A bovine sumo match in which both bulls live to fight another day.

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

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

This exacting restaurant will charge a fine for every grain of rice you've left behind.

This beautiful Japanese garden is a memorial to the samurai who literally wrote the book on business as martial art.

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

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

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

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

A Japanese corporation has turned this small island town into living modern art gallery.

A bronze statue dating back as far as 1252, still has remnants of gold on its right cheek from ancient gilding.

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

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

This 700-year-old street food market features baby octopus and soy donuts.

The quintessential Japanese rock garden has existed for more than 500 years.

This historical theme park celebrates all things noodle.

The 10,000 Torii shrine.

This massive wooden building contains a giant Buddha, healing pillars, and tame deer wandering the grounds.

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

This faux-seedy Japanese arcade is made up to look like a maze of alleys straight out of a cyberpunk dystopia.

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