One of Kyoto's oldest food establishments has supplied soba noodles to temple priests and the Imperial Palace.

Visitors to this museum will discover that kaleidoscopes are much more than toys.

A strip of traditional hand towel serves as an admission ticket at this modern tenugui museum.

This ancient, tranquil shrine is the birthplace of ema prayer boards and the Ushi-no-toki-mairi curse ritual.

A mysterious mountaintop temple infamous as the legendary home of the Tengu

The peace and seclusion of Kyoto’s “Moss Temple” is no accident.

A small shrine dedicated to a god of lightning and electronics.

A beautiful bamboo trail tucked in this famous Japanese shrine.

This garden located inside a bamboo forest once belonged to a famous Japanese actor.

Model trains whizz around an extensive room-sized diorama of Kyoto City.

This kitsch-forward diner is dedicated to an almost-forgotten “one-cent” prototype of okonomiyaki.

Home to thousands of dolls from around the world, including the "blue-eyed dolls" that came to Japan as American ambassadors.

A narrow, dead-end alley hides with a small fox shrine and the untold history of Yokohama's historic red-light district.

This retro izakaya street is a unique legacy of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

A memorial to the Indian victims of the devastating 1923 earthquake, built in glorious Mughal style.

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.

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

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

This sprawling scenic burial ground is the final resting place of Japan's last shogun.

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

Commemorating the Japanese migration to Peru, this statue has a sister standing across the Pacific.

Nestled among the bamboos in a temple complex, this art installation serves as a unique memorial to insects.

A bronze statue dating back as far as 1252, still has remnants of gold on its right cheek from ancient gilding.

Open since 1690, this former teahouse makes “strength mochi” based on the centuries-old recipe.