This compact temple is filled with garlands of colorful balls that represent restrained monkeys.

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

Devoted Buddhists can earn enlightenment in the next life by crawling through this symbolic nostril.

This massive wooden building contains a giant Buddha, healing pillars, and tame deer wandering the grounds.

A raised Japanese building has preserved 8th-century artifacts for more than a millennium, earning this log cabin a reputation as the "world's oldest museum."

A 1000-year-old shrine in Kyoto with a poorly planned sacred arch.

This statue of Buddha has a distinctive hairstyle meant to represent an unfathomably long period of meditation.

This 700-year-old street food market features baby octopus and soy donuts.

An unlikely hit, this museum is dedicated to the inventor of instant ramen and cup noodles.

The literal midpoint of the city, as all distances are calculated from this point

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

This brothel-turned-restaurant features plenty of surprises and elaborate, extravagant architecture.

This temple is home to a group of Buddha statues made from thousands of bones and ashes of the deceased.

The tomb of an infamous chimeric monster whose corpse once washed ashore in Osaka.

This bar is filled with Star Wars merchandise from around the world, all of it unlicensed knockoffs.

A displaced shrine that was put back after a string of bad luck.

An office building covered from head to toe in over eighty variety of plants

A Japanese fertility god in the shape of a large phallus.

Up on the iconic Tsutenkaku Tower sits an American mascot that became Osaka’s own lucky god.

Historical Japanese-Dutch relations are honored with haunted rides and flower fields in this replica town.

The world’s first hotel to be run by robots.

A historical western settlement that is known as one of the three most disappointing sights of Japan.

The oldest western-style houses in Japan are centered around the industrialist Thomas Glover.

A monument commemorating the execution of 26 canonized Christians from the 16th century.