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

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

A plaque marks the site directly below the mid-air detonation of the atomic bomb over Hiroshima.

Peace Park and the Atomic Bomb Dome.

An eerie reminder to the horrors of World War II.

This Japanese national treasure was originally built in 593.

The former site of Fukuoka’s legendary ramen joint works hard to guide customers to the “original” original.

After being lost for decades, this striking mural depicting the atomic bomb covers the wall of a busy Tokyo metro station.

These unique toilets feature transparent glass covered in PDLC film.

A railway station takeout shop sells boxed meals in containers shaped like trains and snowmen that hold the country’s abundant regional delicacies.

Once a black market electronics marketplace, now an otaku shopper's paradise.

Rumored to be a giant robot in disguise, this colossal chef has been the beloved symbol of Tokyo’s kitchenware district for decades.

This enormous monument is one of the most iconic structures in Tokyo, rudely nicknamed "The Golden Turd."

A Buddhist temple on an artificial island that houses a monument to the fugu fish.

A museum dedicated to the history of Tokyo's often-overlooked working-class district.

Take a few seconds to look at this abandoned, art-filled station as you pass by on the subway to Ueno.

This lesser-visited gallery in a corner of the Tokyo National Museum complex is an architectural beauty dedicated to the ancient treasures of Hōryū-ji.

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

Once the most densely populated place in the world, this island is now a ghost town.

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

A few iconic structures are all that remain of America’s first outdoor shopping mall.

A visionary, futuristic sculpture in Los Angeles that never met its extraterrestrial potential.

Historic funicular railway, believed to be the shortest railroad in the world.

This iconic L.A. bookshop is housed in an abandoned bank—both symbolic and chic.