One of the bloodiest and most important battles in Japanese history is recreated with kitschy concrete statues.

A network of sandy streets lined with verdant fukugi trees weaves throughout this tiny seaside town.

A statue of a mischievous raccoon towers over this city park.

When this massive wooden temple ran out of rope, they made one out of devotees' hair.

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

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

A remote and slightly overgrown park filled with replicas of world landmarks.

Make your own fake treats at this factory and workshop in the epicenter of Japan's food replica industry.

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

An eerie maze of industrial factories looks like something out of a dystopian sci-fi.

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

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

A derelict New Zealand-themed amusement park in Japan.

More tin toys than you can shake a clapping monkey at.

This beautiful Japanese garden is a memorial to the samurai who literally wrote the book on business as martial art.

A semi-abandoned replica of Prince Edward Island's Avonlea—in Japan.

Crawl through the hole in the middle of this stone to break off a bad relationship or initiate a good one.

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

An infamous house made famous by director Takashi Shimizu.

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

One of the world's largest ancient burial mounds.

Roots and stumps that lay inundated for two millennia are on display in Japan's city of three mysteries.

The world's shortest escalator doesn't seem to have any reason to exist other than to hold a world record.

The largest of the Fuji Five Lakes is home to an impressive swan population—some real, some with paddles, and one with an observation deck.