Places kittymay Wants to Go

Emerging from the sidewalk, this sculpture of a whale commemorates the importance of baleen in traditional Japanese puppetry.

A statue of a mischievous raccoon towers over this city park.

Visitors to this park are welcomed by an ancient Japanese megalithic tomb that dates back to the sixth century.

The Yonaguni Monument, a natural formation or the Japanese Atlantis?

This temple is steeped in local folklore involving a teakettle and a raccoon dog.

Tell this pair of "love-inviting" cats in Ginza your romantic hopes.

Sulphuric gases inhabit a beautiful Japanese island.

A few hidden stones are said to bring fortune and love.

These wondrously illuminated caverns extend under the mountains of the Fukushima Prefecture.

One of the tallest statues in the world, and the tallest statue of a goddess in Japan.

A calico cat named Tama was the wildly popular Super Station Master at this train stop in southeast Japan.

You can still find treasures on the pebbly beaches of one of the world's oldest jade-producing areas.

This bar is filled with Star Wars merchandise from around the world, all of it unlicensed knockoffs.

A flight of this "ghost staircase" has 40 steps on the way up, but only 39 steps on the way down.

White beach sands made of the remains of tiny, star shaped creatures.

The cutest shrine in Kyoto is dedicated to bunnies.

The world's largest drain sits below the city of Kasukabe, Japan.

A steaming, boiling hellscape sources Hokkaido's thermal baths.

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

This retro underwater observation tower would make the perfect lair for a sea-loving villain.

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

A Buddhist temple to honor insects that died for science.

The self-mummified monks of Japan.

This subterranean spot might be the epitome of Japan's baroque, retro coffee houses.