⛩️ Katori Shrine — one of the region's most ancient Shinto shrines

🌊 Awamata Falls — a wide milky cascade in the Yoro Gorge

Local food & drink

• Katsuura tantanmen — Chiba’s fiery soy ramen with chili oil and onions
• Narita unagi — kabayaki eel along Omotesando
• Choshi fresh mackerel/sashimi — Japan’s top fishing port
• Kujukuri goma-iwashi / sour natto — sesame sardines and tangy coast natto
• Onjuku kaisendon — seafood bowl at the fishing village
• Choshi soy sauce — centuries-old brewing town
• Sawara local sake — the “Little Edo” brewing district
• Chiba local sake — regional brews with seafood Don’t miss: Katsuura tantanmen from the origin shop near the morning market.

Local culture

• Katsuura morning market — one of Japan’s few remaining daily morning markets, where fishermen and farmers sell straight from the boat and field before the town wakes
• Sawara’s “Little Edo” — the canal town’s preserved merchant storehouses and the Katori Shrine festival boats keep alive the Edo-period trading culture of the Tone River
• Naritasan pilgrimage — the great temple draws worshippers from across Japan, and the Omotesando approach is a living pilgrimage street of inns and stalls
• Choshi’s fishing-port identity — Japan’s top fishing port runs on a rhythm of dawn landings and auction floors, best felt early in the day at the harbor
• Kujukuri surf culture — Japan’s longest straight beach is a laid-back surf town, with board racks and beach shacks lining the shore
• Mt. Nokogiri’s stone-carving legacy — the giant Buddha and cliff carvings were hewn by stonemasons over centuries, a testament to the region’s quarrying craft
• Oyama Senmaida rice terraces — the 375 hand-tended terraces are farmed by a dwindling community that holds festivals to keep the ancient landscape alive
• Katori Shrine’s ancient rites — one of the region’s oldest shrines, its autumn festivals and sacred boat processions preserve rituals centuries old