Places Egao Wants to Go

Historical Japanese-Dutch relations are honored with haunted rides and flower fields in this replica town.

The tallest bronze seated statue of the Buddha in Japan.

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

This sprawling scenic burial ground is the final resting place of Japan's last shogun.

This sawtooth mountain range still bears the strangely lovely marks of its history as a medieval quarry.

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

This Kyoto Starbucks takes coffee drinkers back in time.

Thirty architectural gems from the 19th- and early 20th-century Tokyo were restored and relocated to this space.

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

This ancient temple is set up to take you on a pilgrimage of self.

A railway station takeout shop sells boxed meals in containers shaped like trains and snowmen that hold the country’s abundant regional delicacies.

A real-life replica of a home from Hayao Miyazaki's beloved movie "My Neighbor Totoro."

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

Unusual hexagonal rocks formed by cooling lava named for their resemblance to traditional Japanese tatami mats.

Cherry blossom season comes early in this Japanese town where pink flowers line the streets and riverbanks.

We heard you like volcanoes so we put a volcano in your volcano so you can die for sure...

A Japanese corporation has turned this small island town into living modern art gallery.

Coast along one of Japan’s mountain railways for coveted views of magnificent hydrangeas.

Shells collected from over a hundred different countries line the walls, floors and ceilings of this fantasy museum.

Starship-temple contains 400 tons of drinking water and offers free Japanese lessons.

A Buddhist temple to honor insects that died for science.

Museum showcases Japanese sexuality and some amazing ocean views.

An ordinary pond with fish from out of this world.

A massive cave complex boasts some of the clearest water (and most charming bats) in the world.