Imagine walking through an ancient forest so untouched by time that even the soil seems to rise and fall beneath your feet—as if the Earth itself were breathing. Welcome to Shirakami-Sanchi, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in northern Japan, home to one of the last remaining virgin beech forests in East Asia... and possibly the most subtly mystical landscape in the entire country.

As the sun sets on November 2nd in the quiet borough of San Andrés Mixquic, the local cemetery begins to glow. Hundreds of candles flicker to life. Marigold petals form glowing pathways. The air is thick with the scent of copal incense and tamales. But this is no ordinary cemetery visit — this is a sleepover with the dead.