This subway station is named after a local legend about supernatural dancing cats.

A replica of an ancient alien-like idol humorously represents spectacles in a corner of this shrine complex.

This one-of-a-kind shrine is dedicated to a girl who was too beautiful for her own good.

An old woman cured cholera in the 1820s and now her grave is said to be the city’s most cursed object.

This 3,000-year-old “opium black fortress” towers over the ancient town named after it.

Archaeologists continue to debate whether this site yielded the oldest human remains in Japan.

The oldest tourist graffiti in the world helped archaeologists identify the Pyramid of Djoser.

This sculptural representation of an Andersen fairy tale had to be pushed away for being too grim.

A slope with a mysterious name recalls a discontinued pre-war energy drink.

A bizarre object of worship believed to grant wishes to those who tie it up with a rope.

This reconstructed castle was once the base of the “Devil King” who almost united the feudal warring states.

In a shopping arcade, a modernized temple deeply tied to feudal Japan’s prominent warlords.

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

The lesser-known eastern counterpart to Kyoto’s famous fox shrine.

At this Neolithic site, the remains of ancient humans have been found alongside the bones of the toxic fugu pufferfish.

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

These medieval wooden bridge pillars appeared out of nowhere in the aftermath of a huge earthquake.

In a resort town where the real Alice spent her summer holidays, iconic characters create a curious trail.

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

In the former treasury of a popular temple, a rare sculptural depiction of Kannon’s diverse avatars.

This most unusual dragon is made of recycled Chinese cutlery.

This sculpture is an homage to one of the most important Jewish women in medieval England.

The oldest civic library in Italy can trace its foundation back to 1619.

Home to a garden of poisonous plants and the only legal cannabis and opium farms in Tokyo.