This is no ordinary coffee chain outlet—it's an architectural masterpiece.

A serene mountaintop temple complex featuring one big, bronze Buddha.

A deserted island in southwest Japan that once sheltered persecuted Christians.

A well-known Japanese musician’s all-night concert on this island is immortalized by an unusual work of art.

Japan Railways' southernmost train station offers a view of a volcano and a mailbox said to grant happiness.

These 33 Zen Buddhist temples were built to protect the nearby castle.

A train station decorated by a giant replica of the ancient Shakōki-dogū figurine found in the area.

This prehistoric burial site is where one of Japan’s most iconic ancient idols was found.

The northernmost of the 12 surviving feudal castles of Japan is known as a cherry blossom viewing spot.

A mountain demon once helped a local villager construct a canal, after which he sat on this oak tree to rest.

The tallest bronze seated statue of the Buddha in Japan.

A 360-year-old cherry tree grows out of a granite boulder.

A rare surviving set of early 17th-century bronze finials remain on this bridge.

According to local folklore, a demon left his handprints on these boulders, which became the prefecture’s namesake.

Legend says that a swarm of centipedes and snakes once crawled out of the tomb of this cursed princess.

Stone slabs along the coast warn of Japan's tsunami-ravaged past, often marking the highest point of a wave's reach.

A sculpture that resurrected the only tree standing following the devastating 2011 tsunami.

Founded over a thousand years ago, this shrine is said to be built on the site of a warlord's harem prison.

According to folklore, this grave lies near the site of the “standing death” of one of Japan’s fiercest warriors.

This Buddhist temple may have the best example of a Pure Land garden in Japan.

The Yonaguni Monument, a natural formation or the Japanese Atlantis?

This monumental intersection commemorates the day Okinawa switched to driving on the left.

Once a huge limestone cave that collapsed thousands of years ago, this scenic ravine is also an important archaeological site.

This natural spring was once an important source of freshwater for the salty (former) island of Naha