Places userbrent Wants to Go

Perhaps the world's cheapest vending machines.

Every spring, this walkway outside the Japan Mint turns into a cherry blossom tunnel.

Blowtorches, tuna, and a jolly, chain-smoking proprietor mark this beloved street-food stand.

This kitsch-forward diner is dedicated to an almost-forgotten “one-cent” prototype of okonomiyaki.

This 700-year-old street food market features baby octopus and soy donuts.

This African beach is home to thousands of rare mainland penguins that are known for their annoying voice.

A strip of traditional hand towel serves as an admission ticket at this modern tenugui museum.

An ancient Greek physician is honored as a god at this hole-in-the-wall shrine.

With over 12,000 different species of plants, this botanical garden is Japan's oldest and most diverse.

The “bridge of return” is haunted by a myriad of legends, from ghosts to demons to nuptial superstitions.

Established over a thousand years ago, this family-run teahouse continues to serve skewers of sweet rice cake to this day.

A small shrine dedicated to a god of lightning and electronics.

A train ride to the middle of nowhere gives its passengers some of the most iconic views of Japan's seasons.

A beautiful bamboo trail tucked in this famous Japanese shrine.

Twelve hundred stone carvings guard this off-the-beaten-path Buddhist temple.

This garden located inside a bamboo forest once belonged to a famous Japanese actor.

Have a soak at this retro bathhouse, where you will find Japan's first electric bath, tiling from Spain, and wood carvings representing the Japanese invasion of Manchuria.

Shrine dedicated to boars that is believed to cure foot and leg injuries.

Japan's largest and oldest annual procession of floats, begun in 869.

These turtle-shaped concrete stepping stones provide a unique river crossing in central Kyoto.

This statue of Buddha has a distinctive hairstyle meant to represent an unfathomably long period of meditation.

The cemetery houses the remains of Jun’ichirō Tanizaki, one of Japan's most famous novelists.

The cutest shrine in Kyoto is dedicated to bunnies.

A nondescript building is home to a one-room museum filled with an overwhelming array of art and objects.