A moss-covered statue of a Japanese Buddhist deity stands at a quiet temple in downtown Osaka.

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

A 14th-century European chapel sticks out of the facade of a Japanese hotel.

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

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

This sprawling scenic burial ground is the final resting place of Japan's last shogun.

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

The Hanshin Expressway goes right through its 5th, 6th, and 7th floors.

Peace Park and the Atomic Bomb Dome.

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

One of the first hotel rooms in a pod.

Twelve hundred stone carvings guard this off-the-beaten-path Buddhist temple.

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

A plaque marks the site directly below the mid-air detonation of the atomic bomb over Hiroshima.

The freshest fish here are the ones you catch yourself.

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

The original "capsule building" is a masterpiece of Metabolist architecture.

The sound of swaying stalks in this stunning grove has been named a governmentally recognized sound.