Where to Play Golf in Japan: Regions and Celebrated Courses
Access draws the map of Japanese golf before geography does. The famous courses lie where private clubs have kept them: on the plains of Kanto and Kansai, in the pine and the hills of the old golfing towns. The courses a visitor can walk onto lie elsewhere, and in more places than newcomers expect.
This chapter belongs to the playing set within The Atlas of Japanese Golf. It reads Golf Digest’s October 2025 national ranking for access, sets out the tourism body’s regional list, and adds what two guides say of the regions. It reports; it does not rank for visitors, because the evidence needed for that, a tested record of who is welcomed, is not in the pages consulted.
The ranking and its access labels
Golf Digest’s ranking of October 2025 lists fifteen courses and labels each public or private; it gives no guest policy. The table below reproduces the order, the designers as listed and the label.
| Rank | Course | Prefecture | Designer, as listed | Access label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hirono Golf Club | Hyogo | C. H. Alison; restored by Tom Mackenzie and Martin Ebert | Private |
| 2 | Kawana Golf Resort, Fuji | Shizuoka | C. H. Alison (1936) | Public |
| 3 | Naruo Golf Club | Hyogo | Harry, Bert and Joseph Crane (1920); rebunkered by C. H. Alison | Private |
| 4 | Tokyo Golf Club | Saitama | Komei Ohtani (1939); remodelled by Gil Hanse | Private |
| 5 | Kasumigaseki, East | Saitama | Kinya Fujita and Shiro Akaboshi (1929); renovation by Tom and Logan Fazio (2016) | Private |
| 6 | Yokohama Country Club, West | Kanagawa | Takeo Aiyama (1960); remodelled by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw (2015) | Private |
| 7 | Phoenix Country Club | Miyazaki | Goukichi Oshashi (1971) | Public |
| 8 | Tokyo Classic Golf Club | Chiba | Jack Nicklaus | Private |
| 9 | Osaka Golf Club | Osaka | Osamu Ueda (1937) | Public |
| 10 | Kasumigaseki, West | Saitama | Seiichi Inoue (original); renovation by Tom and Logan Fazio (2016) | Private |
| 11 | Yokohama Country Club, East | Kanagawa | Takeo Aiyama and Hideo Takemura (1960) | Private |
| 12 | Taiheiyo Club, Gotemba | Shizuoka | Kato Shunsuke (1977); remodelled by Rees Jones and Bryce Swanson (2018) | Public |
| 13 | Kawaguchiko Country Club, South | Yamanashi | Robert Von Hagge (1977) | Private |
| 14 | Abiko Golf Club | Chiba | Rokuro Akaboshi (1930); renovated by Brian Silva and Kai Goalby (2012) | Private |
| 15 | Narita Golf Club | Chiba | Taizo Kawata (1988) | Private |
Four of the fifteen are public: Kawana’s Fuji course, Phoenix Country Club, Osaka Golf Club and Taiheiyo Club’s Gotemba course. A booking service names six of the private clubs it cannot book, among them Kasumigaseki, Tokyo Golf Club, Abiko and Yokohama Country Club. Kasumigaseki East was named as the golf venue for the Olympic Games of 2021 in a Golf Monthly article of April 2020, which is the one fact here that gives a private club a public moment.
Courses a visitor may reach
- Kawana Hotel, Ito, Shizuoka. The tourism body says any visitor can play eighteen holes on the Oshima course, and that hotel guests have exclusive access to the Fuji course. The hotel’s own history dates Oshima to 1928, designed by the professional Komyo Otani, and the Fuji course and the hotel to 1936; the founder was Kishichiro Okura. The course is about twenty minutes by car or taxi from JR Ito Station.
- Phoenix Country Club, Miyazaki. Labelled public by Golf Digest.
- Taiheiyo Club, Gotemba, Shizuoka. Labelled public by Golf Digest; the tourism body lists the West Course.
- Osaka Golf Club. Labelled public by Golf Digest and listed by the tourism body. Confirm terms with the course; a ranking label is not a guest policy.
- Ibusuki Golf Club, Kagoshima. Eighteen holes, par 72, 7,230 yards, designed by Seiichi Inoue and established in 1968, about twenty-five minutes from JR Ibusuki Station by car or taxi, with views of Kagoshima Bay and Mount Kaimon.
The regions in a table
| Region | Courses named by the national tourism body | What the guides say |
|---|---|---|
| Hokkaido | Sapporo Teine; Hanazono; The North Country; Hokkaido Brooks | A specialist guide points to the Niseko area, with mountain views and cooler summers; courses often play through without a lunch break (travel guide); closed under snow in winter (booking service) |
| Tohoku | Aomori Spring; Appi Kogen | A specialist guide names Naruko Onsen Golf Club, set amid hot springs and forests, and Sendai Golf Club |
| Kanto | Seven Hundred Club; Murasakizuka; Tsutsujigaoka; Windsor Park; The Royal; Narita Hills; Accordia Narashino; Glen Oaks; Taiheiyo Club Yachiyo; Daihakone | The home of the great private clubs, the unbookable list and the capital’s day trips; Mount Fuji courses are two to three hours each way from Tokyo, with latest tee times around ten, so an overnight stay is advised (booking service) |
| Tokai and Fuji | Kawaguchiko; Asagiri Jamboree; Taiheiyo Club Gotemba West; Fujinomiya; Kawana Hotel; Shizuoka Country Hamaoka; Tsu; Kintetsu Kashikojima | Kawana is on the Izu coast; high-altitude Yamanashi courses typically close in winter (booking service) |
| Kansai | Kyoto; Arima Royal; Rokko Kokusai; Izumigaoka; Osaka Golf Club; Leograd | A specialist guide adds Higashi Osaka and Hananomaki in the Osaka region and Kyoto Golf Club |
| Chugoku and Shikoku | Setouchi Golf Resort; Tosa | A specialist guide describes Shikoku’s valley and mountain courses in Ehime and the Seto Inland Sea coast courses at Onomichi and Fukuyama |
| Kyushu | The Classic; Ocean Palace; Phoenix; Ibusuki | A specialist guide names Beppu’s hot-spring setting and Kagoshima’s volcanic backdrop; Ibusuki Golf Club, by the tourism body, offers a seaside hot sand bath after play |
| Okinawa | Kanucha; The Atta Terrace; PGM Okinawa; The Southern Links | Winter averages 17 °C, courses mostly use zoysia grass, and UV is strong (Okinawa sports-tourism page); winter is the recommended season (specialist guide) |
The tourism body’s page lists thirty-four courses across nine regions by name and prefecture only; it does not describe access, design or lodging, so the right-hand column draws on other pages, named in the table.
Choosing a region
- For a first trip from Tokyo, a Kanto course avoids the two to three hours each way that a booking service attributes to Mount Fuji courses; Kawana is a resort stay on the Izu coast.
- For October and November, the tourism body’s season of mild, dry weather; see The Japanese Golf Calendar: Seasons, Rain and Tournaments.
- For a bath at the end, see Golf and Onsen: Leisure Journeys Across Japan.
- For winter, Okinawa, which a specialist guide recommends for December to February.
- For summer, Hokkaido, which a specialist guide recommends for June to August.
Where the accounts differ
- The ranking itself. Golf Digest (2025) places Hirono first and Kawana’s Fuji course second; a Golf Monthly list of 2020 names eleven courses beginning with Hirono and Kawana, with Yokohama, Naruo, Oarai, Abiko, Koga, Tokyo, Kasumigaseki East and West and Ono; a regional magazine’s undated ten includes Koga, Sapporo’s Wattsu course, Shimonoseki, Karuizawa and Ise. Each list answers a slightly different question.
- Dates. The tourism body lists Kawana Hotel Golf Course as established in 1928, which matches the Oshima course; the Fuji course is dated 1936 by Golf Digest and by the hotel.
- Hirono’s opening. 1932 in the regional magazine’s list; not stated in the others.
The map, then
The best courses in Japan are not all open, and the open ones are not lesser: they are simply a different country, and a generous one.
Continue reading
- How to Play Golf in Japan: A Visitor's Field Guide
- Finding and Booking a Golf Course in Japan
- What Golf Costs in Japan: Fees, Tax and Membership
- Japanese Golf Etiquette: Dress, Pace and the Bath
- The Japanese Golf Calendar: Seasons, Rain and Tournaments
- Golf and Onsen: Leisure Journeys Across Japan
- Club Tours in Japan: Fitting Studios, Shops and Forges
- Which Japanese Golf Club Is Right for You: A Decision Matrix
- The Atlas of Japanese Golf: Makers, Methods and Why the World Collects Them
- Directory of Japanese Golf Brands
- Buying Golf Equipment from Japan
- Japanese golf in the shop
- All collector guides
After a set to carry to a celebrated course? Our Hunting Salon™ searches across Japan's private collector circles on your behalf.
Index terms: best golf courses in japan · where to play golf in japan · public golf courses japan visitors · kawana hotel golf course · hirono golf club · kasumigaseki country club · golf digest best courses japan 2025 · golf hokkaido niseko · golf okinawa winter · golf near mount fuji · osaka golf club · phoenix country club miyazaki
References
Dates and figures in this chapter were checked against these pages. Where accounts differ, the text says so.
- Golf Digest, The best golf courses in Japan (7 October 2025)
- Golf Monthly, The best golf courses in Japan (17 April 2020)
- JW Web Magazine, 10 Best Golf Courses in Japan
- Japan National Tourism Organization, Golf courses
- Japan National Tourism Organization, Kawana Hotel Golf Course
- Japan National Tourism Organization, Ibusuki Golf Club
- Prince Hotels, History of Kawana Hotel
- Voyages.golf, The Ultimate Guide to Golf in Japan (updated 20 July 2026)
- Okinawa Sports Island, Golf information
- Golf in Japan, Frequently asked questions (8 October 2025, modified 8 October 2026)