A giant rooftop ride with unbeatable views of Matsuyama city, the nearby mountain ranges, and the Inland Sea.

Barbies stare from the walls, sit on the tables, and even pop out of cakes at this quirky cafe.

A mysterious set of tunnels carved in the hills of rural northern Kyushu.

Japan's hottest hot spring has a memorable name.

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

Haunted house kitsch meets Japanese folklore at this theme bar where patrons can “die” and have their own mock funeral.

A collection of more than 1,000 teddies from nearly any profession.

The small candy-colored ride is the last rooftop Ferris wheel in Tokyo.

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

"Bug Bug" Land, a natural park for beetle watching, still hasn't fully recovered from Fukushima's nuclear disaster.

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

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

A 59-ft. robot statue looks over the citizens of earthquake-ravaged Kobe.

The third-tallest statue in the world depicts the "Buddha of Infinite Light," complete with observation deck in his chest.

Coast along one of Japan’s mountain railways for coveted views of magnificent hydrangeas.

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.

A calico cat named Tama was the wildly popular Super Station Master at this train stop in southeast Japan.

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

Be a ninja - or just act like one.

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

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

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

A real-life replica of a home from Hayao Miyazaki's beloved movie "My Neighbor Totoro."

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