Officially the lowest mountain in Japan.

The site where the famous city gate once stood, now in the middle of a playground.

A sad reminder of the World War II bombing stands largely unnoticed on a street corner.

The train engine is tucked under an apartment building on a quiet Tokyo street.

This Japanese Manneken Pis gets new outfits for every occasion.

One of Kyoto's oldest food establishments has supplied soba noodles to temple priests and the Imperial Palace.

A flight of this "ghost staircase" has 40 steps on the way up, but only 39 steps on the way down.

Ruins and statues dot the landscape of this tiny island rich with royal history.

The ruins of Japan’s premier water brothel.

This high-design church is made up of two dizzying spirals meant to evoke the weaving together of marriage.

Burial mound for the ears and noses of thousands of mutilated Korean soldiers.

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

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

A Buddhist temple to honor insects that died for science.

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

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

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

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

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

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

A beautiful bamboo trail tucked in this famous Japanese Shrine.

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

1,001 carved statues of the Buddhist God of Mercy, each with a unique face.

Not quite the menace it once was, this monster still has some chops.