Mythical beasts symbolizing the city of Tokyo guard a historic bridge.

Curious onlookers have suspected this strange structure is a secret government base.

Along the side of the road on a small Japanese island is an extensive garden of uniquely designed Shisa statues.

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

This tiny stone in a children's park is what remains of an ancient, once-worshipped object.

This water goblin statue represents a 19th-century urban legend about a haunted canal that became a Japanese idiom.

The tallest city hall in the world offers an excellent bento box.

This quirky little private museum is home to more than a thousand stones, carved by nature, that resemble human faces.

A rare example of an ancient Japanese hill castle believed to be the fortress of a legendary demon.

A 17th-century Shinto shrine that is home to statues of Mickey Mouse and Pikachu.

The cemetery houses the remains of Jun’ichirō Tanizaki, one of Japan's most famous novelists.

This mysterious medieval grotto holds a grid of sacred wells of unknown purpose.

Narrow passes cut out of mountains surround the medieval capital of Japan.

Fans line up at the crack of dawn for a slurpy bowl of deliciousness at this noodle counter inside a factory.

Home to the world's oldest wooden building.

This Japanese Manneken Pis gets new outfits for every occasion.

A whimsical museum dedicated to the mischievous kappa, a mythical cucumber-loving water sprite.

Approximately 300 million years ago, a massive coral reef existed in what is now the largest limestone cave in Japan.

Sidle into a side alley for a taste of sumo wrestlers' traditional hot-pot soup, in a tiny restaurant founded by a former competitor.

Hidden by the roadside in the Iya Valley, this gem brings together folk monsters and the region's unique geography.

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

These seven moai figures are the world's only sanctioned replicas of the Easter Island originals.

"Excuse me sir, your submarine is blocking my building."

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