Places Sputnicktatorship Wants to Go

The largest volcanic caldera in Japan holds an entire city in its maw.

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

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

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

This sawtooth mountain range still bears the strangely lovely marks of its history as a medieval quarry.

Peace Park and the Atomic Bomb Dome.

A steaming, boiling hellscape sources Hokkaido's thermal baths.

Unusual hexagonal rocks formed by cooling lava named for their resemblance to traditional Japanese tatami mats.

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

The world's largest drain sits below the city of Kasukabe, Japan.

Transport yourself to the 1980s era of video games at this themed restaurant and bar.

This pair of small sea rocks has been "wed" using rope and ancient Shinto tradition.

With over 12,000 different species of plants, this botanical garden is Japan's oldest and most diverse.

Enormous underground chamber built to detect 'ghost particles' of the universe.

We heard you like volcanoes so we put a volcano in your volcano so you can die for sure...

Legend holds eating just one of these black eggs can add seven years to one's life.

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

One of Japan's most famous sights, the bridge was originally built in 1673.

Steaming blood-red hot spring from hell.

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

Reportedly 1,400 years old, this may be the first of the Fiji Mermaids.

A restaurant modeled after feudal Japan, where the waitstaff are trained as ninjas.

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

A beautiful bamboo trail tucked in this famous Japanese shrine.