Finland's oldest astronomical observatory once played a crucial role in seafaring and timekeeping.

The last surviving submarine from a strange chapter of Finnish history.

This church also serves as a lighthouse complete with a beacon.

These enormous, stern-faced statues greet visitors with lanterns, and sometimes costumes.

This irregularly shaped sea fortress has defended not one but three different sovereign states.

Architecturally stunning library serves as the hub of Finnish scholarly life and culture.

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

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.

This village is home to the largest existing settlement of the Ainu, the Indigenous people of Japan.

This historic hydroelectric power plant in Japan has been preserved and is open to the public.

This enormous "shamoji" means more to the people of Miyajima than just a way getting rice onto a plate.

A plaque marks the site directly below the mid-air detonation of the atomic bomb over Hiroshima.

The first location of the eventual video game giant.

Have a soak at this retro bathhouse, where you will find Japan's first electric bath, tiling from Spain, and wood carvings representing the Japanese invasion of Manchuria.

This 700-year-old street food market features baby octopus and soy donuts.

This adorable birdlike police box is designed based on a play on words.

The buildings are among the few Frank Lloyd Wright structures still standing in Japan.

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

A train ride to the middle of nowhere gives its passengers some of the most iconic views of Japan's seasons.

Twelve hundred stone carvings guard this off-the-beaten-path Buddhist temple.

This neighborhood thoroughfare is haunted by dozens of homemade monsters.

A beautiful bamboo trail tucked in this famous Japanese shrine.

The sound of swaying stalks in this stunning grove has been named a governmentally recognized sound.