The seawater playground of gilded-era San Francisco burned to the ground in 1966.

This jagged colossus of a building is mostly held together by an enormous concrete exoskeleton.

A 1950s Googie burger stand is now a Los Angeles landmark.

This forgotten Frank Lloyd Wright house is an architectural marvel at the end of a sleepy residential street.

L.A.'s oldest operating bowling alley is a beautifully restored homage to its speakeasy days.

Every weekend, the parking lot of this Buddhist temple turns into a Thai street-food paradise.

This hilltop park offers magnificent views and a Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece.

These unique toilets feature transparent glass covered in PDLC film.

This bar is filled with Star Wars merchandise from around the world, all of it unlicensed knockoffs.

Perhaps the world's cheapest vending machines.

Surreal giant face-pillars welcome visitors from across the globe to this hotel.

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

A moss-covered statue of a Japanese Buddhist deity stands at a quiet temple in downtown Osaka.

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

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

This town near Nagasaki is flecked with fruit-flavored bus stops.

Once the most densely populated place in the world, this island is now a ghost town.

In 806, Kobo Daishi began meditating on Mount Misen. The Buddhist monk lit this holy fire, which has been kept burning for 1,200 years.

The former site of Fukuoka’s legendary ramen joint works hard to guide customers to the “original” original.

This is no ordinary coffee chain outlet—it's an architectural masterpiece.

A unique shrine dedicated to the deified skull of a 17th-century Tokyo courtesan.

Guarding the city of Chiyoda is a bizarre insectile creature with a name no one can pronounce.

A lonely chimpanzee lures you into a narrow alley leading to this hidden shrine.

Tatar Russian in origin, the largest mosque in Japan is now an Ottoman-style Turkish culture center.