Running through lush forests and across the Tadami River, this train line offers breathtaking views of rural Japan.

Daikon radishes are offered to the Japanese Buddhist counterpart of the Hindu god Ganesha at this historic hilltop temple.

This strange mural located in the Ueno station is filled with traditional Japanese symbolism.

Once the main gateway to Tokyo, sneaking through this checkpoint was a capital offense in feudal times.

This enormous monument is one of the most iconic structures in Tokyo, rudely nicknamed "The Golden Turd."

An eerie reminder to the horrors of World War II.

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

Sulphuric gases inhabit a beautiful Japanese island.

Shrine dedicated to boars that is believed to cure foot and leg injuries.

A 17th-century Shinto shrine that is home to statues of Mickey Mouse and Pikachu.

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

A moss-covered statue of a Japanese Buddhist deity stands at a quiet temple in downtown Osaka.

Largest graveyard in all of Japan surrounds a famous mausoleum.

This 14th-century temple is also known as the "Temple of the Golden Pavilion" for its gorgeous gilded reliquary hall.

Established over a thousand years ago, this family-run teahouse continues to serve skewers of sweet rice cake to this day.

The divine septet of Japanese fortune gods are rendered in 1,000-year-old wood at this peaceful site.

Each year this Japanese temple overflows with scowling, bearded good luck talismans.

Be a ninja - or just act like one.

The largest volcanic caldera in Japan holds an entire city in its maw.

The cutest shrine in Kyoto is dedicated to bunnies.

A shrine contains nearly 200 statues of the Buddhist deity Jizo, dressed in bibs by parents who have lost a child.

A bibliophile's heaven that contains hundreds of bookstores, offering over a third of secondhand books for sale in Tokyo.

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

A remarkable lava formation encloses a line of Buddhist statues that can't be accurately counted, according to local mythology.