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

An infamous house made famous by director Takashi Shimizu.

This mountain's identity is stuck somewhere between a nightmare and a scenic tourist attraction.

Elaborate series of tunnels where traces of mass suicide are still visible.

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.

Founded over a thousand years ago, this shrine is said to be built on the site of a warlord's harem prison.

This sprawling scenic burial ground is the final resting place of Japan's last shogun.

This subterranean spot might be the epitome of Japan's baroque, retro coffee houses.

Oddly touching memorial to a little-remembered nuclear tragedy.

A Buddhist shrine in a cave protected by macaques next to dark passages lined with creepy paintings.

Sparkling, calcite-covered skeletons of children who may have been sacrificed to appease an angry god.

Hang out with thousands of butterflies in one of the world's largest such enclosures.

Holy Hindu shrine in an enormous, monkey-filled limestone cavern.

This mysterious Sardinian festival sees a horde of blank-faced equestrians compete for tin stars.

This elaborate hole in the ground was built as a sacred site for an ancient civilization.

This tiny stone in a children's park is what remains of an ancient, once-worshipped object.

This desert oddity hides in plain sight thanks to a cartographic error and a desert explorer with a punny sense of humor.

A hard-to-reach oasis in a desolate corner of Death Valley National Park.

The rocks in this arid basin leave trails of movement behind them.

Travelers leave tea kettles in a remote part of Death Valley as part of a mysterious, decades-old tradition.

Burial mound for the ears and noses of thousands of mutilated Korean soldiers.

This Kyoto Starbucks takes coffee drinkers back in time.

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

Historical Japanese-Dutch relations are honored with haunted rides and flower fields in this replica town.