Founded over a thousand years ago, this shrine is said to be built on the site of a warlord's harem prison.

The ruin of a Japanese love hotel almost completely overgrown with brambles.

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

Giant animal sculptures are created with the rice straw leftover from the fall harvest each year.

A disconnected rotary phone for "calling" lost loved ones offered a unique way of dealing with grief in disaster-stricken Japan.

Japan's largest area of "pink moss" turns the hillside bright pink every spring.

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

Historical Japanese-Dutch relations are honored with haunted rides and flower fields in this replica town.

This active volcano's siren song to suicide jumpers forced authorities to build a fence.

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

Unusual hexagonal rocks formed by cooling lava named for their resemblance to traditional Japanese tatami mats.

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

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

A Catholicism-themed restaurant where sacrilege is on the menu.

Shells collected from over a hundred different countries line the walls, floors and ceilings of this fantasy museum.

This pond is so stunning it looks like you've stepped into one of Monet's masterpieces.

Peace Park and the Atomic Bomb Dome.

The 43-mile route crosses through six islands with gorgeous views of the Seto Inland Sea.

This pair of small sea rocks has been "wed" using rope and ancient Shinto tradition.

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

With over 12,000 different species of plants, this botanical garden is Japan's oldest and most diverse.

The world's largest drain sits below the city of Kasukabe, Japan.

We heard you like volcanoes so we put a volcano in your volcano so you can die for sure...

Abandoned Japanese ghost town gives a glimpse into what our own metropolises may leave behind.