Places vveracarvalhocosta Wants to Go

A nouveau-riche hilltop “palace” that once provided lodging to more than a hundred fishermen.

These medieval wooden bridge pillars appeared out of nowhere in the aftermath of a huge earthquake.

The remains of the Minatogawa Man found here are among the oldest known skeleton specimens from Japan.

An unassuming set of tiles next to a mailbox mark the former location of one of the most famous springs in the city.

According to Japanese mythology, the first rice paddy in history was created here many aeons ago.

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

This frenetic mural recalls an annual festival that once took the city by storm.

This park was once home to now-extinct Naumann's elephants, and what might have been a real Banksy.

This historic Erasmus statue was first mistaken for a legendary Chinese inventor, then as a child-eating hag.

The literal midpoint of the city, as all distances are calculated from this point

At this shrine, a sacred stone is said to keep a sea monster at bay.

A heart-shaped rock hollow amid lush scenery in Japan.

The freshest fish here are the ones you catch yourself.

The original "capsule building" is a masterpiece of Metabolist architecture.

Fine dining in the bizarre world of Lewis Carroll.

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

This 300-year-old teahouse is the birthplace of a Japanese springtime staple

This narrow cave is revered in Japan as the womb of Mount Fuji.

Once a heap of dirt with a shrubbery on it, this unassuming mound in a parking lot turned out to be an ancient tumulus.

According to local legend, elderly villagers were once brought to this hill and left to die.

The oft-overlooked site of one of the first marine biological research facilities in the world.

Haunted house kitsch meets Japanese folklore at this theme bar where patrons can “die” and have their own mock funeral.

Japanese company creates clone dolls that reside in the "uncanny valley."

The abandoned Japanese amusement park once loomed as a dystopian Disneyland.