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

This museum is dedicated to the cultural history of tobacco and salt, once monopolized in Japan.

A hub of information on tropical diseases and their treatments.

This active volcano's siren song to suicide jumpers forced authorities to build a fence.

White beach sands made of the remains of tiny, star shaped creatures.

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.

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.

An unexpected curiosity cabinet hidden within a department store in the Japan Post tower.

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

The world's largest drain sits below the city of Kasukabe, Japan.

A museum dedicated to the history of Tokyo's often-overlooked working-class district.

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

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

The world’s first hotel to be run by robots.

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

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

This retro underwater observation tower would make the perfect lair for a sea-loving villain.

A bibliophile's heaven that contains hundreds of bookstores, offering over a third of secondhand books for sale in Tokyo.

A train ride to the middle of nowhere gives its passengers some of the most iconic views of Japan's seasons.

Legend holds eating just one of these black eggs can add seven years to one's life.

Meet the world's longest tapeworm in a collection that really gets under your skin.

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

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