This 700-year-old street food market features baby octopus and soy donuts.

On Japan's Tashirojima Island, cats are king.

An exquisite tunnel of cascading flowers.

The sound of swaying stalks in this stunning grove has been named a governmentally recognized sound.

A magical place that lets you play in and explore the world of Studio Ghibli.

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

A 70-foot-deep ice cave formed by lava from Mt. Fuji on the edge of Japan's "Suicide Forest." 

Twelve hundred stone carvings guard this off-the-beaten-path Buddhist temple.

1,001 carved statues of the Buddhist God of Mercy, each with a unique face.

This historical theme park celebrates all things noodle.

This spa theme park lets its guests take a dip in pools of coffee, wine, or ramen broth.

This neighborhood thoroughfare is haunted by dozens of homemade monsters.

Hanging over one of Japan's "hidden valleys," these vine bridges must be remade every three years.

The legendary birthplace of the Japanese maneki-neko is dotted with hundreds of lucky beckoning cats.

Colloquially known as “piss alley,” this narrow street filled with tiny bars and barbecue stands looks like it was pulled straight out of “Blade Runner.”

What is the Thing?

The fading, forgotten remains of a once bright and booming factory.

Dramatic river bend surrounds a natural red-rocked pedestal.

Ninety feet off the valley floor is an ancient dwelling put under protection of the U.S. government by Teddy Roosevelt.

The installation’s official name, “You Who Are Getting Obliterated in the Dancing Swarm of Fireflies,” says it all.

This secluded aqua waterfall in the Grand Canyon is the perfect swimming hole, and the Havasupai tribe's fiercely protected natural wonder.

Most-visited and most-photographed slot canyon in the American Southwest.

Rippling sand dunes frozen in the Arizona rock.

This WWII-era military installation once held an entire city within its walls - now, its walls are falling down.