"Excuse me sir, your submarine is blocking my building."

Japan's first automaton went missing, only to be revived by the Osaka Science Museum.

Japan's largest collection of Western-style mansions in the port city of Kobe includes a recreation of Sherlock Holmes' 221B Baker Street quarters.

The iconic castle that withstood a magnitude 6.2 earthquake has become a symbol of resilience.

A sobering scientific reminder of the human damage caused by the advent of the nuclear age.

Japan's largest and oldest annual procession of floats, begun in 869.

A Japanese train station built around a 700-year-old camphor tree.

An eerie maze of industrial factories looks like something out of a dystopian sci-fi.

This ancient shrine has been rebuilt every 20 years since the eighth century.

A small island with no monkeys but plenty of military ruins.

This beautiful Japanese garden is a memorial to the samurai who literally wrote the book on business as martial art.

A network of sandy streets lined with verdant fukugi trees weaves throughout this tiny seaside town.

The largest collection of model trains in the world is actually run using full-size locomotive technology.

A small Japanese village claims to be the final resting place of the son of God (and God's other son's ear).

The giant figure on the back of this turtle-shaped temple actually hides a memorial pendulum.

This high-design church is made up of two dizzying spirals meant to evoke the weaving together of marriage.

A semi-abandoned replica of Prince Edward Island's Avonlea—in Japan.

One of the world's largest ancient burial mounds.

An unexpected curiosity cabinet hidden within a department store in the Japan Post tower.

The world's shortest escalator doesn't seem to have any reason to exist other than to hold a world record.

A statue erected on an infamous cliff where young boys would hold dangerous "pee offs" to prove their mettle.

This bridge is so steep it looks like a rollercoaster.

Coast along one of Japan’s mountain railways for coveted views of magnificent hydrangeas.

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