Hofu, Japan

ENLIGHTENED SHRINES & GARDENS - Hofu is home to the 10th-century residence and stunning gardens – famous for their autumn leaves – of the powerful Mori samurai clan, now preserved as a museum of National Treasures. The 8th-century Buddhist Suo Kokubunji Temple was also built with support of the Mori lords. But the piece de resistance here is surely the Hofu Tenmangu Shrine, the oldest of Japan’s three large Tenjin shrines (there are 12,000 in Japan; all dedicated to the god of learning) and considered its most spectacular.