A restaurant modeled after feudal Japan, where the waitstaff are trained as ninjas.

Shrine to Japanese water-goblins, complete with their preserved body parts.

A 20-meter (65-foot) robot towers over Tokyo Bay.

Roots and stumps that lay inundated for two millennia are on display in Japan's city of three mysteries.

A sobering scientific reminder of the human damage caused by the advent of the nuclear age.

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

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

A cool dive bar, off the beaten track.

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

Giant art made in Japanese rice fields.

A statue erected on an infamous cliff where young boys would hold dangerous "pee offs" to prove their mettle.

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

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

Sulphuric gases inhabit a beautiful Japanese island.

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

A network of sandy streets lined with verdant fukugi trees weaves throughout this tiny seaside town.

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

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

An infamous house made famous by director Takashi Shimizu.

Make your own fake treats at this factory and workshop in the epicenter of Japan's food replica industry.

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

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

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

Elaborate series of tunnels where traces of mass suicide are still visible.