meerkittie's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Kumano-chō, Japan

Fudenosato Kobo Brush Museum

This little town supplies Japan with most of its calligraphy brushes, still made by hand from animal fur.
Chichibu, Japan

Chichibu Chinsekikan (Hall of Curious Rocks)

This quirky little private museum is home to more than a thousand stones, carved by nature, that resemble human faces.
Kyonan, Japan

Nihonji Daibutsu: The Great Buddha of Nihonji

This giant seated Bhudda of Healing dates to the 1780s.
Ikaruga, Japan

Hōryū-ji

Home to the world's oldest wooden building.
Narusawa, Japan

Fugaku Wind Cave

One in a pair of subterranean caves created by an ancient eruption of Mount Fuji.
Unzen-shi, Japan

Obama Onsen

Japan's hottest hot spring has a memorable name.
Kitagawa, Japan

Monet's Garden Marmottan

Nope, not the one in France. The only officially-recognized reproduction of Monet’s garden in Giverny is located in a remote corner of Japan.
Shimanto-chō, Japan

Kaiyodo Kappa Museum

A whimsical museum dedicated to the mischievous kappa, a mythical cucumber-loving water sprite.
Osaka, Japan

Taiyoshi Hyakuban

This brothel-turned-restaurant features plenty of surprises and elaborate, extravagant architecture.
Yoshimi, Japan

The Hundred Caves of Yoshimi

This ancient burial site was once thought to be the home of a race distinctive to Ainu folklore.
Yusuhara, Japan

Yusuhara Town Library

High in the mountains of Kochi Prefecture, a magnificent library designed by a world-famous architect.
Oda, Japan

Nima Sand Museum

"Singing sands" and the world's largest hourglass reside near Japan's Kotogahama beach.
Tatebayashi-shi, Japan

Morin-ji Temple

This temple is steeped in local folklore involving a teakettle and a raccoon dog.
Hachioji, Japan

Yakuo-in Temple

This incredible mountainside temple is home to intriguing statues of demon-like creatures.
Nagasaki, Japan

Museum of Tropical Medicine

A hub of information on tropical diseases and their treatments.
Yonaguni, Japan

Yonaguni-jima Kaitei Chikei (Yonaguni Monument)

The Yonaguni Monument, a natural formation or the Japanese Atlantis?
Izena-son, Japan

Izena Island

Ruins and statues dot the landscape of this tiny island rich with royal history.
Izumo-shi, Japan

Izumo-Taisha

What's believed to be the country's first shrine is, in Shintō mythology, the annual meeting place of the gods.
Kumamoto, Japan

Musashizuka Park

This beautiful Japanese garden is a memorial to the samurai who literally wrote the book on business as martial art.
Tamura, Japan

Abukuma-do Caves

These wondrously illuminated caverns extend under the mountains of the Fukushima Prefecture.
Kyoto, Japan

Yamaboko Festival in Kyoto - Gion Festival

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

Kori no Suizokukan

450 dead and frozen fish, proudly on display in Japan.
Ise, Japan

Ise Grand Shrine

This ancient shrine has been rebuilt every 20 years since the eighth century.
Tokamachi, Japan

Echigo-Matsunoyama Museum of Natural Science

Modern Japanese museum is buried by snow annually.