A mountaintop shrine-temple guarded by a horde of half-demon priests.

An undeciphered text is inscribed on a mysterious stone slab.

A statue based on a tragic Japanese nursery rhyme, commemorating San Diego's sisterhood with Yokohama.

Kuala Lumpur’s historic single-screen cinema, transformed into a labyrinthine bookstore.

Home to 800-year-old zen basin, a 400-year-old pilgrim’s path, and a century-old industrial grotto.

The site of one of the only two star-shaped forts in Japan was used as an elementary school for over a century, much longer than its life as a castle.

Home to a legend of the supernatural raccoon dog, a rare wooden structure of Edo, and witnesses of the Tokyo bombings.

This church commemorates a venerable, yet nigh-forgotten woman who dedicated her life to the poor in post-war Tokyo.

Once known for its eerie appearance, this semicircular monument is all that remains of a Tokyo industrial icon.

This one-of-a-kind indie publisher-bookshop specializes in archiving historic red-light districts and niche cultural topics of the Shōwa era.

This lesser-visited gallery in a corner of the Tokyo National Museum complex is an architectural beauty dedicated to the ancient treasures of Hōryū-ji.

The origin of this bizarre, ghostly idol is a local mystery, even to the temple it calls home.

The preserved ruins of the Hōjō clan’s palatial estate, hidden in the basement of a tourist information center.

The strange “kaiju” of Lake Imba that allegedly killed over a dozen men with a single strike of lightning.

Unbeknownst to many, this fountain was erected as a tomb and still holds the remains of a Frenchman.

Installed in 1965, this whimsical slide has spawned a brood of “octopus mountains” across Japan.

The largest example of the “snail well” unique to the Musashino Plateau region.

Delhi's only female ruler is buried in this neglected, forgotten tomb.

An eerie cluster of medieval cave-like tombs carved out of a cliff, hidden in a historic mountain pass.

Open since 1690, this former teahouse makes “strength mochi” based on the centuries-old recipe.

The legendary Japanese filmmaker’s tombstone is marked by a single letter meaning “nothing," and bottles of sake.

This plaque honors the unsung Black songstress once known as the “greatest singer of her race.”

A group of medieval rock-cut Buddhist statues created to save people from the volcanic hell that surrounds them.

A museum housed in a stunning Rockefeller-funded medical institute building from the 1930s.