A calico cat named Tama was the wildly popular Super Station Master at this train stop in southeast Japan.

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

Children's literature inside, forest all around.

An unexpected curiosity cabinet hidden within a department store in the Japan Post tower.

This ruined Japanese stripclub sits half burnt to the ground.

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

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

Largest graveyard in all of Japan surrounds a famous mausoleum.

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

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

Oddly touching memorial to a little-remembered nuclear tragedy.

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.

Be a ninja - or just act like one.

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

An unlikely hit, this museum is dedicated to the inventor of instant ramen and cup noodles.

This subterranean spot might be the epitome of Japan's baroque, retro coffee houses.

A tiny collection of traditional Japanese woodblock prints, open only when the owner feels like it.

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

Thirty architectural gems from the 19th- and early 20th-century Tokyo were restored and relocated to this space.

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

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.

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