Places jwaszkowska Wants to Go

Dine amidst exotic plants at this former royal greenhouse.

Macabre museum devoted to historical Viennese murders.

See how paper is made the old-fashioned way.

An abandoned resort in North Macedonia is a relic from the Communist Party of Yugoslavia.

Hidden by the roadside in the Iya Valley, this gem brings together folk monsters and the region's unique geography.

A whimsical museum dedicated to the mischievous kappa, a mythical cucumber-loving water sprite.

Sidle into a side alley for a taste of sumo wrestlers' traditional hot-pot soup, in a tiny restaurant founded by a former competitor.

One of Kyoto's oldest food establishments has supplied soba noodles to temple priests and the Imperial Palace.

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

This tiny museum hidden above a restaurant houses thousands of modern and traditional kites.

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

This ordinary set of steps is a must-see destination for fans of a certain romantic anime.

A network of sandy streets lined with verdant fukugi trees weaves throughout this tiny seaside town.

Inside the columbarium, thousands of colorful, high-tech Buddhas guard the ashes of the dead.

An infamous house made famous by director Takashi Shimizu.

A massive wintry wall of snow up to 66 feet tall flanks a highway through Japan's mountains.

The ruins of Japan’s premier water brothel.

Each year this Japanese temple overflows with scowling, bearded good luck talismans.

The tallest bronze seated statue of the Buddha in Japan.

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

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

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

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

A Japanese cat island also populated by the descendants of a band of banished samurai.