Places Vivian Shen Wants to Go

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

This Kyoto Starbucks takes coffee drinkers back in time.

Burial mound for the ears and noses of thousands of mutilated Korean soldiers.

A beautiful bamboo trail tucked in this famous Japanese shrine.

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

This neighborhood thoroughfare is haunted by dozens of homemade monsters.

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

Japan's first automaton went missing, only to be revived by the Osaka Science Museum.

Tokyo’s only Ainu restaurant serves Indigenous food from northern Japan.

The tallest city hall in the world offers an excellent bento box.

Watch out for the two-story Godzilla made out of tires.

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

Discover the past, present, and future of packaging in this unique Japanese museum.

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

An oddly touching memorial to a little-remembered nuclear tragedy.

This active volcano's siren song to suicide jumpers forced authorities to build a fence.

We heard you like volcanoes so we put a volcano in your volcano so you can die for sure...

A Buddhist temple to honor insects that died for science.

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.”

Meet the world's longest tapeworm in a collection that really gets under your skin.

Drinkslinger is an unlikely vocation for a Buddhist monk, but at this Tokyo bar the enlightenment is served in a martini glass.

An ordinary pond with fish from out of this world.

Shrine to Japanese water-goblins, complete with their preserved body parts.

After a profound show of devotion for his master, a dog becomes the symbol of loyalty for an entire nation.