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

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

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

This ancient shrine has been rebuilt every 20 years since the eighth century.

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

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

An anthropological theme park that depicts the cultures of around 20 different countries.

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

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

Elaborate series of tunnels where traces of mass suicide are still visible.

A disconnected rotary phone for "calling" lost loved ones offered a unique way of dealing with grief in disaster-stricken Japan.

This active volcano's siren song to suicide jumpers forced authorities to build a fence.

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

A steaming, boiling hellscape sources Hokkaido's thermal baths.

A massive cave complex boasts some of the clearest water (and most charming bats) in the world.

Japanese national treasure originally built in 593 CE.

Go through the looking glass in Tokyo's Wonderland-themed shop.

A tiny cafe that recreates the Japanese elementary school lunch experience.

This pair of small sea rocks has been "wed" using rope and ancient Shinto tradition.

This ancient temple is set up to take you on a pilgrimage of self.

One of the first hotel rooms in a pod.

A bronze statue dating back as far as 1252, still has remnants of gold on its right cheek from ancient gilding.

Reportedly 1,400 years old, this may be the first of the Fiji Mermaids.

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