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

The largest volcanic caldera in Japan holds an entire city in its maw.

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

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

Oddly touching memorial to a little-remembered nuclear tragedy.

The Hanshin Expressway goes right through its 5th, 6th, and 7th floors.

The tallest bronze seated statue of the Buddha in Japan.

A King Kong-like gorilla hangs from the top of this commercial building in Tokyo.

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

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

A shrine contains nearly 200 statues of the Buddhist deity Jizo, dressed in bibs by parents who have lost a child.

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

This sprawling scenic burial ground is the final resting place of Japan's last shogun.

A remarkable lava formation encloses a line of Buddhist statues that can't be accurately counted, according to local mythology.

The world's largest drain sits below the city of Kasukabe, Japan.

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

Enormous underground chamber built to detect 'ghost particles' of the universe.

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

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

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

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

This Kyoto Starbucks takes coffee drinkers back in time.

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

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