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

Colloquially known as “piss alley,” this narrow street filled with tiny bars and barbecue stands looks like it was pulled straight out of “Blade Runner.”

These wondrously illuminated caverns extend under the mountains of the Fukushima Prefecture.

A town's namesake rock has served as a spiritual matchmaker for hundreds of years.

Running through lush forests and across the Tadami River, this train line offers breathtaking views of rural Japan.

Ward off bad luck and fill your bottle with "the most watery water" at this little roadside shrine in Yonezawa.

Although damaged beyond recognition, this stone god is still said to bring good luck to those who tap on him with a pebble.

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

Access to this hidden site of a 14th-century mass suicide is prohibited, unless it is to pray for the dead.

This ancient burial cave along a roadside is also home to several Buddhist sculptures.

Nestled amid the trees lies an abandoned funicular railway that dates back to the 1920s.

It is said that coins washed in the waters here will miraculously multiply.

This massive, beautifully-lit underground quarry leaves visitors in awe.

A park built around the legend of a clam-loving giant who created a monumental midden.

A unique Shinto shrine filled with bunnies and wordplay.

A bovine sumo match in which both bulls live to fight another day.

One in a pair of subterranean caves created by an ancient eruption of Mount Fuji.

An eerie reminder to the horrors of World War II.

This village is home to the largest existing settlement of the Ainu, the Indigenous people of Japan.

Tell this pair of "love-inviting" cats in Ginza your romantic hopes.

A train ride to the middle of nowhere gives its passengers some of the most iconic views of Japan's seasons.

A whimsical museum dedicated to the mischievous kappa, a mythical cucumber-loving water sprite.

This ancient burial site was once thought to be the home of a race distinctive to Ainu folklore.

Approximately 300 million years ago, a massive coral reef existed in what is now the largest limestone cave in Japan.