Places moonlightpearls Wants to Go

Children's literature inside, forest all around.

Stuck in a bygone era, the oldest subterranean shopping street in Japan hides beneath the popular Asakusa district of Tokyo.

Be a ninja - or just act like one.

Giant animal sculptures are created with the rice straw leftover from the fall harvest each year.

Giant sand sculptures of famous people and places are on display near the Tottori sand dunes.

One of the world's largest tanks mimics the experience of watching rare whale sharks, giant rays, and deep sea creatures from the ocean floor.

An unexpected curiosity cabinet hidden within a department store in the Japan Post tower.

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

An astounding annual light display honors the victims of one of Japan's most devastating earthquakes.

Japan's largest area of "pink moss" turns the hillside bright pink every spring.

A disconnected rotary phone for "calling" lost loved ones offered a unique way of dealing with grief in disaster-stricken Japan.

Cherry blossom season comes early in this Japanese town where pink flowers line the streets and riverbanks.

This retro underwater observation tower would make the perfect lair for a sea-loving villain.

Shells collected from over a hundred different countries line the walls, floors and ceilings of this fantasy museum.

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

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

Museum showcases Japanese sexuality and some amazing ocean views.

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

A Japanese cat island also populated by the descendants of a band of banished samurai.

Coast along one of Japan’s mountain railways for coveted views of magnificent hydrangeas.

A Buddhist temple to honor insects that died for science.

A plaque marks the site directly below the mid-air detonation of the atomic bomb over Hiroshima.

This Kyoto Starbucks takes coffee drinkers back in time.

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