The magical, mossy forest that inspired Princess Mononoke.

If Hello Kitty were Mickey Mouse, this would be Disneyland.

Tokyo’s only Vaudeville-cuckoo clock–steampunk-Victorian curio cabinet time piece.

Barbies stare from the walls, sit on the tables, and even pop out of cakes at this quirky cafe.

Haunted house kitsch meets Japanese folklore at this theme bar where patrons can “die” and have their own mock funeral.

This snack factory boasts several tributes to its popular line of rice crackers, including a quasi-shrine.

Established over a thousand years ago, this family-run teahouse continues to serve skewers of sweet rice cake to this day.

This enormous "shamoji" means more to the people of Miyajima than just a way getting rice onto a plate.

A monk-run winery inside a Buddhist temple celebrates Japan's crown grape varietal.

Existing for more than four centuries, the last of Hakone’s historic teahouses serves a sweet, mold-based rice drink.

One of the largest producers of MSG in the world welcomes visitors to its Kawasaki factory with an albino panda named Aji-Kun.

This bar is filled with Star Wars merchandise from around the world, all of it unlicensed knockoffs.

Giant art made in Japanese rice fields.

This “peasant café” in the middle of Tokyo re-creates the atmosphere of the Japanese countryside.

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

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

This Kyoto Starbucks takes coffee drinkers back in time.

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

Drinkslinger is an unlikely vocation for a Buddhist monk, but at this Tokyo bar the enlightenment is served in a martini glass.

Legend holds eating just one of these black eggs can add seven years to one's life.

The only thing sweeter than the potatoes is the canine proprietor of this roadside stall.

The bartenders at this crime-fighting theme cafe are actual private detectives by day.

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

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