The iconic castle that withstood a magnitude 6.2 earthquake has become a symbol of resilience.

A calico cat named Tama was the wildly popular Super Station Master at this train stop in southeast Japan.

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

Largest graveyard in all of Japan surrounds a famous mausoleum.

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

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

This little replica of Lady Liberty provides a bit of NYC in a Japanese city.

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

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

A tiny collection of traditional Japanese woodblock prints, open only when the owner feels like it.

Cherry blossom season comes early in this Japanese town where pink flowers line the streets and riverbanks.

Legend holds eating just one of these black eggs can add seven years to one's life.

Drinkslinger is an unlikely vocation for a Buddhist monk, but at this Tokyo bar the enlightenment is served in a martini glass.

A plaque marks the site directly below the mid-air detonation of the atomic bomb over Hiroshima.

The self-mummified monks of 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.

A 70-foot-deep ice cave formed by lava from Mt. Fuji on the edge of Japan's "Suicide Forest."