Places mikemhowe Wants to Go

The 10,000 Torii shrine.

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

With over 12,000 different species of plants, this botanical garden is Japan's oldest and most diverse.

A shrine contains nearly 200 statues of the Buddhist deity Jizo, dressed in bibs by parents who have lost a child.

The cutest shrine in Kyoto is dedicated to bunnies.

This traditional Japanese shrine is dedicated to four Shinto deities.

A remarkable lava formation encloses a line of Buddhist statues that can't be accurately counted, according to local mythology.

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

This incredible mountainside temple is home to intriguing statues of demon-like creatures.

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

This airy five-floor library and museum houses thousands of books and rotating exhibits on Japanese monsters and anime.

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

This faux-seedy Japanese arcade is made up to look like a maze of alleys straight out of a cyberpunk dystopia.

An ordinary pond with fish from out of this world.

This permanent collection of preserved bodies taken from Irish bogs is one of the leading authorities on such morbid mummies.

Serving you alcohol with a side of insanity. Also, costumes!

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

A small museum in a ward on the east side of Tokyo showcases the works of one of Japan's greatest ukiyo-e artists.

Discover the mummified remains of Ancient Egypt in the middle of metropolitan Tokyo.

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

Rubbing salt on this small stone dog is said to make wishes come true.

This museum showcases the art of ancient sword-making.

This gnome sculpture and his wonderous hat forces train passengers to do a double-take.

The site of Japan’s first archaeological excavation is also the birthplace of fingerprint forensics.