An LED art installation composed of 600 poles wrapped in kimono fabric.

This historic castle is one of the oldest and most impressive in all of Japan.

Tragic reminders of the 1945 firebombing campaign over Tokyo still haunt this bridge.

These unconventional "tub boats" let locals row around the island's turbulent coast.

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

This massive, beautifully-lit underground quarry leaves visitors in awe.

A Buddhist temple on an artificial island that houses a monument to the fugu fish.

Surreal giant face-pillars welcome visitors from across the globe to this hotel.

Founded in 1880, this humble brewery still practices a disappearing technique of sake-making.

Daikon radishes are offered to the Japanese Buddhist counterpart of the Hindu god Ganesha at this historic hilltop temple.

This kitsch-forward diner is dedicated to an almost-forgotten “one-cent” prototype of okonomiyaki.

One of the bloodiest and most important battles in Japanese history is recreated with kitschy concrete statues.

Stone slabs along the coast warn of Japan's tsunami-ravaged past, often marking the highest point of a wave's reach.

Near the mouth of the Yodo River, this museum offers visitors six floors of hands-on learning about Osaka's raw sewage.

The site of Japan’s first archaeological excavation is also the birthplace of fingerprint forensics.

This little known mountain has claimed four times as many lives as Everest.

The only Edo-period ferry that is still in operation in Tokyo today.

A statue of a mischievous raccoon towers over this city park.

This giant seated Bhudda of Healing dates to the 1780s.

Visitors to this museum will discover that kaleidoscopes are much more than toys.

Visitors to this park are welcomed by an ancient Japanese megalithic tomb that dates back to the sixth century.

According to one legend, this bridge was crafted after monkeys formed a body-bridge across the gorge.

An ingenious solution to a tricky engineering problem, this spiraling bridge takes drivers for a dizzying spin.

Inspired by the famous sculptures on Easter Island, this head serves as a popular meeting spot by Shibuya Station.