Two ogres stand guard at the Oga Visitor Center.

A lone torii arch stands on a coastal rock where a deity is said to have landed.

The strange “kaiju” of Lake Imba that allegedly killed over a dozen men with a single strike of lightning.

This mythical weapon stuck on the mountaintop is also the site of the first honeymoon in Japan's history.

View Japan's most historic city from a cyberpunk walkway suspended 150 feet above the ground.

This atmospheric pre-war building is home to one of the few manually operated elevators left in Tokyo.

In 806, Kobo Daishi began meditating on Mount Misen. The Buddhist monk lit this holy fire, which has been kept burning for 1,200 years.

This theme park is not in Tokyo, not especially German, and certainly not a village.

Unchanged for decades, World War II-era bullet holes and nostalgic ghost signs still haunt this desolate train station.

More than 100 antique vending machines housed in a used tire shop sell everything from candy to sake and ramen.

A museum run by retired highway engineers who helped rebuild after the Great Hanshin Earthquake.

A strip of traditional hand towel serves as an admission ticket at this modern tenugui museum.

Sharks, stingrays, and turtles swim in the pools at this former elementary school.

A lesser-known sister to Paris's world-famous museum, located within a Buddhist sculpture paradise.

A hidden gallery exhibits intricate, decades-old Buddhist reliefs.

Visitors to this temple are greeted by a massive collection of wooden dolls said to bring good fortune.

Rice balls symbolize fate and relationship at this adorable shrine, which was once dedicated to the Buddhist Devil.

This bathhouse includes an option to soak in radioactive water.

A train station decorated by a giant replica of an ancient Shakōki-dogū figurine.

An exact replica of Bill Clinton's childhood home stands within a resort in Japan.

The largest of its kind in Japan, this century-old wasabi farm is also known for its appearance in an Akira Kurosawa film.

Composed of scrap metal, a pair of platform-length murals chronicle Japan’s history, from the Big Bang to the development of modern Tokyo.

Stretching for 22 miles, the world's longest tree-lined avenue dates back to the early 17th-century.

A cursed torii gate still stands on the edge of Haneda Airport, decades after its shrine's relocation.