Places viv157 Wants to Go

This tiny museum hidden above a restaurant houses thousands of modern and traditional kites.

Weighing nearly seven tons, this massive sculpture was carved out of 500-year-old wood and decorated with thousands of jewels.

This sawtooth mountain range still bears the strangely lovely marks of its history as a medieval quarry.

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

The Hanshin Expressway goes right through its 5th, 6th, and 7th floors.

One of the world's largest tanks mimics the experience of watching rare whale sharks, giant rays, and deep sea creatures from the ocean floor.

This pair of small sea rocks has been "wed" using rope and ancient Shinto tradition.

The world's largest drain sits below the city of Kasukabe, Japan.

Enormous underground chamber built to detect 'ghost particles' of the universe.

This 14th-century temple is also known as the "Temple of the Golden Pavilion" for its gorgeous gilded reliquary hall.

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

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

A remarkable lava formation encloses a line of Buddhist statues that can't be accurately counted, according to local mythology.

A steaming, boiling hellscape sources Hokkaido's thermal baths.

Unusual hexagonal rocks formed by cooling lava named for their resemblance to traditional Japanese tatami mats.

Peace Park and the Atomic Bomb Dome.

The 43-mile route crosses through six islands with gorgeous views of the Seto Inland Sea.

One of Kyoto's oldest food establishments has supplied soba noodles to temple priests and the Imperial Palace.

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

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

Thirty architectural gems from the 19th- and early 20th-century Tokyo were restored and relocated to this space.

A Japanese corporation has turned this small island town into living modern art gallery.

Museum showcases Japanese sexuality and some amazing ocean views.

A Japanese cat island also populated by the descendants of a band of banished samurai.