Birthplace of the Tendai sect and home to the marathon monks.

A beautiful bamboo trail tucked in this famous Japanese Shrine.

Local arts organization founded in a former church.

Artist James Turrell's ode to dawn and dusk on the campus of Rice University.

The peaceful space is adorned by paintings by the famed abstract artist Mark Rothko.

One man's homage to the orange as realized through a long-term folk art labor of love.

This ritzy Italian market is built around a statue of an unforgiven heretic who was burned for his belief in an endless universe.

The yawning maw of this pagan visage is said to bite off the hands of liars.

These turtle-shaped concrete stepping stones provide a unique river crossing in central Kyoto.

An LED art installation composed of 600 poles wrapped in kimono fabric.

The cemetery houses the remains of Jun’ichirō Tanizaki, one of Japan's most famous novelists.

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

Burial mound for the ears and noses of thousands of mutilated Korean soldiers.

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

Crawl through the hole in the middle of this stone to break off a bad relationship or initiate a good one.

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

This Kyoto Starbucks takes coffee drinkers back in time.

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

The quintessential Japanese rock garden has existed for more than 500 years.

1,001 carved statues of the Buddhist God of Mercy, each with a unique face.

Twelve hundred stone carvings guard this off-the-beaten-path Buddhist temple.

The 10,000 Torii shrine.