Places deriverative Wants to Go

An ancient mountain-cut pass runs largely forgotten in the suburbs of Kamakura.

A giant statue of the Buddhist goddess of mercy watches over the town of Ōfuna.

A rock with images of infernal judges sculpted on it, offering a panoramic view of Kamakura.

Iconic Japanese movies were made at this forgotten film-studio-site-turned-mall.

The ruins of the oldest artificial island in Japan, still used for mooring today at 800 years old.

Japan's legendary filmmaker is interred in a small graveyard in a similarly modest temple in Kamakura.

A stunning, storied set of waterfalls you can walk to from the city’s main train station in less than 15 minutes

The first and oldest mosque in Japan.

This Western confectionery in Kobe made the German tree stump cake into a Japanese staple.

A relatively young Buddhist temple on hilltop, dedicated to a statue relocated from Mount Atago.

This massive section of quay destroyed by an earthquake is preserved to remember the past.

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

A 59-ft. robot statue looks over the citizens of earthquake-ravaged Kobe.

An abandoned Art Deco hotel nestled on the side of a wooded mountain.

An astounding annual light display honors the victims of one of Japan's most devastating earthquakes.

An eerie maze of industrial factories looks like something out of a dystopian sci-fi.

A rare festival blending religion, blacksmiths, vagina dentata, sex workers, and the straight-up facts of life.

The world's shortest escalator doesn't seem to have any reason to exist other than to hold a world record.

One of the largest producers of MSG in the world welcomes visitors to its Kawasaki factory with an albino panda named Aji-Kun.

The bamboo that helped Thomas Edison develop a longlasting lightbulb.

A rare double-receiver payphone housed in a fake tree.

Curious onlookers have suspected this strange structure is a secret government base.

This faux-seedy Japanese arcade is made up to look like a maze of alleys straight out of a cyberpunk dystopia.

Once a year, these 'visitor deities' chase away evil spirits with a phallic-shaped staff.