A failed Russian themed village and amusement park in Niigata prefecture.

The only Edo-period ferry that is still in operation in Tokyo today.

Run a wash cycle while sipping a latte at this community-oriented café.

This phallic temple was erected in the forest to honor the tragic death of a samurai lord's son.

This iconic sluice gate is a favorite haunt for joggers, fishing enthusiasts, and even ghost hunters.

This bizarre residential building is the masterpiece of Von Jour Caux, the “Gaudí of Japan.”

This sawtooth mountain range still bears the strangely lovely marks of its history as a medieval quarry.

An unexpected curiosity cabinet hidden within a department store in the Japan Post tower.

This 400-year-old sweet shop serves a delicacy some have described as "edible incense."

Shrine dedicated to boars that is believed to cure foot and leg injuries.

A small Japanese village claims to be the final resting place of the son of God (and God's other son's ear).

The traditional houses along the coast of this charming Japanese fishing village allow people to sleep above the sea.

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

Stuck in a bygone era, the oldest subterranean shopping street in Japan hides beneath the popular Asakusa district of Tokyo.

It's bad manners to eat and drink on the subways of Tokyo, unless the train is this bar. 

A Japanese cat island also populated by the descendants of a band of banished samurai.

A bibliophile's heaven that contains hundreds of bookstores, offering over a third of secondhand books for sale in Tokyo.

A Buddhist temple to honor insects that died for science.

This isolated Japanese mountain village untouched by time showcases unique and stunning traditional architecture.

Tokyo’s only Ainu restaurant serves Indigenous food from northern Japan.

This mesmerizingly colorful pond looks like a scene straight out of a fairytale.

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

Colloquially known as “piss alley,” this narrow street filled with tiny bars and barbecue stands looks like it was pulled straight out of “Blade Runner.”

The magical, mossy forest that inspired Princess Mononoke.