History in Japan

This unassuming tunnel’s name recalls a storied "cat pond" that has now been lost.

A slope with a mysterious name recalls a discontinued pre-war energy drink.

This reconstructed castle was once the base of the “Devil King” who almost united the feudal warring states.

In a shopping arcade, a modernized temple deeply tied to feudal Japan’s prominent warlords.

The alleged site of the months-long imprisonment of a Japanese prince.

This frenetic mural recalls an annual festival that once took the city by storm.

Once known for its eerie appearance, this semicircular monument is all that remains of a Tokyo industrial icon.

Open since 1690, this former teahouse makes “strength mochi” based on the centuries-old recipe.

The legendary Japanese filmmaker’s tombstone is marked by a single letter meaning “nothing," and bottles of sake.

Buried nine feet under, these houses are preserved as a stark reminder of the disastrous 1991 Unzen eruption.

Hundreds of statues of Buddha’s disciples meditating, napping, sneezing, and picking their noses.

This abandoned railroad got a new life as a scenic promenade cutting through the city of Otaru.

This cozy café is housed in a repurposed pharmacy originally built in 1927.

It is believed that this Buddhist temple stands right on the gateway to the underworld.

Tatar Russian in origin, the largest mosque in Japan is now an Ottoman-style Turkish culture center.

Established over a thousand years ago, this family-run teahouse continues to serve skewers of sweet rice cake to this day.