The site where the famous city gate once stood, now in the middle of a playground.

The 10,000 Torii shrine.

The largest collection of model trains in the world is actually run using full-size locomotive technology.

An ancient mountain-cut pass runs largely forgotten in the suburbs of Kamakura.

The oft-overlooked site of one of the first marine biological research facilities in the world.

An eclectic fountain commemorating the 1964 Summer Olympics.

A romantic escape inspired by the legend of a child-eating five-headed dragon.

A statue meant to celebrate peace has also been interpreted as a mother taking away her son's internet privileges.

This Buddhist temple is home to the graves of the Japanese national legends, the 47 Ronin.

A pair of rivaling shrines dedicated to Lady Oiwa, the most famous vengeful ghost in Japan.

These ordinary blocks of stone are the last surviving remains of Tokyo's infamous red-light district.

Once the park closes at sunset, the greatest haiku poet of all time moves to face the Sumida River.

A glimpse into life in 1830s Tokyo, back during the heyday of the Tokugawa shogunate.

This shrine is home to an unusual trifold torii and a replica Trafalgar Square lion.

This 300-year-old teahouse is the birthplace of a Japanese springtime staple

Rice balls symbolize fate and relationship at this adorable shrine, which was once dedicated to the Buddhist Devil.

Disaster prevention apartment blocks in Sumida Ward are designed to save as many as possible in the face of the inevitable.

The site where the poet Matsuo Bashō read one of the first haiku that comprise his famous travelogue.

Dedicated to the victims of a phantom slasher, this memorial is claimed by some to be the source of a deadly curse.

Visit the cherry blossoms at Tokyo’s unofficial smallest mountain.

Thousands of foxes are said to gather and parade across the neighborhood of Ōji on New Year’s Eve.

An adorable intake tower with a “witch hat” stands in the Edo River.

Just outside Tokyo, a 45-story-high observatory with a stunning view of Tokyo Skytree and Mount Fuji.

Legend says the goddess this shrine honors curses any couples that pass by.