Places claireromama Wants to Go

Every summer, this shrine sets up a tiny drinking fountain reserved for thirsty apians.

This is no ordinary coffee chain outlet—it's an architectural masterpiece.

A commemoration of the first Dutchman to reach Japan, whose name still echoes in the heart of Tokyo.

A serene mountaintop temple complex featuring one big, bronze Buddha.

A miniature shrine in the busy corner of Tokyo's historic Broadway, honoring a sextet of unusual entertainment gods.

A lesser-known sister to Paris's world-famous museum, located within a Buddhist sculpture paradise.

There's light and a dreamlike panorama at the end of this tunnel.

Perhaps the world's cheapest vending machines.

This small Japanese street is lined with figures, sculptures and a shrine dedicated to frogs.

A kitsch shrine dedicated to the ogre-slaying folktale hero born from a peach.

Discover the mummified remains of Ancient Egypt in the middle of metropolitan Tokyo.

This phallic temple was erected in the forest to honor the tragic death of a samurai lord's son.

Located in a remote mountain valley in Yamagata Prefecture, these hot springs have attracted bathers for over 450 years.

Steampunk, humanoid sculptures crawl on all fours in a Tokyo plaza.

This gnome sculpture and his wonderous hat forces train passengers to do a double-take.

The statue's head is one of the few fragments of the original Urakami Cathedral to survive the atomic bomb.

Unbeknownst to most passersby, this marble statue standing outside an office building is a genuine piece of second-century Rome.

Japan's hottest hot spring has a memorable name.

Nope, not the one in France. The only officially-recognized reproduction of Monet’s garden in Giverny is located in a remote corner of Japan.

This water goblin statue represents a 19th-century urban legend about a haunted canal that became a Japanese idiom.

The world's longest tunnel with an undersea section.

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

A sobering scientific reminder of the human damage caused by the advent of the nuclear age.

Rows of stone statues are dressed up to mourn children that are lost before birth.