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

Only the face remains of this giant Buddha statue, which is said to be a source of luck for students.

It is said that coins washed in the waters here will miraculously multiply.

Unbeknownst to most passersby, this marble statue standing outside an office building is a genuine piece of second-century Rome.

Nope, not the one in France. The only officially-recognized reproduction of Monet’s garden in Giverny is located in a remote corner of Japan.

This volcanic island in the Pacific just keeps growing and growing.

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

A temple made famous by Japanese Buddhist monks who sacrificed themselves at sea.

Huts like this were once a hub for the female divers who collected pearls and seafood off Japan's coasts.

You can still find treasures on the pebbly beaches of one of the world's oldest jade-producing areas.

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

Founded in 1880, this humble brewery still practices a disappearing technique of sake-making.

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

These unconventional "tub boats" let locals row around the island's turbulent coast.

An enormous pair of straw sandals woven in the traditional way—to keep demons at bay.

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

A bovine sumo match in which both bulls live to fight another day.

Home to the world's oldest wooden building.

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

Hidden by the roadside in the Iya Valley, this gem brings together folk monsters and the region's unique geography.

This Japanese Manneken Pis gets new outfits for every occasion.

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

Fans line up at the crack of dawn for a slurpy bowl of deliciousness at this noodle counter inside a factory.

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