Places samireland Wants to Go

This enormous "shamoji" means more to the people of Miyajima than just a way getting rice onto a plate.

Once the main gateway to Tokyo, sneaking through this checkpoint was a capital offense in feudal times.

A rare example of an ancient Japanese hill castle believed to be the fortress of a legendary demon.

Constructed thousands of years ago, these stone circles offer incredible insight into the lives of the people who built them.

The only Buddhist temple in Japan dedicated to breasts.

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

Though technically an illegal structure, this eclectic DIY apartment complex is beloved by its residents.

This mysterious medieval grotto holds a grid of sacred wells of unknown purpose.

A collection of more than 1,000 teddies from nearly any profession.

Rice balls symbolize fate and relationship at this adorable shrine, which was once dedicated to the Buddhist Devil.

This little known mountain has claimed four times as many lives as Everest.

A unique Shinto shrine filled with bunnies and wordplay.

This giant seated Bhudda of Healing dates to the 1780s.

One of three official copies of Marcel Duchamp's enigmatic masterpiece is on display in an obscure Tokyo museum.

This seven story Japanese love hotel now stands in ruins.

These Japanese ruins have been brought back to life with elaborately recreated buildings.

The train engine is tucked under an apartment building on a quiet Tokyo street.

This amusement park brings a little slice of England to the heart of Kyushu.

An ingenious solution to a tricky engineering problem, this spiraling bridge takes drivers for a dizzying spin.

"Singing sands" and the world's largest hourglass reside near Japan's Kotogahama beach.

This cozy café is housed in a repurposed pharmacy originally built in 1927.

Come for the fish sundae, stay for the collection of Studio Ghibli cat buses.

The only natural gorge in metropolitan Tokyo, with lots of greenery and ancient burial chambers.

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