"Singing sands" and the world's largest hourglass reside near Japan's Kotogahama beach.

One of the world's largest tanks mimics the experience of watching rare whale sharks, giant rays, and deep sea creatures from the ocean floor.

This exacting restaurant will charge a fine for every grain of rice you've left behind.

After being lost for decades, this striking mural depicting the atomic bomb covers the wall of a busy Tokyo metro station.

Roots and stumps that lay inundated for two millennia are on display in Japan's city of three mysteries.

A semi-abandoned replica of Prince Edward Island's Avonlea—in Japan.

An anthropological theme park that depicts the cultures of around 20 different countries.

A 59-ft. robot statue looks over the citizens of earthquake-ravaged Kobe.

Sulphuric gases inhabit a beautiful Japanese island.

The largest of the Fuji Five Lakes is home to an impressive swan population—some real, some with paddles, and one with an observation deck.

Children's literature inside, forest all around.

A disconnected rotary phone for "calling" lost loved ones offered a unique way of dealing with grief in disaster-stricken Japan.

This little replica of Lady Liberty provides a bit of NYC in a Japanese city.

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

Unusual hexagonal rocks formed by cooling lava named for their resemblance to traditional Japanese tatami mats.

A steaming, boiling hellscape sources Hokkaido's thermal baths.

With over 12,000 different species of plants, this botanical garden is Japan's oldest and most diverse.

This spa theme park lets its guests take a dip in pools of coffee, wine, or ramen broth.

An exceptional assortment of fossils recovered from private collections.

The mummified remains of Dashi-Dorzho Itigilov, Russia's most important Buddhist.

This small museum is basically a time capsule of daily life in the Soviet Union.

One of the largest collections of socialist realist art shows the surprising depth of the official art of the Soviet Union.

A tribute to Richard Feynman is carved into the land he planned to see but never got to visit.

Thanks to this small string of islands World War II still hasn't officially ended between Russia and Japan.