Places ArchaeArtist Wants to Go

When this massive wooden temple ran out of rope, they made one out of devotees' hair.

A massive wintry wall of snow up to 66 feet tall flanks a highway through Japan's mountains.

This little known mountain has claimed four times as many lives as Everest.

Japan's largest collection of Western-style mansions in the port city of Kobe includes a recreation of Sherlock Holmes' 221B Baker Street quarters.

"The Dance of Fools" is Japan's largest dance festival.

With over 12,000 different species of plants, this botanical garden is Japan's oldest and most diverse.

Birthplace of the Tendai sect and home to the marathon monks.

An anthropological theme park that depicts the cultures of around 20 different countries.

Crawl through the hole in the middle of this stone to break off a bad relationship or initiate a good one.

The Yonaguni Monument, a natural formation or the Japanese Atlantis?

This high-design church is made up of two dizzying spirals meant to evoke the weaving together of marriage.

A shrine contains nearly 200 statues of the Buddhist deity Jizo, dressed in bibs by parents who have lost a child.

A strange tribute to all the fallen souls of war.

These Japanese gardens are blankets of light for dark winter nights.

450 dead and frozen fish, proudly on display in Japan.

Giant art made in Japanese rice fields.

Founded over a thousand years ago, this shrine is said to be built on the site of a warlord's harem prison.

This mountain's identity is stuck somewhere between a nightmare and a scenic tourist attraction.

This little replica of Lady Liberty provides a bit of NYC in a Japanese city.

Giant sand sculptures of famous people and places are on display near the Tottori sand dunes.

The divine septet of Japanese fortune gods are rendered in 1,000-year-old wood at this peaceful site.

A remarkable lava formation encloses a line of Buddhist statues that can't be accurately counted, according to local mythology.

This town near Nagasaki is flecked with fruit-flavored bus stops.

A disconnected rotary phone for "calling" lost loved ones offered a unique way of dealing with grief in disaster-stricken Japan.