Rows of stone statues are dressed up to mourn children that are lost before birth.

Tokyo’s only Ainu restaurant serves Indigenous food from northern Japan.

This giant bronze Buddha, the third largest in Japan, is the last in an ill-fated series of statues.

This “peasant café” in the middle of Tokyo re-creates the atmosphere of the Japanese countryside.

The world's shortest escalator doesn't seem to have any reason to exist other than to hold a world record.

Devoted Buddhists can earn enlightenment in the next life by crawling through this symbolic nostril.

The traditional houses along the coast of this charming Japanese fishing village allow people to sleep above the sea.

The iconic castle that withstood a magnitude 6.2 earthquake has become a symbol of resilience.

This mountain's identity is stuck somewhere between a nightmare and a scenic tourist attraction.

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

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

Burial mound for the ears and noses of thousands of mutilated Korean soldiers.

Largest graveyard in all of Japan surrounds a famous mausoleum.

The divine septet of Japanese fortune gods are rendered in 1,000 year old wood at this peaceful site.

This ruined Japanese stripclub sits half burnt to the ground.

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

This Kyoto Starbucks takes coffee drinkers back in time.

Oddly touching memorial to a little-remembered nuclear tragedy.

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

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

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

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

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

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