This little town supplies Japan with most of its calligraphy brushes, still made by hand from animal fur.

A Japanese train station built around a 700-year-old camphor tree.

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

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

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

More tin toys than you can shake a clapping monkey at.

A statue erected on an infamous cliff where young boys would hold dangerous "pee offs" to prove their mettle.

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.

The Yonaguni Monument, a natural formation or the Japanese Atlantis?

Unusual hexagonal rocks formed by cooling lava named for their resemblance to traditional Japanese tatami mats.

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

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

The divine septet of Japanese fortune gods are rendered in 1,000 year old wood at this peaceful site.

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

This giant bronze Buddha, the third largest in Japan, is the last in an ill-fated series of statues.

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

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

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

A Japanese shrine to dolls.

Be a ninja - or just act like one.

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

The Buddhist temples of Yamadera, built into a mountain side, feature a viewing deck with sweeping views.

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

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