Places Ryshili Wants to Go

Giant sand sculptures of famous people and places are on display near the Tottori sand dunes.

Inside the columbarium, thousands of colorful, high-tech Buddhas guard the ashes of the dead.

A King Kong-like gorilla hangs from the top of this commercial building in Tokyo.

The Hanshin Expressway goes right through its 5th, 6th, and 7th floors.

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

People from around the world visit the shrine of Japan’s legendarily loyal dog.

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

This sawtooth mountain range still bears the strangely lovely marks of its history as a medieval quarry.

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

This Kyoto Starbucks takes coffee drinkers back in time.

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

A railway station takeout shop sells boxed meals in containers shaped like trains and snowmen that hold the country’s abundant regional delicacies.

Thirty architectural gems from the 19th- and early 20th-century Tokyo were restored and relocated to this space.

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

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

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.

Enormous underground chamber built to detect 'ghost particles' of the universe.

Unusual hexagonal rocks formed by cooling lava named for their resemblance to traditional Japanese tatami mats.

A disconnected rotary phone for "calling" lost loved ones offered a unique way of dealing with grief in disaster-stricken Japan.

Abandoned Japanese ghost town gives a glimpse into what our own metropolises may leave behind.

A Japanese corporation has turned this small island town into living modern art gallery.

One of the first hotel rooms in a pod.