Places Aya May Dayaoen Wants to Go

Eighty million natural history specimens call this gargantuan museum home.

Roots and stumps that lay inundated for two millennia are on display in Japan's city of three mysteries.

Children's literature inside, forest all around.

This active volcano's siren song to suicide jumpers forced authorities to build a fence.

A remarkable lava formation encloses a line of Buddhist statues that can't be accurately counted, according to local mythology.

Thirty architectural gems from the 19th- and early 20th-century Tokyo were restored and relocated to this space.

Dedicated to the armor and weapons used by the legendary Japanese warriors.

A bibliophile's heaven that contains hundreds of bookstores, offering over a third of secondhand books for sale in Tokyo.

The self-mummified monks of Japan.

This pond is so stunning it looks like you've stepped into one of Monet's masterpieces.

A massive cave complex boasts some of the clearest water (and most charming bats) in the world.

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

This mesmerizingly colorful pond looks like a scene straight out of a fairytale.

Hanging over one of Japan’s “hidden valleys,” these vine bridges must be remade every three years.

The magical, mossy forest that inspired 'Princess Mononoke.'

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

In 1912, this idyllic Alaska landscape was blown apart in the largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century.

A 30-mile-long glacially-carved canyon leads to a massive pair of glaciers.

The simple log cabin of a famed loner and naturalist stands preserved as a symbol of the ultimate DIY lifestyle.

Siberian husky that delivered a life-saving antitoxin.

Research missiles and rainbow auroras at the world's largest land-based rocket range.

During the summer, surfers in Alaska take advantage of this inlet’s unusual water patterns.

Internationally recognized group that works to protect the wolf and educate the public about its plight.

A rare chance to get up close and personal with a 13-mile ribbon of ice near downtown Juneau.