Places Kan Cho Wants to Go

Installed in 1965, this whimsical slide has spawned a brood of “octopus mountains” across Japan.

Unchanged for decades, World War II-era bullet holes and nostalgic ghost signs still haunt this desolate train station.

Model trains whizz around an extensive room-sized diorama of Kyoto City.

At the time of its construction, this type of door was nearly unheard of.

A strip of traditional hand towel serves as an admission ticket at this modern tenugui museum.

It is rumored that if you spot this little golden frog hiding in plain sight, good luck will come your way.

The only natural gorge in metropolitan Tokyo, with lots of greenery and ancient burial chambers.

Life-sized statues of two characters from a decades-long Japanese film series stand outside Shibamata station.

Looking for the train station? Try the building shaped like a train.

A museum run by retired highway engineers who helped rebuild after the Great Hanshin Earthquake.

The only electricity pylon built over two lanes of traffic.

The groundbreaking Japanese shrine maiden who invented the art of kabuki.

A small laundromat covered wall-to-ceiling with portrait drawings.

An ancient Greek physician is honored as a god at this hole-in-the-wall shrine.

This giant fashion model is one of the most beloved symbols of Nagoya.

A museum of space exploration in the UFO capital of Japan.

The largest privately owned statue of Buddha in Japan, built by a total amateur, with an unconventional look.

A unique shrine dedicated to the deified skull of a 17th-century Tokyo courtesan.

View Japan's most historic city from a cyberpunk walkway suspended 150 feet above the ground.

Open since 1690, this former teahouse makes “strength mochi” based on the centuries-old recipe.

The “bridge of return” is haunted by a myriad of legends, from ghosts to demons to nuptial superstitions.

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

A lone torii arch stands on a coastal rock where a deity is said to have landed.

This beautiful defunct water tower adds a European flair to a traditional Japanese neighborhood.