On the rugged coast of Nova Scotia, waves crash, gulls cry, and fog rolls in thick off the Atlantic. It’s easy to imagine that nothing has changed here in centuries—and at the Fortress of Louisbourg, it truly hasn’t.

When you think of Japan, your mind probably races to neon-lit cities, cherry blossoms, ancient shrines, or sushi masterpieces. But what if we told you Japan also has a desert? And not just any desert—a place where mirages shimmer across golden dunes like something out of Arabian Nights?