Explore 102 Japan Collections - Atlas Obscura
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A team of about 25 people lifts the owan-mikoshi.
hot springs

The Annual Journey of a Giant Miso Soup Bowl

Every September in Yamanaka-Onsen, the owan-mikoshi gets a lift around town.
Hannah Kirshner November 9, 2017
A pig by Le Chateau de la Roche, in France's Loire Valley.
toys

Toys Are Taking Vacations and Seeing the World (Without Their Owners)

A social media trend has spawned travel agencies and even passports—just for stuffies.
Vittoria Traverso November 3, 2017
Illustrations of the 12 different types of Kappa, a water spirit who is sometimes known to haunt outhouses, from the 19th century.
31 days of halloween

Get to Know Your Japanese Bathroom Ghosts

There are several to keep track of, some scarier than others.
Eric Grundhauser October 2, 2017
The Royal Hotel, an abandoned resort on Hachijo Island. It closed due to dwindling tourism to the area.
abandoned

Japan’s Abandoned Hotels Are Being Reclaimed by Nature

Inside the once-busy lodgings that have become modern ruins.
Anika Burgess September 6, 2017
Would you like last rites from this guy?
buddhism

Japan Unveils a Buddhist Funeral Robot

It's pretty cheerful-looking for a robot that gives funeral services.
Eric Grundhauser August 23, 2017
Unmeltable ice cream popsicles.
food

Japanese Scientists Discover the Secret to Un-Meltable Ice Cream

The secret is strawberries.
Natasha Frost August 8, 2017
A Hyakumantō dhāranī scroll and two pagoda from the Morgan Library and Museum. (Please note that here the text is upside down.)
objects of intrigue

This Japanese Scroll Was Re-Printed a Million Times—700 Years Before Gutenberg

The eighth-century documents were stored in tiny pagodas.
Michael Waters July 18, 2017
A peeled prawn from the artist Yoshihiro Okada.
art

Raising Orange Peels to an Art Form, One Fruit at a Time

The artist Yoshihiro Okada uses only whole, unbroken peels.
Sarah Laskow April 11, 2017
The book is a collector's item on eBay
japan

The Curious Curriculum of the 1950s Red Cross 'Bride Schools'

How Japanese women who married G.I.s got taught to be U.S. housewives.
Kristin Hunt January 24, 2017
Hayakawa with his wife Tsuru Aoki and dog "Dynomite", from the 1922 issue of <em>Photoplay</em> magazine.
film

One of the First Hollywood Heartthrobs Was a Smoldering Japanese Actor. What Happened?

Today, there aren't many Asian film hunks. But in 1915, Sessue Hayakawa was among the first sex symbols.
Rachel King December 5, 2016
music

Watch 167 Theremin Nesting Dolls Play Beethoven's 9th Symphony

The "Matryomin" is the instrument of the future.
Molly McBride Jacobson November 21, 2016
Banzai Cliff.
Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands

Banzai Cliff

Where hundreds of Japanese civilians committed suicide to avoid being captured by American soldiers during WWII.
<em>Onjishi</em>, Yusutani, Seiyo, Ehime Prefecture.
31 days of halloween

Photographing the Incredible Costumes of Japan's Supernatural Festivals

Bringing folklore to life with capes and masks.
Anika Burgess October 14, 2016
The 1848 woodblock print “Portrayal of Mount Fuji” (Fujisan no zu) by Utagawa Sadahide, featured in Cartographic Japan: A History in Maps published by the University of Chicago Press.
maps

A Religious Cult Believed They Could Be Reborn Inside Mount Fuji's 'Womb Caves'

A 19th-century map describes a hidden network of lava caves.
Lauren Young October 10, 2016
shops

Watch a Cursed Japanese Kleenex Ad

It is NOT going to be "a fine day today."
Molly McBride Jacobson October 5, 2016
mummies

The Monks Who Spent Years Turning Themselves into Mummies—While Alive

Japan's self-sacrificing sokushinbutsu were a very determined lot.
Davey Young October 4, 2016
ancient

How Did These Ancient Roman Coins End Up in Japan?

They date to the 4th century.
Erik Shilling September 26, 2016
dolls

The Mysterious Origins of This Unnervingly Life-like Japanese Doll from the 1800s

Happy early Halloween.
Juliet Bennett Rylah September 8, 2016