Places Egao Wants to Go

"Singing sands" and the world's largest hourglass reside near Japan's Kotogahama beach.

The floats housed in this hall are more than 100 years old, and are brought out for an annual celebration.

These wondrously illuminated caverns extend under the mountains of the Fukushima Prefecture.

Japan's first automaton went missing, only to be revived by the Osaka Science Museum.

A hub of information on tropical diseases and their treatments.

Kawaii meets poisonous at this unique art gallery.

Ruins and statues dot the landscape of this tiny island rich with royal history.

Japan's largest and oldest annual procession of floats, begun in 869.

A Japanese shrine to dolls.

A thick blanket of beautiful pampas grass cloaks this unique Japanese landscape.

This beautiful Japanese garden is a memorial to the samurai who literally wrote the book on business as martial art.

One of the tallest statues in the world, and the tallest statue of a goddess in Japan.

Existing for more than four centuries, the last of Hakone’s historic teahouses serves a sweet, mold-based rice drink.

"Bug Bug" Land, a natural park for beetle watching, still hasn't fully recovered from Fukushima's nuclear disaster.

A small island with no monkeys but plenty of military ruins.

A quaint amusement park now sits, rusting and forgotten among the foliage.

The tallest city hall in the world offers an excellent bento box.

Sulphuric gases inhabit a beautiful Japanese island.

A remote and slightly overgrown park filled with replicas of world landmarks.

More tin toys than you can shake a clapping monkey at.

A charming, homemade vending machine dispenses burgers and sandwiches at this hole-in-the-wall bakery.

Modern Japanese museum is buried by snow annually.

Nestled in an unassuming residential area, this "forbidden forest" is rumored to spirit away those who dare enter it.

This adorable birdlike police box is designed based on a play on words.