An atmospheric shrine of mountain worship that is home to a number of curious folk tales.

Celebrating the famous Nebuta festival of Aomori and showcasing its huge papier-mâché floats.

These Japanese ruins have been brought back to life with elaborately recreated buildings.

This dazzling three-story shop showcases the art and history of music boxes, a popular novelty in Japan.

A gorgeous, nostalgic café housed in a lofty old warehouse, lit only by petroleum lamps.

This abandoned railroad got a new life as a scenic promenade cutting through the city of Otaru.

A nouveau-riche hilltop “palace” that once provided lodging to more than a hundred fishermen.

Japan’s oldest clock tower has been called one of the country’s most disappointing attractions.

This exacting restaurant will charge a fine for every grain of rice you've left behind.

This izakaya restaurant was designed to look like the Biblical vessel.

A statue of the forgotten American who helped transform Hokkaido and Japan.

The only thing sweeter than the potatoes is the canine proprietor of this roadside stall.

Another statue of Japan's most famous dog stands in his hometown.

An Akita-themed facility modeled after the old Shibuya Station, erected in honor of Hachiko, a famously loyal dog.

This sports stadium was made from 25,000 cypress trees and ranks among the world's largest wooden domes.

Scale the heights of this 100-foot play space shaped like a ferocious dragon.

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

This replica of the Statue of Liberty is a quarter of the size of the real thing. It sits on the same latitude as the original, but on the other side of the world.

An open-air museum exhibiting a total of 52 century-old buildings, recreating Hokkaido’s “pioneer village.”

This futuristic public park includes large sculptures and an artificial geyser.

A steaming, boiling hellscape sources Hokkaido's thermal baths.

Learn about the indigenous people of Japan's northernmost islands.

One of the only two archaeological sites in Japan to feature petroglyphs, which some believe to be a long-lost writing system of the gods.

The climactic location of the 1977 film 'The Yellow Handkerchief' commemorates its concept of happiness.