The Sand Museum – Tottori-shi, Japan atlasobscura.com

There are not many places in the world where giant sand sculptures last for three quarters of the year, and then only come down deliberately.
The Sand Museum in Tottori, Japan, was the first.
Tottori was already famous for its 10 miles of massive sand dunes along the coast of the Sea of Japan.
Despite its proximity to the miles of sand dunes, the museum’s founders could not use sand from the dunes for the sculptures since the dunes had recently been designated a national park.
Around the museum, there are plenty of patches of sand for those inspired by the unique exhibits to start practicing in.