Places nekokat Wants to Go

A living art gallery painted on a canvas of Monterey pine trees.

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

The world's shortest escalator doesn't seem to have any reason to exist other than to hold a world record.

A Catholicism-themed restaurant where sacrilege is on the menu.

Go through the looking glass in Tokyo's Wonderland-themed shop.

The legendary birthplace of the Japanese maneki-neko is dotted with hundreds of lucky beckoning cats.

A magical place that lets you play in and explore the world of Studio Ghibli.

If Hello Kitty were Mickey Mouse, this would be Disneyland.

Cherry blossom season comes early in this Japanese town where pink flowers line the streets and riverbanks.

A 59-ft. robot statue looks over the citizens of earthquake-ravaged Kobe.

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

An astounding annual light display honors the victims of one of Japan's most devastating earthquakes.

A Japanese train station built around a 700-year-old camphor tree.

The abandoned Japanese amusement park once loomed as a dystopian Disneyland.

This pair of small sea rocks has been "wed" using rope and ancient Shinto tradition.

The sound of swaying stalks in this stunning grove has been named a governmentally recognized sound.

The quintessential Japanese rock garden has existed for more than 500 years.

This neighborhood thoroughfare is haunted by dozens of homemade monsters.

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

This ancient temple is set up to take you on a pilgrimage of self.

Bioluminescent firefly squid light up this Japanese fishing port.

Elaborately carved to showcase the glorious wealth that the age of exploration brought to the Portuguese empire.

This expansive bridge in the Canadian wilderness was originally just built for friends.

The world's largest maze is a nature park with nearly 200 decision points.