Hiding in plain sight near Kathmandu’s government center is a giant mandala that has become a locus for political protest.

Named after the Goddess of Harvests, Annapurna is the deadliest member of the Eight-thousanders club.

Last stop before the top of the highest peak in the world.

One of the largest Buddhist stupas in the world keeps an eye out in every direction.

Sacred Buddhist home of some spiritual monkeys.

This traditional Japanese-style house doubles as one of James Turrell's colorful works of art.

A sobering scientific reminder of the human damage caused by the advent of the nuclear age.

Devoted Buddhists can earn enlightenment in the next life by crawling through this symbolic nostril.

The small candy-colored ride is the last rooftop Ferris wheel in Tokyo.

This high-design church is made up of two dizzying spirals meant to evoke the weaving together of marriage.

A giant robo-cockroach building devours Tokyo.

Children's literature inside, forest all around.

A King Kong-like gorilla hangs from the top of this commercial building in Tokyo.

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

An unlikely hit, this museum is dedicated to the inventor of instant ramen and cup noodles.

The Hanshin Expressway goes right through its 5th, 6th, and 7th floors.

Closed for decades, this strange symbol of Japan's Expo '70 has finally opened its psychedelic insides to the public.

This Kyoto Starbucks takes coffee drinkers back in time.

A railway station takeout shop sells boxed meals in containers shaped like trains and snowmen that hold the country’s abundant regional delicacies.

Peace Park and the Atomic Bomb Dome.

Thirty architectural gems from the 19th- and early 20th-century Tokyo were restored and relocated to this space.

A Japanese cat island also populated by the descendants of a band of banished samurai.

The 43-mile route crosses through six islands with gorgeous views of the Seto Inland Sea.

A Japanese corporation has turned this small island town into living modern art gallery.