Weighing nearly 7 tons, this massive sculpture was carved out of 500-year-old wood and decorated with thousands of jewels.

Discover the past, present, and future of packaging in this unique Japanese museum.

Tokyo’s only Ainu restaurant serves Indigenous food from northern Japan.

Enormous underground chamber built to detect 'ghost particles' of the universe.

The only thing sweeter than the potatoes is the canine proprietor of this roadside stall.

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

The legendary birthplace of the Japanese maneki-neko is dotted with hundreds of lucky beckoning cats.

Bioluminescent firefly squid light up this Japanese fishing port.

The oldest hotel in the world has been operated by the same family for over 1,300 years, even catering to samurai.

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

On Japan's Tashirojima Island, cats are king.

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

Near the mouth of the Yodo River, this museum offers visitors six floors of hands-on learning about Osaka's raw sewage.

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

This brothel-turned-restaurant features plenty of surprises and elaborate, extravagant architecture.

Blowtorches, tuna, and a jolly, chain-smoking proprietor mark this beloved street-food stand.

Overflowing with shipping containers, this location has been transformed into a massive workspace for artists.

This antique shop specializes in the history of print and design.

This museum explores the history of the book, from scrolls to mass-produced objects through tools, stories, and massive cast-iron binding machinery (some of it operational).

The oldest dim sum restaurant in the United States is a nostalgic jewel.

Located inside a former record pressing plant, this recording studio pays homage to the techniques and gear of a bygone age.

The alley connecting two of country music’s most historic venues has a rich history of its own.

This award-winning men's bathroom was just too beautiful to not allow women to see.

When Motown musicians came to Nashville in the 1960s they stayed at this historic record-pressing company because hotels wouldn't host them.