Japan is blazing the trail when it comes to developing synthetic humans. Seemingly lacking whatever it is that tends to give Westerners the willies when it comes to human replicas, the Japanese... »

Strange Science, Commercial Curiosities | Edited by Rachel

For the most part, 16-story buildings in Osaka do not stick out that much. That is unless of course, a highway cuts through them, allowing cars to race through the fifth, sixth and seventh floors.... »

Architectural Oddities, Outsider Architecture | Edited by atimian and HJHausman

There are only a few remaining accounts of Takakanonuma Greenland, and hardly any current photographs. It was a massive amusement park built in the 1970s, but now lies in an overgrown hazard zone,... »

Incredible Ruins | Edited by serflac and atimian

In Beppu City, Japan, there are nine steaming hot springs. Each is unique in color and composition, and looks strikingly different from the average natural spring. Chinoike Jigoku, is the black... »

Natural Wonders, Martian Landscapes, Geological Oddities | Edited by serflac, atimian and others

In a lot of ways, Kori no Suizokukan resembles an average farmer's market. Locally caught fish of 80 different species are presented on ice for the patron's browsing pleasure. As with any local... »

Museums and Collections, Unique Collections, Commercial Curiosities, Purveyors of Curiosities | Edited by serflac and atimian

A far cry from the sunny, commercial milieu of Ginza, the Vampire Café begs customers to enter a Gothic paradise, aptly blending tourist kitsch with the decor of Dracula's VIP room. Covered... »

Commercial Curiosities, Bizarre Restaurants and Bars | Edited by serflac and atimian

In Japanese folklore, "kappa" are bipedal, turtle-like aquatic goblins who sometimes grab unsuspecting humans, often children, as they walk over bridges or through swamps, pulling them down into... »

Wonder Cabinets | Edited by ilbonito, wythe and others

Straddled between the legs of the Tokyo Tower is the family-friendly entertainment zone known as “Foot Town.” On the third floor of this building sits the Tokyo Tower Wax Museum, home to the... »

Museums and Collections, Unique Collections | Edited by mrryanteacher and Nicholas Jackson

Jigokudani means "Hell's Valley," and it is so named because of the area’s eerie bubbling hot springs, harsh landscape, and snowy frigid climate. Snow covers the ground more than four months out... »

Natural Wonders, Fascinating Fauna | Edited by atimian and Nicholas Jackson

The brave souls inhabiting Miyakejima, one of Japan's Izu Islands, an archipelago just south of Tokyo, have a unique problem. Here, the land rests atop an active volcanic chain that has erupted... »

Natural Wonders, Anomalous Islands, Intriguing Environs, Disaster Areas | Edited by atimian, Dylan and others