Approximately 300 million years ago, a massive coral reef existed in what is now the largest limestone cave in Japan.

These Japanese ruins have been brought back to life with elaborately recreated buildings.

This temple is steeped in local folklore involving a teakettle and a raccoon dog.

What's believed to be the country's first shrine is, in Shintō mythology, the annual meeting place of the gods.

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

Japan's first automaton went missing, only to be revived by the Osaka Science Museum.

Turn around and stick your head between your legs for the best view of this tree-covered sandbar.

The world's longest tunnel with an undersea section.

A quaint amusement park now sits, rusting and forgotten among the foliage.

The floats housed in this hall are more than 100 years old, and are brought out for an annual celebration.

Ruins and statues dot the landscape of this tiny island rich with royal history.

The Yonaguni Monument, a natural formation or the Japanese Atlantis?

A Japanese shrine to dolls.

Weighing nearly 7 tons, this massive sculpture was carved out of 500-year-old wood and decorated with thousands of jewels.

One of the tallest statues in the world, and the tallest statue of a goddess in Japan.

Japan's largest collection of Western-style mansions in the port city of Kobe includes a recreation of Sherlock Holmes' 221B Baker Street quarters.

A Japanese train station built around a 700-year-old camphor tree.

A thick blanket of beautiful pampas grass cloaks this unique Japanese landscape.

Nestled in an unassuming residential area, this "forbidden forest" is rumored to spirit away those who dare to enter.

Blowtorches, tuna, and a jolly, chain-smoking proprietor mark this beloved street-food stand.

"Bug Bug" Land, a natural park for beetle watching, still hasn't fully recovered from Fukushima's nuclear disaster.

A strange tribute to all the fallen souls of war.

This ancient shrine has been rebuilt every 20 years since the eighth century.

A moss-covered statue of a Japanese Buddhist deity stands at a quiet temple in downtown Osaka.