This enormous "shamoji" means more to the people of Miyajima than just a way getting rice onto a plate.

Near the mouth of the Yodo River, this museum offers visitors six floors of hands-on learning about Osaka's raw sewage.

If you forgot something to read during your trip to Tokyo, this hostel has you covered.

High in the mountains of Kochi Prefecture, a magnificent library designed by a world-famous architect.

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

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

After being lost for decades, this striking mural depicting the atomic bomb covers the wall of a busy Tokyo metro station.

This adorable birdlike police box is designed based on a play on words.

This traditional Japanese-style house doubles as one of James Turrell's colorful works of art.

The largest collection of model trains in the world is actually run using full-size locomotive technology.

You can still find treasures on the pebbly beaches of one of the world's oldest jade-producing areas.

Giant art made in Japanese rice fields.

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

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

One of the world's largest tanks mimics the experience of watching rare whale sharks, giant rays, and deep sea creatures from the ocean floor.

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

Giant sand sculptures of famous people and places are on display near the Tottori sand dunes.

This Kyoto Starbucks takes coffee drinkers back in time.

This retro underwater observation tower would make the perfect lair for a sea-loving villain.

An astounding annual light display honors the victims of one of Japan's most devastating earthquakes.

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

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

Cherry blossom season comes early in this Japanese town where pink flowers line the streets and riverbanks.

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