Places MikeInSanFrancisco Wants to Go

Twelve hundred stone carvings guard this off-the-beaten-path Buddhist temple.

This neighborhood thoroughfare is haunted by dozens of homemade monsters.

A small shrine dedicated to a god of lightning and electronics.

This statue of Buddha has a distinctive hairstyle meant to represent an unfathomably long period of meditation.

The cutest shrine in Kyoto is dedicated to bunnies.

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

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

Visitors to this museum will discover that kaleidoscopes are much more than toys.

This 700-year-old street food market features baby octopus and soy donuts.

This kitsch-forward diner is dedicated to an almost-forgotten “one-cent” prototype of okonomiyaki.

More than 300 years old, Kyoto's historic "teahouse" still operates as an invitation-only geisha club.

This 400-year-old sweet shop serves a delicacy some have described as "edible incense."

Crawl through the hole in the middle of this stone to break off a bad relationship or initiate a good one.

Burial mound for the ears and noses of thousands of mutilated Korean soldiers.

Visitors to this temple are greeted by a massive collection of wooden dolls said to bring good fortune.

The first location of the eventual video game giant.

This whimsical garbage disposal facility receives around 12,000 accidental tourists each year.

An abandoned giant glass dome sits in the bay in “the Venice of the East.”

Near the mouth of the Yodo River, this museum offers visitors six floors of hands-on learning about Osaka's raw sewage.

One of the world's largest ancient burial mounds.

A moss-covered statue of a Japanese Buddhist deity stands at a quiet temple in downtown Osaka.

Every spring, this walkway outside the Japan Mint turns into a cherry blossom tunnel.

An imperial art museum offers edible versions of its most treasured displays in an on-site fine-dining restaurant.

This seaside Italian village doesn't just look Escher-esque, it actually inspired the mind-bending artist.