On Japan's Tashirojima Island, cats are king.

Stuck in a bygone era, the oldest subterranean shopping street in Japan hides beneath the popular Asakusa district of Tokyo.

Sidle into a side alley for a taste of sumo wrestlers' traditional hot-pot soup, in a tiny restaurant founded by a former competitor.

Existing for more than four centuries, the last of Hakone’s historic teahouses serves a sweet, mold-based rice drink.

The largest of the Fuji Five Lakes is home to an impressive swan population—some real, some with paddles, and one with an observation deck.

Kawaii meets poisonous at this unique art gallery.

Children's literature inside, forest all around.

For hundreds of years, participants in this Japanese festival have been making babies cry to ward off demons.

This 14th-century temple is also known as the "Temple of the Golden Pavilion" for its gorgeous gilded reliquary hall.

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

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

The cutest shrine in Kyoto is dedicated to bunnies.

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

A shrine contains nearly 200 statues of the Buddhist deity Jizo, dressed in bibs by parents who have lost a child.

A real-life replica of a home from Hayao Miyazaki's beloved movie "My Neighbor Totoro."

A disconnected rotary phone for "calling" lost loved ones offered a unique way of dealing with grief in disaster-stricken Japan.

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

A Japanese corporation has turned this small island town into living modern art gallery.

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

A bronze statue dating back as far as 1252, still has remnants of gold on its right cheek from ancient gilding.

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

A railway station takeout shop sells boxed meals in containers shaped like trains and snowmen that hold the country’s abundant regional delicacies.

With over 12,000 different species of plants, this botanical garden is Japan's oldest and most diverse.

This pond is so stunning it looks like you've stepped into one of Monet's masterpieces.