The site of Japan’s first archaeological excavation is also the birthplace of fingerprint forensics.

Visitors to this park are welcomed by an ancient Japanese megalithic tomb that dates back to the sixth century.

This village is home to the largest existing settlement of the Ainu, the Indigenous people of Japan.

This enormous monument is one of the most iconic structures in Tokyo, rudely nicknamed "The Golden Turd."

This mysterious medieval grotto holds a grid of sacred wells of unknown purpose.

A few hidden stones are said to bring fortune and love.

Near the mouth of the Yodo River, this museum offers visitors six floors of hands-on learning about Osaka's raw sewage.

A collection of more than 1,000 teddies from nearly any profession.

Designed by a computer, this intricate network of fluorescent green pipes has taken over a subway station.

The first location of the eventual video game giant.

This shrine dedicated to a legendary swordsman has become a pilgrimage site for the ill and infirmed.

Come for the fish sundae, stay for the collection of Studio Ghibli cat buses.

According to one legend, this bridge was crafted after monkeys formed a body-bridge across the gorge.

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

The buildings are among the few Frank Lloyd Wright structures still standing in Japan.

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

A statue of a mischievous raccoon towers over this city park.

This whimsical garbage disposal facility receives around 12,000 accidental tourists each year.

Tell this pair of "love-inviting" cats in Ginza your romantic hopes.

This museum is dedicated to the cultural history of tobacco and salt, once monopolized in Japan.

Home to the world's oldest wooden building.

When this massive wooden temple ran out of rope, they made one out of devotees' hair.

This water goblin statue represents a 19th-century urban legend about a haunted canal that became a Japanese idiom.

One in a pair of subterranean caves created by an ancient eruption of Mount Fuji.