Three samurai warriors in armour, circa 1880. (Photo by Kusakabe Kimbei). P.S. All pictures are presented in high resolution.

Japanese artist Megumi Igarashi, known as Rokudenashiko, holds her artwork after a news conference following a court appearance in Tokyo April 15, 2015. A Japanese artist on trial for obscenity after making figurines and a kayak modeled on her v*gina said on Wednesday that there was nothing wrong with her artwork and her arrest merely showed how far Japan remains behind the west. Words in the artwork read “Centre. 3D scan”. (Photo by Toru Hanai/Reuters)

Japanese macaque monkeys enjoy sitting in the hot springs at Jigokudani-Onsen (Hell Valley) on January 23, 2005 in Jigokudani, Nagano-Prefecture, Japan. Japanese Macaques, also known as snow monkeys are the most northerly nonhuman primate in the world. In 1963 a female Macaque ventured into the hot springs to retrieve some soybeans. This behaviour was adopted by other monkeys, and eventually by the entire troop. This Macaque troop regularly visits the Jigokudani-Onsen springs to escape the cold. The hot springs are said to help relieve nerve pain and fatigue. (Photo by Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images)

This is the work of Keisuke Yamada, a banana artist Kotaku first profiled in 2011. To make these sculptures, Yamada, an electrician by trade, must work fast, or the banana will start to go bad.

Japan is a country full of art. Much of this is housed in museums and galleries, but others are right under our feet. We speak, of Japan’s peculiar obsession with manhole covers. Almost anywhere in the country you can find manhole covers with spectacular grounds, each more beautiful and complex than the previous. In recent years, S. Morita photographer has traveled around Japan and leave us this great gathering on the beautiful and artistic Japanese manhole covers.

Traveling Chairso n Hakone Road. (Photo by Kusakabe Kimbei)

South Korean bee farmer Ahn Sang-Kyu protests Japan's claim of sovereignty over disputed islets May 2, 2006 in Seoul, South Korea. Ahn, a local bee farmer, released over 140,000 bees and attracted them to his body to protest Japan's sovereignty claims over a tiny group of islands located off the east coast of South Korea, called the Dokdo islets by the Koreans and Takeshima by the Japanese. The volcanic islets located about 90 kilometres east of South Korea's Ullung Island, have been a source of diplomatic friction between South Korea and Japan for years. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)