leroix's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Kyoto, Japan

Yamaboko Festival in Kyoto - Gion Festival

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

Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine

The 10,000 Torii shrine.
Kyoto, Japan

Kiyomizu-Dera Temple

A shrine contains nearly 200 statues of the Buddhist deity Jizo, dressed in bibs by parents who have lost a child.
Kyoto, Japan

Starbucks Ninenzaka Yasaka Chaya

This Kyoto Starbucks takes coffee drinkers back in time.
Kyoto, Japan

Kameya Kiyonaga

This 400-year-old sweet shop serves a delicacy some have described as "edible incense."
Kyoto, Japan

Ichiriki

More than 300 years old, Kyoto's historic "teahouse" still operates as an invitation-only geisha club.
Kyoto, Japan

Issen Yoshoku

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

Statue of Izumo-no-Okuni

The groundbreaking Japanese shrine maiden who invented the art of kabuki.
Kyoto, Japan

Nishiki Market

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

Kankan Jizō

Although damaged beyond recognition, this stone god is still said to bring good luck to those who tap on him with a pebble.
Tokyo, Japan

Owaraji (Giant Straw Sandals)

An enormous pair of straw sandals woven in the traditional way—to keep demons at bay.
Tokyo, Japan

Shiotama

Steampunk, humanoid sculptures crawl on all fours in a Tokyo plaza.
Tokyo, Japan

The Giant Ghibli Clock

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

Akihabara Electric Town

Once a black market electronics marketplace, now an otaku shopper's paradise.
Hakone, Japan

Owakudani Black Eggs

Legend holds eating just one of these black eggs can add seven years to one's life.
Hakone, Japan

Hakone Checkpoint

Once the main gateway to Tokyo, sneaking through this checkpoint was a capital offense in feudal times.
San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

Meteorite Museum (Museo del Meteorito)

A massive display of meteorites all found in the Atacama Desert.
Cali, Colombia

Cat Park - Parque El Gato De Tejada

A park with one large cat sculpture and 15 smaller ones, all painted by different Colombian artists.
Captain Cook, Hawaii

The Painted Church

A priest with no formal artistic training used basic house paint to create gorgeous religious scenes inside this historic church.
Pie Town, New Mexico

Pie Town

This popular pitstop lives up to its name.
Magdalena, New Mexico

The Very Large Array

Twenty-seven massive radio antennas on the high plains of New Mexico search for life on other planets.
Magdalena, New Mexico

Bracewell Radio Sundial

A one-of-a-kind sundial at the Very Large Array honors a radio astronomy pioneer, incorporating the original piers from his breakthrough radio telescope.
New Mexico

Trinity Atomic Bomb Site

Twice a year, visitors can tour the desolate site that birthed the Atomic Age.
Austin, Texas

Mount Bonnell

Austin’s local mountain isn’t really a mountain at all.