Across the Pacific in a raft, a museum dedicated to Thor Heyerdahl's now legendary expedition.

Once an aquarium, this sanctuary now rescues sharks and rays from fishing nets.

A stunning two-story timepiece within a medieval Brick Gothic church.

Twelve sweet, nutty, life-sized statues are housed in this second-story shrine to almond paste.

A church filled with the bones of hundreds of virgins martyrs—or so they say.

See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.

These Japanese ruins have been brought back to life with elaborately recreated buildings.

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

Once a black market electronics marketplace, now an otaku shopper's paradise.

People from around the world visit the shrine of Japan’s legendarily loyal dog.

This little replica of Lady Liberty provides a bit of NYC in a Japanese city.

The freshest fish here are the ones you catch yourself.

After a profound show of devotion for his master, a dog becomes the symbol of loyalty for an entire nation.

Not quite the menace it once was, this monster still has some chops.

A 20-meter (65-foot) robot towers over Tokyo Bay.

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.

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

A Buddhist temple on an artificial island that houses a monument to the fugu fish.

A small island with no monkeys but plenty of military ruins.

This enormous monument is one of the most iconic structures in Tokyo, rudely nicknamed "The Golden Turd."

Rows of stone statues are dressed up to mourn children that are lost before birth.

A forgotten remnant of the Soviet Union, Transnistria is an unrecognized country hidden behind a heavily militarized border between Moldova and Ukraine.

The eerie burnt-out remains of a prominent building where 30 protestors lost their lives.