Places samireland Wants to Go

This ornate example of 19th-century Chinese architecture is one of only a handful of Confucius shrines in Japan.

Scale the heights of this 100-foot play space shaped like a ferocious dragon.

A century-old house transformed into a cat temple by an artist.

A legend of a mysterious phantom train haunts this grave.

A whimsical shrine with a porcelain Torii gate, split in half by an active train line.

A slope with a mysterious name recalls a discontinued pre-war energy drink.

This monumental intersection commemorates the day Okinawa switched to driving on the left.

The legendary Japanese filmmaker’s tombstone is marked by a single letter meaning “nothing," and bottles of sake.

For but one summer in 1975, this rural suburb became a busy tourist spot when a local girl claimed to have seen ghostly faces on an old stele.

According to local folklore, a demon left his handprints on these boulders, which became the prefecture’s namesake.

An atmospheric shrine of mountain worship that is home to a number of curious folk tales.

At the "fishing boat shrine," an offering is said to help ward off fevers.

The lesser-known eastern counterpart to Kyoto’s famous fox shrine.

All that remains of Okinawa's royal temple are a restored gateway and a tall banyan tree.

A bizarre assault of surreal art hiding in bushes and huts on a hill.

A monument marking the first airplane flights in Japan hints at the dark history behind its peaceful park setting.

In a shopping arcade, a modernized temple deeply tied to feudal Japan’s prominent warlords.

The former site of the U.S. military base redeveloped as an art district, boasting a collection of 109 public artworks from 36 countries.

Open 24 hours, this self-serve sandwich spot specializes in egg salad sandwiches in a land that takes them very seriously.

A giant gorilla guardian of the neighborhood, warning people to drive safely.

Legend says that a swarm of centipedes and snakes once crawled out of the tomb of this cursed princess.

Feast your eyes on the centuries-old statues of the judges of hell.

The site of a prehistoric settlement spanning millennia, complete with a reconstructed timber circle.

This statue of a deified “hag” is said to protect children from the common cold and coughing fits.