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

A rare festival blending religion, blacksmiths, vagina dentata, sex workers, and the straight-up facts of life.

A small island with no monkeys but plenty of military ruins.

A network of ancient tunnels and vaulted chambers with mystical Buddhist reliefs, built for ascetic training.

This former factory contains an amazing collection of around 400 mint-condition Nissan cars.

The largest collection of model trains in the world is actually run using full-size locomotive technology.

This historical theme park celebrates all things noodle.

One of the largest producers of MSG in the world welcomes visitors to its Kawasaki factory with an albino panda named Aji-Kun.

A hole-in-the-wall antiquities museum in one of Tokyo's most popular megamalls.

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

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

Transport yourself to the 1980s era of video games at this themed restaurant and bar.

Exploring crime and punishment in feudal and pre-modern Japan.

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

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

Go through the looking glass in Tokyo's Wonderland-themed shop.

This abandoned, spaceship-like building is home to a museum so unpopular that it has been put on hiatus for over two decades.

A taste of the macabre Tokyo's ritzy shopping district.

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

A museum housed in a stunning Rockefeller-funded medical institute building from the 1930s.

The bartenders at this crime-fighting theme cafe are actual private detectives by day.

After a profound show of devotion for his master, a dog becomes the symbol of loyalty for an entire nation.

People from around the world visit the shrine of Japan’s legendarily loyal dog.

Discover the past, present, and future of packaging in this unique Japanese museum.