Aoyama Cemetery, Tokyo

Aoyama Cemetery, covering about 64 prime acres in the heart of Tokyo, was Japan's first public cemetery, opening in 1872. The cemetery contains123,000 graves of both Japanese and foreigners, but possibly the most famous tomb is that of the dog Hachiko (or at least the grave of his owner). Hachiko is famous for his loyalty, as he is said to have waited each day for his owner to appear the the train station, years after the owners death. The cemetery is also famous for its cherry blossoms which attract many people each April. The cemetery stopped selling grave plots in about 1960, but in 2003, it decided to sell an additional 50 sites. The city received thousands of applications for this revered cemetery, despite costs as high as 10 million Yen per grave (almost $130,000 US per grave).