The highest mountain in Hokkaido was the setting for one of Japan’s strangest unsolved mysteries.

This statue of a deified “hag” is said to protect children from the common cold and coughing fits.

This bakery in Japan is one of the few places that still sells 'salad bread,' a short-lived staple in the post-World War II years.

A pentagram-covered shrine dedicated to a famed court astrologer known in the west as the Merlin of Japan.

An exhibit tracing Japan's cinematic history in an often-overlooked national museum.

This church commemorates a venerable, yet nigh-forgotten woman who dedicated her life to the poor in post-war Tokyo.

This ornate example of 19th-century Chinese architecture is one of only a handful of Confucius shrines in Japan.

The oldest surviving stele in Japan is a personal dedication from a monk to his late mother.

A calico cat named Tama was the wildly popular Super Station Master at this train stop in southeast Japan.

A giant robo-cockroach building devours Tokyo.

A remarkable lava formation encloses a line of Buddhist statues that can't be accurately counted, according to local mythology.

Weighing nearly seven tons, this massive sculpture was carved out of 500-year-old wood and decorated with thousands of jewels.

A bronze statue dating back as far as 1252, still has remnants of gold on its right cheek from ancient gilding.

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