Cherry blossom season comes early in this Japanese town where pink flowers line the streets and riverbanks.

This ruined Japanese stripclub sits half burnt to the ground.

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

Largest graveyard in all of Japan surrounds a famous mausoleum.

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

Each year this Japanese temple overflows with scowling, bearded good luck talismans.

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

White beach sands made of the remains of tiny, star shaped creatures.

These Japanese gardens are blankets of light for dark winter nights.

Closed for decades, this strange symbol of Japan's Expo '70 has finally opened its psychedelic insides to the public.

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

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.

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

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

A Japanese cat island also populated by the descendants of a band of banished samurai.

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

The tallest bronze seated statue of the Buddha in Japan.

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

This sawtooth mountain range still bears the strangely lovely marks of its history as a medieval quarry.

This pond is so stunning it looks like you've stepped into one of Monet's masterpieces.

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

A rare festival blending religion, blacksmiths, vagina dentata, sex workers, and the straight-up facts of life.

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