Places samireland Wants to Go

Once a heap of dirt with a shrubbery on it, this unassuming mound in a parking lot turned out to be an ancient tumulus.

This statue of what appears to be a feudal lord is actually a tribute to Japan's most beloved comedian.

According to local legend, elderly villagers were once brought to this hill and left to die.

Iconic Japanese movies were made at this forgotten film-studio-site-turned-mall.

A heart-shaped rock hollow amid lush scenery in Japan.

This unassuming tunnel’s name recalls a storied "cat pond" that has now been lost.

According to folklore, this grave lies near the site of the “standing death” of one of Japan’s fiercest warriors.

A statue of the forgotten American who helped transform Hokkaido and Japan.

A memorial to the Indian victims of the devastating 1923 earthquake, built in glorious Mughal style.

Once considered a massive folly, this "miracle floodgate" saved its town from tsunami devastation in 2011.

At this shrine, a sacred stone is said to keep a sea monster at bay.

A roadside stop offers a taste of Korean culture.

The climactic location of the 1977 film 'The Yellow Handkerchief' commemorates its concept of happiness.

The infamous 'Incident at Honnō-ji' brought an end to Oda Nobunaga’s attempt to unify a warring Japan.

The largest example of the “snail well” unique to the Musashino Plateau region.

The ruins of the oldest artificial island in Japan, still used for mooring today at 800 years old.

This Western confectionery in Kobe made the German tree stump cake into a Japanese staple.

Japan's legendary filmmaker is interred in a small graveyard in a similarly modest temple in Kamakura.

Imitations of Chinese coins were minted here for foreign trade before Japan got its own currency.

According to Japanese mythology, the first rice paddy in history was created here many aeons ago.

A traditional Nepalese window blends into the historic merchant district of Old Nara Town.

An office building covered from head to toe in over eighty variety of plants

This park was once home to now-extinct Naumann's elephants, and what might have been a real Banksy.

The Port of Yokohama’s customs headquarters building resembles a Moorish kasbah, complete with a minaret.