Inspired by the famous sculptures on Easter Island, this head serves as a popular meeting spot by Shibuya Station.

The 650 red and white Japanese plum trees of this Tokyo neighborhood blossom each spring.

A colorful, architectural experiment designed to increase a resident's longevity.

The headquarters of one of Japan’s leading astronomy research institutions features several historic observatory facilities and a 2,000-year-old burial mound.

No one knows why this family’s graves stayed on the national museum's premises after all other tombstones were relocated.

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.

Emerging from the sidewalk, this sculpture of a whale commemorates the importance of baleen in traditional Japanese puppetry.

When this clock strikes a certain time, puppets showcase a story of life in Edo Japan.

It's bad manners to eat and drink on the subways of Tokyo, unless the train is this bar. 

Guarding the city of Chiyoda is a bizarre insectile creature with a name no one can pronounce.

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

Students pray here in hopes of entering one of Japan’s most prestigious universities.

Overlooked by many, this tiny sacred island in Ueno Park only opens to the public every 12 days.

One of the top 100 sights of feudal Tokyo continues to impress those who visit the lesser temples of Ueno.

Only the face remains of this giant Buddha statue, which is said to be a source of luck for students.

A flight of this "ghost staircase" has 40 steps on the way up, but only 39 steps on the way down.

The original location of the eponymous site of Japan’s Yayoi period is now lost in time.

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

Designed by a computer, this intricate network of fluorescent green pipes has taken over a subway station.

This battleship of a building was designed by a famed "mad architect."

This 400-year-old noodle joint was once frequented by a fox-turned-monk, according to local folklore.

This surreal thumbs-up monument commemorates a shiatsu legend.

This bizarre residential building is the masterpiece of Von Jour Caux, the “Gaudí of Japan.”

Inside the columbarium, thousands of colorful, high-tech Buddhas guard the ashes of the dead.