Japan

In the Greater Tokyo Area, the train system handles around 40 million trips a day, a mind-boggling human shuffle. At peak times, some trains run at 200% capacity and need ‘pushers’ to fit all the people inside.

In Japan’s Aomori Prefecture, a major apple-growing region, some premium apples—like the Sekai Ichi variety—can fetch $20 or more. Farmers there hand-polish each fruit with a soft cloth to remove blemishes and enhance shine, treating them like little works of art. These apples, often weighing up to a pound, are prized for their crisp texture and balanced flavor, making them luxury gifts rather than everyday snacks—think of them as the Rolex of fruit.

Japan’s koi fish are bred to look like living art, with some costing over $100,000 at auction. In Niigata Prefecture, koi breeding is a centuries-old tradition, where farmers selectively breed these carp for their vibrant colors and patterns. The most prized koi, often judged in competitions for their symmetry and shine, can live up to 70 years, making them a symbol of longevity and good fortune in Japanese culture.

The country has vending machines that sell everything from hot ramen to live fishing bait, a strange blend of convenience and oddity.

Certain forests in Japan light up at night with an eerie glow from bioluminescent mushrooms known as “foxfire” or kitsunebi. These fungi emit a faint greenish light through a chemical reaction called bioluminescence, where enzymes break down organic compounds and release energy as light. You’ll spot them on decaying logs or mossy ground, especially in humid seasons like late summer or fall.