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

This ancient shrine has been rebuilt every 20 years since the eighth century.

An abandoned Art Deco hotel nestled on the side of a wooded mountain.

Ever needed a chocolate-filled crepe in the wee hours of the morning?

Modern Japanese museum is buried by snow annually.

Giant art made in Japanese rice fields.

A sculpture that resurrected the only tree standing following the devastating 2011 tsunami.

The third-tallest statue in the world depicts the "Buddha of Infinite Light," complete with observation deck in his chest.

An anthropological theme park that depicts the cultures of around 20 different countries.

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

One of the world's largest tanks mimics the experience of watching rare whale sharks, giant rays, and deep sea creatures from the ocean floor.

A museum dedicated to the history of Tokyo's often-overlooked working-class district.

A cool dive bar, off the beaten track.

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

The Buddhist temples of Yamadera, built into a mountain side, feature a viewing deck with sweeping views.

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

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

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.

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.

Be a ninja - or just act like one.

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

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