Inaccessible by foot, Japan's most secluded train station sits in the middle of nowhere.

According to one legend, this bridge was crafted after monkeys formed a body-bridge across the gorge.

Unbeknownst to most passersby, this marble statue standing outside an office building is a genuine piece of second-century Rome.

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

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

Designed by a computer, this intricate network of fluorescent green pipes has taken over a subway station.

At a Japanese train station, a goddess emerges from a dumpling.

This giant statue pays homage to this temple's furry residents who keep the landscape pristine.

These unconventional "tub boats" let locals row around the island's turbulent coast.

Visitors to this park are welcomed by an ancient Japanese megalithic tomb that dates back to the sixth century.

Mythical beasts symbolizing the city of Tokyo guard a historic bridge.

This tiny stone in a children's park is what remains of an ancient, once-worshipped object.

This water goblin statue represents a 19th-century urban legend about a haunted canal that became a Japanese idiom.

This quirky little private museum is home to more than a thousand stones, carved by nature, that resemble human faces.

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

This mysterious medieval grotto holds a grid of sacred wells of unknown purpose.

Home to the world's oldest wooden building.

This Japanese Manneken Pis gets new outfits for every occasion.

A whimsical museum dedicated to the mischievous kappa, a mythical cucumber-loving water sprite.

A deserted island in southwest Japan that once sheltered persecuted Christians.

Hidden by the roadside in the Iya Valley, this gem brings together folk monsters and the region's unique geography.

You can still find treasures on the pebbly beaches of one of the world's oldest jade-producing areas.

This whimsical garbage disposal facility receives around 12,000 accidental tourists each year.

These seven moai figures are the world's only sanctioned replicas of the Easter Island originals.