This massive, Edo Period, coin-shaped sand painting is believed to be a source of great luck.

Nope, not the one in France. The only officially-recognized reproduction of Monet’s garden in Giverny is located in a remote corner of Japan.

This amusement park brings a little slice of England to the heart of Kyushu.

Tell this pair of "love-inviting" cats in Ginza your romantic hopes.

A statue of a mischievous raccoon towers over this city park.

What's believed to be the country's first shrine is, in Shintō mythology, the annual meeting place of the gods.

The small candy-colored ride is the last rooftop Ferris wheel in Tokyo.

The largest collection of model trains in the world is actually run using full-size locomotive technology.

The giant figure on the back of this turtle-shaped temple actually hides a memorial pendulum.

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

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.

The largest of the Fuji Five Lakes is home to an impressive swan population—some real, some with paddles, and one with an observation deck.

Founded over a thousand years ago, this shrine is said to be built on the site of a warlord's harem prison.

This town near Nagasaki is flecked with fruit-flavored bus stops.

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

Children's literature inside, forest all around.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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