A rare festival blending religion, blacksmiths, vagina dentata, sex workers, and the straight-up facts of life.

The world's shortest escalator doesn't seem to have any reason to exist other than to hold a world record.

The bamboo that helped Thomas Edison develop a longlasting lightbulb.

A rare double-receiver payphone housed in a fake tree.

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

One of three official copies of Marcel Duchamp's enigmatic masterpiece is on display in an obscure Tokyo museum.

A small museum in a ward on the east side of Tokyo showcases the works of one of Japan's greatest ukiyo-e artists.

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

Unbeknownst to most passersby, this marble statue standing outside an office building is a genuine piece of second-century Rome.

Historic fortifications form the boundary of Vatican City, but it’s not entirely surrounded by walls.

Breathtaking and huge 430 year old maps of Italy.

The decommissioned steam engine’s whistle can still be heard three times a day at one of Japan’s oldest train stations.

Meet the world's longest tapeworm in a collection that really gets under your skin.

A series of smile-themed sculptures created by artists from all over the world fill this Tokyo shopping district.

This sculpture bears a tragic backstory that may have inspired a hauntingly beautiful children's song.

Only recently added to the shrine, this googly-eyed snail demon of unknown origin is said to have eye-healing powers.

This battleship of a building was designed by a famed "mad architect."

Tokyo’s only Ainu restaurant serves Indigenous food from northern Japan.

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

A shrine dedicated to a 10th-century samurai emperor, whose head is not buried on site (contrary to popular belief).

This unassuming office building is home to what was once the world's largest pendulum clock.

One of the best-preserved remains of "Tokyo's lost rivers."

A monument marking the first airplane flights in Japan hints at the dark history behind its peaceful park setting.

Tatar Russian in origin, the largest mosque in Japan is now an Ottoman-style Turkish culture center.