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

Oddly touching memorial to a little-remembered nuclear tragedy.

These Japanese gardens are blankets of light for dark winter nights.

An unlikely hit, this museum is dedicated to the inventor of instant ramen and cup noodles.

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

One of the world's largest tanks mimics the experience of watching rare whale sharks, giant rays, and deep sea creatures from the ocean floor.

The Hanshin Expressway goes right through its 5th, 6th, and 7th floors.

An unexpected curiosity cabinet hidden within a department store in the Japan Post tower.

Historical Japanese-Dutch relations are honored with haunted rides and flower fields in this replica town.

The tallest bronze seated statue of the Buddha in Japan.

Closed for decades, this strange symbol of Japan's Expo '70 has finally opened its psychedelic insides to the public.

A museum dedicated to the history of Tokyo's often-overlooked working-class district.

This sawtooth mountain range still bears the strangely lovely marks of its history as a medieval quarry.

A train ride to the middle of nowhere gives its passengers some of the most iconic views of Japan's seasons.

This little replica of Lady Liberty provides a bit of NYC in a Japanese city.

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

A King Kong-like gorilla hangs from the top of this commercial building in Tokyo.

An astounding annual light display honors the victims of one of Japan's most devastating earthquakes.

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

Peace Park and the Atomic Bomb Dome.

The world's largest drain sits below the city of Kasukabe, Japan.

People from around the world visit the shrine of Japan’s legendarily loyal dog.

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

A rare festival blending religion, blacksmiths, vagina dentata, sex workers, and the straight-up facts of life.