A massive wintry wall of snow up to 66 feet tall flanks a highway through Japan's mountains.

The Buddhist temples of Yamadera, built into a mountain side, feature a viewing deck with sweeping views.

Children's literature inside, forest all around.

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

Largest graveyard in all of Japan surrounds a famous mausoleum.

Each year this Japanese temple overflows with scowling, bearded good luck talismans.

This sprawling scenic burial ground is the final resting place of Japan's last shogun.

The divine septet of Japanese fortune gods are rendered in 1,000 year old wood at this peaceful site.

White beach sands made of the remains of tiny, star shaped creatures.

Oddly touching memorial to a little-remembered nuclear tragedy.

This subterranean spot might be the epitome of Japan's baroque, retro coffee houses.

Giant sand sculptures of famous people and places are on display near the Tottori sand dunes.

Be a ninja - or just act like one.

The largest volcanic caldera in Japan holds an entire city in its maw.

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

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

This retro underwater observation tower would make the perfect lair for a sea-loving villain.

Thirty architectural gems from the 19th- and early 20th-century Tokyo were restored and relocated to this space.

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

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

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

The tallest bronze seated statue of the Buddha in Japan.

This active volcano's siren song to suicide jumpers forced authorities to build a fence.

Japan's largest area of "pink moss" turns the hillside bright pink every spring.