Home to the world's oldest wooden building.

If you forgot something to read during your trip to Tokyo, this hostel has you covered.

Stone slabs along the coast warn of Japan's tsunami-ravaged past, often marking the highest point of a wave's reach.

This giant seated Bhudda of Healing dates to the 1780s.

One of the bloodiest and most important battles in Japanese history is recreated with kitschy concrete statues.

Narrow passes cut out of mountains surround the medieval capital of Japan.

This little town supplies Japan with most of its calligraphy brushes, still made by hand from animal fur.

A whimsical museum dedicated to the mischievous kappa, a mythical cucumber-loving water sprite.

This Japanese Manneken Pis gets new outfits for every occasion.

This ancient burial site was once thought to be the home of a race distinctive to Ainu folklore.

A 17th-century Shinto shrine that is home to statues of Mickey Mouse and Pikachu.

Watch out for the two-story Godzilla made out of tires.

High in the mountains of Kochi Prefecture, a magnificent library designed by a world-famous architect.

A statue of a mischievous raccoon towers over this city park.

These wondrously illuminated caverns extend under the mountains of the Fukushima Prefecture.

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

Legend says the goddess this shrine honors curses any couples that pass by.

Though technically an illegal structure, this eclectic DIY apartment complex is beloved by its residents.

This little known mountain has claimed four times as many lives as Everest.

A charming, homemade vending machine dispenses burgers and sandwiches at this hole-in-the-wall bakery.

Constructed thousands of years ago, these stone circles offer incredible insight into the lives of the people who built them.

A monk-run winery inside a Buddhist temple celebrates Japan's crown grape varietal.

This incredible mountainside temple is home to intriguing statues of demon-like creatures.

A 14th-century European chapel sticks out of the facade of a Japanese hotel.