TheArtfulLibrarian's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Places visited in Takayama, Japan
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Places visited in Hakone, Japan
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Mitaka, Japan

Inokashira Park Benzaiten Shrine

Legend says the goddess this shrine honors curses any couples that pass by.
Miyakejima, Japan

Gas Mask Tourism on the Izu Islands

Sulphuric gases inhabit a beautiful Japanese island.
Kyoto, Japan

Go'o Shrine

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

Irugi Shrine

A 17th-century Shinto shrine that is home to statues of Mickey Mouse and Pikachu.
Hiraizumi, Japan

Takkoku no Iwaya Bishamondo

Founded over a thousand years ago, this shrine is said to be built on the site of a warlord's harem prison.
Osaka, Japan

Fudo Myo-o Statue

A moss-covered statue of a Japanese Buddhist deity stands at a quiet temple in downtown Osaka.
Koya, Japan

Okunoin Cemetery

Largest graveyard in all of Japan surrounds a famous mausoleum.
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

Ichimonjiya Wasuke

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

Forest of Seven Lucky Gods

The divine septet of Japanese fortune gods are rendered in 1,000 year old wood at this peaceful site.
Takasaki, Japan

Shorinzan Darumaji Temple

Each year this Japanese temple overflows with scowling, bearded good luck talismans.
Iga, Japan

Iga Ryu Ninja Museum

Be a ninja - or just act like one.
Aso, Japan

Mount Aso Caldera

The largest volcanic caldera in Japan holds an entire city in its maw.
Kyoto, Japan

Okazaki Shrine

The cutest shrine in Kyoto is dedicated to bunnies.
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.
Tokyo, Japan

Jimbōchō Book Town

A bibliophile's heaven that contains hundreds of bookstores, offering over a third of secondhand books for sale in Tokyo.
Tokyo, Japan

Koukokuji Buddhist Temple

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

Kanmangafuchi Abyss

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

Hiroshima Peace Memorial

Peace Park and the Atomic Bomb Dome.
Noboribetsu-shi, Japan

Jigokudani (Hell Valley)

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

Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum

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

Owakudani Black Eggs

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

Starbucks Ninenzaka Yasaka Chaya

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

Kintai Bridge

One of Japan's most famous sights, the bridge was originally built in 1673.