It's bad manners to eat and drink on the subways of Tokyo, unless the train is this bar. 

This “peasant café” in the middle of Tokyo re-creates the atmosphere of the Japanese countryside.

This tiny museum hidden above a restaurant houses thousands of modern and traditional kites.

This adorable birdlike police box is designed based on a play on words.

A cool dive bar, off the beaten track.

Inside the columbarium, thousands of colorful, high-tech Buddhas guard the ashes of the dead.

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

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

Oddly touching memorial to a little-remembered nuclear tragedy.

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

The quintessential Japanese rock garden has existed for more than 500 years.

The end of the 4 Line is also the end of the line for 300,000 souls in one of NYC's most illustrious cemeteries.

Deep under Manhattan is the largest construction project in city history. So far, the project has taken the lives of 23 workers, or "a man a mile."

New York's oldest and possibly grandest keeper of books.

A living archive of urban activism and space reclaimed.

Slyly buy a shake in the Parker Meridien lobby.

The loneliest island in New York.

This mosaic dedicated to John Lennon was tended for years by a Beatles super-fan.

Leaf through over 30,000 artists' sketchbooks in what may be the world's largest collection of doodles

The original toys that inspired the beloved children's stories are on display at the New York Public Library.

Order scoops of pandan, lychee, and black sesame at this family-run institution.

New York's oldest magic store.