Spaworld, Naked truth: Volcanically active Japan has thousands of natural hot springs traditionally enjoyed au naturel. One Osaka onsen has taken that concept to the extreme, creating an over-the-top, around-the-naked-world-in-eight-floors theme park. The complex is divided into themes by country—Finland, Greece, Spain, France, Ancient Rome, and so on. You'll soak amid a replica of the Trevi Fountain, in a hammam-meets-Disney stone bath, and over an Atlant...

Ninjas are always sneaking around in their sleek black outfits, karate chopping targets and wagging their freakishly long tongues around? BK Japan's new Kuro Ninja or "black ninja" burger banks pretty hard on that odd ninja concept with a big old bacon "tongue". The Kuro Ninja features a black bun, which, like the inaugural Kuro Burger, gets its color from bamboo charcoal. You also get "wide-size" hash browns, onions, lettuce, mayo, and a Chaliapin sauce on thi...

Natto is fermented soy beans and is often eaten for breakfast in Japan. It is gooey and slimy, and also notoriously smelly, but it’s a nutritious and healthy food loved by a lot of Japanese people. Natto is almost always eaten over rice. It is extremely simple to prepare: you mix Natto with soy sauce or Mentsuyu and stir vigorously until forming sticky goo around the beans. Then pour it over hot rice. You can add toppings like chopped green onions and Japa...

These mammals can stay underwater for six minutes before surfacing. They sometimes breathe by "standing" on their tail with their heads above water. Dugongs spend much of their time alone or in pairs, though they are sometimes seen gathered in large herds of a hundred animals. Female dugongs have one calf after a yearlong pregnancy, and the mother helps her young reach the surface and take its first breath. A young dugong remains close to its mother for about 1...

Washigatake Ski resort scared the living daylights out of me. I was ready to call it quits - not for me. Rohan's work colleagues chose this resort knowing that we were not all that accustomed to this new sport of skiing. Ro decided to swop snow boarding for skiing, just so that we would both be in beginner land together, this time; not like the last. At the front counter, I bailed. Rohan's boss was so concerned, and of course the language barrier didn't help...