Places userbrent Wants to Go

Mythical beasts symbolizing the city of Tokyo guard a historic bridge.

Take a few seconds to look at this abandoned, art-filled station as you pass by on the subway to Ueno.

It's bad manners to eat and drink on the subways of Tokyo, unless the train is this bar. 

An unexpected curiosity cabinet hidden within a department store in the Japan Post tower.

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

Stuck in a bygone era, the oldest subterranean shopping street in Japan hides beneath the popular Asakusa district of Tokyo.

Every color in the rainbow awaits.

This subterranean spot might be the epitome of Japan's baroque, retro coffee houses.

Colloquially known as “piss alley,” this narrow street filled with tiny bars and barbecue stands looks like it was pulled straight out of “Blade Runner.”

Tokyo’s only Vaudeville-cuckoo clock–steampunk-Victorian curio cabinet time piece.

A fantastical and futuristic temple of light built from nine monumental glass veils.

Home to a legend of the supernatural raccoon dog, a rare wooden structure of Edo, and witnesses of the Tokyo bombings.

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

Located in a remote mountain valley in Yamagata Prefecture, these hot springs have attracted bathers for over 450 years.

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

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

Turn around and stick your head between your legs for the best view of this tree-covered sandbar.

The site of Japan’s first archaeological excavation is also the birthplace of fingerprint forensics.

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

This ancient burial site was once thought to be the home of a race distinctive to Ainu folklore.

When this massive wooden temple ran out of rope, they made one out of devotees' hair.

This battleship of a building was designed by a famed "mad architect."

A whimsical museum dedicated to the mischievous kappa, a mythical cucumber-loving water sprite.

This museum celebrates the history of Japanese advertising, from feudal business tricks to modern T.V. commercials.