The lasting remains of a bygone era of open-air meat markets.

A building-sized painting of the renowned 19th-century American abolitionist.

The colorful stairs are made with marble from the world's major quarries.

Small sculpted heads of prominent phrenologists mark the outside of their former headquarters.

Once designed as the entrance to Buckingham Palace, this structure was later relocated and stands as a victory arch.

The arching stretch of London's longest street holds many reminders of the area's maritime past.

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

A shrine dedicated to a 10th-century samurai emperor, whose head is not buried on site (contrary to popular belief).

A bibliophile's heaven that contains hundreds of bookstores, offering over a third of secondhand books for sale in Tokyo.

Unbeknownst to most passersby, this marble statue standing outside an office building is a genuine piece of second-century Rome.

Take a few seconds to look at this abandoned, art-filled station as you pass by on the subway to Ueno.

This battleship of a building was designed by a famed "mad architect."

Losing lottery tickets are deposited at this shrine in hopes of better luck.

Inside the columbarium, thousands of colorful, high-tech Buddhas guard the ashes of the dead.

Home to a collection of drums from around the world that allow visitors to play a tune.

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

This shrine dedicated to a legendary swordsman has become a pilgrimage site for the ill and infirmed.

This museum showcases the art of ancient sword-making.

The remains of the vast manor that once belonged to Lord Kira, villain in the 47 Ronin story, is now a shrine dedicated to the incident.

Tokyo’s only Vaudeville-cuckoo clock–steampunk-Victorian curio cabinet time piece.

The decommissioned steam engine’s whistle can still be heard three times a day at one of Japan’s oldest train stations.

Steampunk, humanoid sculptures crawl on all fours in a Tokyo plaza.

A railway station takeout shop sells boxed meals in containers shaped like trains and snowmen that hold the country’s abundant regional delicacies.

A touching statue dedicated to Japan's first therapy dog.