A once-booming Mississippi River town with a history of racial violence is now eerie and mostly abandoned.

A bovine sumo match in which both bulls live to fight another day.

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

This giant seated Bhudda of Healing dates to the 1780s.

This giant bronze Buddha, the third largest in Japan, is the last in an ill-fated series of statues.

Reportedly 1,400 years old, this may be the first of the Fiji Mermaids.

The Buddhist temples of Yamadera, built into a mountain side, feature a viewing deck with sweeping views.

A bronze statue dating back as far as 1252, still has remnants of gold on its right cheek from ancient gilding.

The self-mummified monks of Japan.

The tallest bronze seated statue of the Buddha in Japan.

This massive wooden building contains a giant Buddha, healing pillars, and tame deer wandering the grounds.

This historical theme park celebrates all things noodle.

Legends surround this jagged rock formation in the New Mexico desert.

Experience park where visitors are told to expect the unexpected.

Oddly touching memorial to a little-remembered nuclear tragedy.

This Buddhist temple is home to the graves of the Japanese national legends, the 47 Ronin.

Shrine to Japanese water-goblins, complete with their preserved body parts.

The largest volcanic caldera in Japan holds an entire city in its maw.

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

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

This immaculate and historic water garden culminates in a massive stone dining table with an inset fountain for chilling the wine of the Cardinal's guests.

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

A huge musical instrument played by the ocean.

Largest graveyard in all of Japan surrounds a famous mausoleum.