Places Hikari Wants to Go

This mysterious medieval grotto holds a grid of sacred wells of unknown purpose.

Access to this hidden site of a 14th-century mass suicide is prohibited, unless it is to pray for the dead.

The former home of queer novelist Yoshiya Nobuko memorializes her contributions to modern-day manga.

It is believed that this Buddhist temple stands right on the gateway to the underworld.

A beautiful bamboo trail tucked in this famous Japanese shrine.

A network of ancient tunnels and vaulted chambers with mystical Buddhist reliefs, built for ascetic training.

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

No one knows why this family’s graves stayed on the national museum's premises after all other tombstones were relocated.

The original location of the eponymous site of Japan’s Yayoi period is now lost in time.

“Historical” markers commemorating the sites of fictional events depicted in a popular jidaigeki novel series.

This “grave” memorializes the 53 rakugo stories that were once banned by the national censorship.

This park boasts a unusual collection of curious monuments from around the world, from Micronesia to Antarctica.

A hidden gallery exhibits intricate, decades-old Buddhist reliefs.

This monument gives insight into how lost children were found in Edo-period Tokyo.

This small park holds what remains of a former prison and execution ground.

A statue meant to celebrate peace has also been interpreted as a mother taking away her son's internet privileges.

Losing lottery tickets are deposited at this shrine in hopes of better luck.

Only recently added to the shrine, this googly-eyed snail demon of unknown origin is said to have eye-healing powers.

A site where ten to twenty thousand Edo-era prisoners were put to death.

A cursed torii gate still stands on the edge of Haneda Airport, decades after its shrine's relocation.

The remains of the vast manor that once belonged to Lord Kira, villain in the 47 Ronin story, is now a shrine dedicated to the incident.

A shrine dedicated to a 10th-century samurai emperor, whose head is not buried on site (contrary to popular belief).

This infamous execution site inspired the beginning of Japan's modernization in the late 18th-century.

A Buddhist temple on an artificial island that houses a monument to the fugu fish.