As the aging humans of this Japanese village die off one local artisan is replacing them with eerie homonculi.

Children's literature inside, forest all around.

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

Giant animal sculptures are created with the rice straw leftover from the fall harvest each year.

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

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

Transport yourself to the 1980s era of video games at this themed restaurant and bar.

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

Largest graveyard in all of Japan surrounds a famous mausoleum.

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

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

This little replica of Lady Liberty provides a bit of NYC in a Japanese city.

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

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

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

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

The tallest bronze seated statue of the Buddha in Japan.

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

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

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

A Catholicism-themed restaurant where sacrilege is on the menu.

Shells collected from over a hundred different countries line the walls, floors and ceilings of this fantasy museum.

This ancient temple is set up to take you on a pilgrimage of self.

The world’s first hotel to be run by robots.