Nikko

Declared in 1934, Nikkō combines volcanic mountains, waterfalls and lakes with the mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the feudal lord who unified Japan and in 1603 founded the Tokugawa shogunate, which would rule the country centrally for more than 250 years until the Meiji Restoration of 1868. The Tōshō-gū shrine, with its carving of the three wise monkeys — hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil — has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999.