shannonandsydney's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Taketomi, Japan

The Star Sands of Hoshizuna-no-hama

White beach sands made of the remains of tiny, star shaped creatures.
Yonaguni, Japan

Yonaguni-jima Kaitei Chikei (Yonaguni Monument)

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

730 Crossing

This monumental intersection commemorates the day Okinawa switched to driving on the left.
Ishigaki, Japan

Yonekoyaki Craft Center Shisa Park

Along the side of the road on a small Japanese island is an extensive garden of uniquely designed Shisa statues.
Yoichi, Japan

Fugoppe Cave Petroglyphs

One of the only two archaeological sites in Japan to feature petroglyphs, which some believe to be a long-lost writing system of the gods.
Otaru, Japan

Otaru Herring Palace

A nouveau-riche hilltop “palace” that once provided lodging to more than a hundred fishermen.
Kyoto, Japan

Gokōshiyui Amidabutsu

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

Original Nintendo Building

The first location of the eventual video game giant.
Kyoto, Japan

Kyotomangekyo Museum

Visitors to this museum will discover that kaleidoscopes are much more than toys.
Kyoto, Japan

Minatoya Yurei Kosodate-Ame Honpo

Legend has it that centuries ago, a ghost once frequented this candy shop to feed her still-living baby.
Kyoto, Japan

Issen Yoshoku

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

Kameya Kiyonaga

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

Hosotsuji Ihee Museum

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

Statue of Izumo-no-Okuni

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

Kamo River Turtle Stepping Stones

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

Kyoto Station's Skyway

View Japan's most historic city from a cyberpunk walkway suspended 150 feet above the ground.
Kyoto, Japan

Nokishita711

Sip “liquid cuisine” made with meat, vegetables, and insects.
Kyoto, Japan

Sagano Romantic Railway Diorama

Model trains whizz around an extensive room-sized diorama of Kyoto City.
Kyoto, Japan

Yasui Kompira-gu Shrine

Crawl through the hole in the middle of this stone to break off a bad relationship or initiate a good one.
Kyoto, Japan

Ukiyoe Small Museum

A tiny collection of traditional Japanese woodblock prints, open only when the owner feels like it.
Kyoto, Japan

Kyoto Botanical Garden

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

Starbucks Ninenzaka Yasaka Chaya

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

Rokuon-ji Temple

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

Honke Owariya

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