Sad sayonara to a Tokyo landmark

The classic Japanese entry to Tokyo's Hotel Okura has welcomed guests since it was built half a century ago.

Enclosed by a rustling bamboo forest, this tranquil path connects the Kamiyacho subway station to Tokyo's Hotel Okura.

Illuminated with soft lighting from gem-shaped lanterns (a Hotel Okura signature), the peaceful main lobby was designed to be the hotel's most relaxing spot.

In a corner of the lobby, shoji doors back lit with shadows of swaying bamboo resemble a Japanese ink painting brought to life.

Hotel Okura's guest rooms have housed many VIPs, including Princess Diana, Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and Barack Obama.

The Okura Shukokan Museum -- currently closed for renovations -- became Japan's first private art museum in 1917 but was destroyed in an earthquake in 1923. Located in front of the hotel's main building, it was restored by architect Chuta Ito and now houses three national treasures and 12 important cultural properties.

Okura Hotel's Bar Highlander whiskey lounge serves cocktails that have long fallen out of favor elsewhere in the world.

Hotel Okura's outdoor swimming pool was designed by sculptor Tsutomu Hiroi to be an oasis within the bustling city of Tokyo.

Hotel Okura's tea ceremony room is a model of simplicity and elegance.

Added in 1973, Hotel Okura's south wing will remain open during renovations. Its interior is meant to showcase the beauty of Japanese design -- the lobby features a flock of ceramic mosaic birds.

The design of the Kyokusui Japanese Garden is based on ancient traditions.

• Main building of Tokyo's Hotel Okura will be torn down to make way for a bigger hotel in advance of 2020 Olympics


• Built in 1962, Hotel Okura has remained largely untouched over more than five decades


• Monocle magazine recently started a petition to save the old Okura

(CNN) -- If you've never been to Tokyo's Hotel Okura, you're missing out on one of the true accommodation stars of Asia -- a beautiful time capsule of a hotel that glorifies the design and service of Japan in the 1960s.

It's one of my favorite places to stay in the world.

Next August, however, its main building is slated for tearing down to make way for a new, bigger hotel in advance of the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.

Okura's problem is also its main appeal -- it seems stuck in time.

Built in 1962, before Tokyo's last Olympics, the hotel is a masterpiece of Japanese aesthetics and modernist design that's remained largely untouched over more than five decades.

It's hard not to fall in love with the elegance of the main lobby, lit by hanging, hexagonal lanterns and furnished with chairs and tables that resemble plum blossoms.

Okura Hotel's Bar Highlander whiskey lounge.

The map with a Seiko clock -- displaying time zones in cities across the world -- still includes Leningrad as an option.

The Bar Highlander whiskey lounge serves cocktails that have long fallen out of favor elsewhere in the world.

Devoted staff look after customers with a level of devotion that's rapidly disappearing elsewhere.

After helping me buy tickets to a baseball game in Yokohama last year, I was given a packet of directions not just to the city or the stadium, but to my actual seat.

MORE: 11 extremely practical Japan travel tips

Not the time nor the place for progress

I even love all the things about the Okura that annoy my friends and colleagues.

Though the rooms have been renovated since the '60s, they feel cramped and outdated by modern standards.

Sending the most petite lady on staff to deliver 100 kilos of camera equipment to my room isn't a great display of hotel management.

And the room service menu is, I think, the most expensive in Asia. (For the money, that better be the best burger in the entire world.)

Somehow the origami turtle on my pillow seems to make up for all manner of faults.

On the whole, though, the Hotel Okura makes up for in character whatever it lacks in efficiency or modern amenities.

In Asia, a part of the world defined by an ethos of tear-it-down and build-it-back-bigger (and faster and more tech savvy), the Hotel Okura pays homage to best of the way things used to be.

The hotel says the new building will maintain the traditional Japanese aesthetic and the concept of the lobby, but it seems impossible that a new building will be everything the old one was.

The Okura Shukokan Museum -- currently closed for renovations -- is located in front of the hotel's main building.

I know there's a time and place for progress and renovation.

I just don't think it's this time or this place.

The folks at Monocle magazine have started a petition to save the old Okura.

I hope they succeed.

If they don't, I'll be booking a room next August to say goodbye.

Hotel Okura Tokyo , 2-10-4 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo; +81 (0)3 3582 0111; rooms from ¥23,500 ($230)

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Funtastic book benches hit London

The marmalade sandwich-loving bear from Darkest Peru is celebrated in this bench on the south bank of London's Thames river.

The "Alice in Wonderland" bench near London's City Hallby was designed by surreal cartoonist Ralph Steadman.

Another children's favorite. The "How to Train your Dragon" bench can also be found close to City Hall.

Romantically-confused diarist Bridget Jones features on this book bench in Paternoster Square, in London's City financial district.

There's no obvious London connection here, but "The Cat in the Hat" and other Dr Seuss creations are perennial favorites everywhere. This bench can be found by the river, near City Hall.

Rudyard Kipling's classic jungle-based tales are pictured on this bench positioned by a crossroads in Greenwich Park, the home of London's Royal Observatory.

Visitors should leave this bench tidy if they don't wish to incur the displeasure of London's favorite nanny, Mary Poppins. This one can be found by flying down to St. Paul's Cathedral.

Jane Austen's much-loved tale of marriage and manners, "Pride and Prejudice," gets the bench treatment in Queen Square, Bloomsbury.

H.G. Wells's sci-fi masterpiece "The Time Machine" is depicted on a bench located -- appropriately -- in Greenwich, close to the Prime Meridian which defines Universal Time.

• Fifty benches celebrating popular London-linked fiction have been scattered about London


• Paddington Bear, Sherlock Holmes and Mary Poppins among literary creations celebrated by the benches


• Seating trails will be in place until September after which the benches will be auctioned for charity

(CNN) -- As part of a scheme to encourage reading, 50 benches designed in the style of popular novels or kids' stories have been scattered around London.

Visitors to the city can find the book benches, which mainly celebrate London's rich literary heritage, by following a series of trails around areas with strong links to writing and writers.

Several prominent artists -- including Ralph Steadman, the surreal cartoonist and one-time sidekick of Hunter S. Thompson -- have been involved in creating benches that feature enduring characters such as Paddington Bear, Mary Poppins, Sherlock Holmes and James Bond.

The "Books about Town" trails, launched by two UK charities, the National Literacy Trust and Wild in Art, can be found in London's Bloomsbury, Greenwich, Riverside and City areas until mid-September 2014.

For those who can't get enough of literature-themed loungers, the benches will be auctioned off in October with proceeds going to help fight illiteracy.

MORE: Six ways to celebrate Shakespeare

10 secret beaches to discover

Zmudowski State Beach is harder to get to than some of the other beaches on Monterey Bay, but that means you'll have plenty of sandy California shoreline to yourself.

Wild horses are among the creatures you're likely to spot along the shore near Carova Beach in North Carolina's Outer Banks.

Kauai's Kauapea Beach is called "Secret Beach" by the locals.

When you're finished stalking the Big Five on safari, gaze out at this Indian Ocean view from Watamu Beach in Kenya.

For a lovely lakefront beach, try Good Harbor Bay at Michigan's Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

In Keewaydin Island, Florida, the food truck doesn't come with wheels. The island is only accessible by boat.

In St. Vincent and The Grenadines, Canouan island offers spectacular luxury.

Isla Holbox is home to miles of magnificent beaches and hulking, but harmless, whale sharks.

Sandy beaches are tucked among the steep cliffs of Oregon's Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor.

On a busy day, there could be about 30 other people on the undeveloped seven-mile beach in Little St. Simons, Georgia. But count it unlikely.

• Locals tend to keep secrets when it comes to the best stretches of shore


• Northwest of Monterey, Zmudowski State Beach is likely to be largely deserted


• Kauapea Beach in Kauai is actually called "Secret Beach" by the locals

(CNN) -- To all the locals who have been hoarding the following beaches, please forgive us.

But c'mon, how can you really sleep at night, knowing you're sending all those well-meaning tourists to the same old beaches with the same old towel-to-towel crowds, the same old overflowing trash cans and the same old high-rise hotels blocking the view?

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New Zealand's beach culture

Is it really fair that you keep these gifts from Mother Nature all to yourself?

So, yeah, the jig is up.

As for the rest of you, you can thank us later.

50 states, 50 spots: Natural wonders

Zmudowski State BeachMonterey County, California

This tongue-twister of a beach (the Z is silent) has miles of dreamy sand and knock-out views of both sides of Monterey Bay, but because getting there is complicated, you often get the place to yourself.

Slackers usually settle for its more accessible clones (Salinas River State Beach, Moss Landing State Beach and Marina State Beach also front Monterey Bay). What they don't realize is getting to Zmudowski is half the fun. It's about 20 miles northwest of Monterey, and the last two miles are along a narrow two-lane road.

Not only will you be humming a particular Beatles tune as you wind through endless strawberry fields, but you'll make a big dent in your bird-watching aspirations. California brown pelicans, red-tailed hawks, American kestrels and western snowy plovers are just a few species that hang out with the playful sea otters in the adjoining Pajaro River estuary.

During 2012 budget reductions, the state of California threatened to close this stretch of gorgeous land that was donated to the state by Watsonville schoolteacher Mary Zmudowski, but finally concluded its maintenance cost was next-to-nothing anyway. www.parks.ca.gov

29 beach photos that'll make you drool

Carova Beach Outer Banks, North Carolina

By law, visitors to this remote, 11-mile beach are required to stay at least 50 feet from the wild Spanish mustangs, but nobody bothered to tell the horses, who are curious about visitors who four-wheel drive in to this spit of land straddling the Atlantic and Currituck Sound.

With a delicious lack of paved roads, grocery stores, restaurants and hotels, Carova has little but wide, sand-packed beaches and a scattering of rental homes ranging from modest bungalows to million-dollar mansions with heated pools and hot tubs.

It's a perfect place to collect showpiece whelks, hike through preserved maritime woods or just set up a beach chair and chill. www.outerbanks.com

Kauapea BeachKauai, Hawaii

Ansel Adams would have felt right at home at this gorgeous beach on the north shore of Kauai.

With stark white sand and black lava cliffs, it's not only a study in contrast, but it takes effort to find and get to. Whatever you do, don't rely on Google maps, which has been known to send seekers astray.

If you do find the unmarked, unpaved path, just know that it's steep, requires a good 10 to 15 minutes to traverse and when it rains, it gets slippery and the red clay is likely to permanently stain your beach shoes. Locals tend to go barefoot.

But oh, is it worth it.

Located between Kalihiwai Bay and the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge, Kauapea Beach offers stellar views of Moku'ae'ae Island, Kilauea Lighthouse, a 15-foot waterfall and nude sunbathers who have taken up residence on the east end of the beach.

Locals nicknamed it "Secret Beach" and not surprisingly, there are no lifeguards or restrooms or beach umbrellas. Shade can be found toward the back of the beach near the 100-foot cliffs.

Turn makai (seaward) at Kalihiwai Road (1/2 mile north of the gas station) and turn right onto the first dirt road. The trailhead begins in the plum trees.

Watamu BeachKenya

There are five main reasons you've never heard of this wide, idyllic beach on the Indian Ocean: lions, elephants, rhinos, leopards and buffalo.

Most tourists associate Kenya with safari and the Big Five. But with some 330 miles of Indian Ocean coastline, that's a gross oversight.

Granted, it's a long flight just for a beach, but why not combine a week at a Maasai Mara safari camp with one of the most interesting spits of sand on the continent?

Watamu offers all the normal sandcastle building opportunities, but there are also other unique local attractions including Watamu Turtle Watch conservation programs and the 13th century Gede ruins. Excavations of the ruins of this ancient Swahili trading village have turned up beads from Venice, a Ming vase from China, lamps from India and scissors from Spain.

And, if you're still jonesing for animals, Gede ruins are home to a troop of friendly Skye monkeys, and the Watamu Marine National Park boasts some of East Africa's best coral.

The largest spitting cobra (Naja ashei) in the world was also discovered here in 2007.

Good Harbor BaySleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Michigan

This long stretch of sand has everything you could ever ask for in a beach: spectacular views, soft white sand, an aquamarine paint palette of Lake Michigan blue.

There's even a stream leading into the woods and a hiking trail. In fact, the only thing it really lacks is large populations of humans.

Michael Norton, a PR guy who let the cat out of the bag, says locals "who guard their secret beach rather fiercely" guiltily prefer to send tourists to the beaches at Empire and Grand Haven.

Once a bustling port with a sawmill, a hotel, a saloon and a 500-foot dock, Good Harbor Beach today has nothing but scenery, overlooking the Manitou Islands, Pyramid Point and Whaleback, a glacial moraine that looks exactly like it sounds.

The marked access road to Good Harbor is just off Leelanau County Road 651. You'll pass through the villages of Cedar and Maple City on the way. http://ift.tt/VTtj9F

Keewaydin BeachFlorida

When developers set their sights on this 1,000-acre barrier island off Naples, locals put up their dukes and an impressive fight to keep their beloved weekend getaway free from cars, bridges, roads and high-rises. After all, this seven-mile, baby powder beach is where they go to get away from tourists.

The result? There are a few private houses on the north end of the island, but there are no hotels or vacation rentals. That's what makes it special: You have to boat here to enjoy it.

The homes on the scrub-covered island are solar powered, sit on stilts and use water caught in rain barrels. When vice-president Joe Biden rang in the New Year at his brother's newly purchased home on Keewaydin, he and wife Jill, like everybody else, came by boat.

Pristine and populated with deer, eagles, boars, the occasional panther, sea turtle hatchlings and iguanas, Keewaydin is part of the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.

On weekends, a food boat docks on the south end to dish up icy drinks and freshly caught seafood.

Godahl BeachCanouan, The Grenadines

Unless you're a 2009 Sports Illustrated swimsuit model or in Bill Gates' income bracket, you've probably never heard of exclusive Canouan Island.

As the UK's Telegraph recently reported, this hook-shaped island is where billionaires go to get away from millionaires. Two-thirds of the island is owned by wealthy Irish financier Dermot Desmond, who invested $120 million to spiff up his about-to-debut Pink Sands Club.

The resort surrounds Godahl Beach, but the beaches on the other 600 acres of the island are just as beautiful and surprisingly welcoming to average Joes.

So, if you can get by without a Jim Fazio-designed golf course, water spa treatments that require canoes to get there and mirrors that, with the touch of a button, turn into a TV, you can enjoy the nondeveloped part of this green hilly island that exudes a laid back Carib vibe.

Isla HolboxYucatan Peninsula, Mexico

Only 100 miles from Cancun, this low-key island is a million miles away in temperament. There's nary a parasail boat or Jet Ski in sight at 26-mile-long Isla Holbox.

For that matter, you won't see any cars or banks or ATM's. Just mile after mile of beautiful beaches, fishermen and a few palapas. Oh yeah, and a school of whale sharks that hang out here between June and September.

The cool thing about these 30-plus foot monsters is they're harmless and, if you ask nicely, one of the island's 1,600 locals will take you out to swim with them. Without a cage.

At the very least, you'll want to nod at the flocks of pelicans and flamingos you'll pass on the ferry from Chiquila.

Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic CorridorOregon

Despite the lack of crowds on this string of beaches punctuating Oregon's rugged coastline, skinny dipping is probably out.

Even though it has been nicknamed Oregon's "banana belt" and many a daredevil has been known to swim under the majestic Arch Rock, let's just say it's far from balmy and anyone who doesn't want to resemble a Smurf should probably stick with Gore-Tex.

More than 27 miles of trails wind through 300-year-old Sitka spruces and seaside prairies in this park that was named for Oregon's first park superintendent.

Should you go, it'll likely just be you, the seals, the whales and Mother Nature showing off her finest work on more than a dozen stretches of spectacular beach. http://ift.tt/1qYr1nv

Little St. SimonsGeorgia

On a busy day, there could be 31 other peeps on this island's undeveloped 7-mile beach. But count it unlikely.

There's so much to do on this 10,000-acre barrier island that those interlopers, the other 31 sharing the upscale resort's grand total of 16 rooms, are apt to be busy drooling over the food at a clam bake or stalking the more than 280 species of birds on the 20 miles of wilderness trails.

Privately owned since 1760 when Swiss colonist Samuel Ougspourger bought it from King George II, Little St. Simons has been a rice plantation and, since 1908, the personal retreat of the Berolzheimer family. Today, it's owned by relatives of Philip Berolzheimer and Henry Paulson (yes, that Henry Paulson).

Everything's included in the rather steep price of The Lodge on Little St. Simons Island (starting at $450 a day) from full moon beach picnics and cocktail cruises to face time with the on-island naturalist. Ooh-la-la all the way. http://ift.tt/1kZeyHz

Stunning photos of the cosmos

Gokhan Saymaz is a part-time professional photographer. He created this dazzling image of star trails above Esentepe, in Cyprus. Saymaz used a long exposure technique, shooting 111 frames with a shutter speed of 30 seconds for each frame, before combining them using star trails software.

An avid astrophotographer, iReporter Carlos Soares took this photo near the Portuguese city of Braga. "This is widefield astrophotography with many targets, taken with a DSLR camera and a lens. We can see several constellations including Cygnus, the Lyra and the Eagle."

This breathtaking moonrise over the Sahara was taken by Slovenia-based photographer Iztok Medja, while in Morocco. In a former job as a nautical skipper, he would spend many night shifts gazing longingly at the sky. He says that it was while he was away from the light pollution of the city that his passion for night photography emerged.

Along with several other camera club members, iReporter Allan Qua Borebor made his way to one of the piers in Caramoan, in the Philippines, at around 11 p.m on June 30th. "The place was so quiet, so serene and so dark ... We were so lucky because a thousand stars showed up," Borebor recalls. "It was a perfect night together with friends."

Sarah Thornington is a Massachusetts-based iReporter who fell in love with the vast expanse above from a young age. On June 27, she picked up her camera and headed to the local drive-in. The night had all the conditions for a perfect shoot and Thornington watched as a couple of shooting stars (seen at the top of the image) blazed across the sky. She is already thinking about her summer stargazing bucket list -- to get "that beautiful shot of the Milky Way as it rises over the ocean."

Greg Hogan may only have been aiming his camera at the sky for the last six months but the astrophotography bug has bitten him pretty hard. "I bought a telescope for $25 at a yard sale and the first time I saw Saturn's rings, I was completely hooked," he says. "There's just so much out there that people don't realize that you can see without the equipment being expensive if you just slow down a minute and take a peek."

Jason Hullinger went to Joshua Tree National Park last December to catch the Geminid meteor shower. He set up his tripod to take 20-second exposures from about 11 p.m. Thursday to 3 a.m. Friday. He took about 500 photos and combined them with StarStaX, an image stacking and blending software for star trail photography.

Stephen Gill who loves "science, space and all things tech-y," captured this photo while vacationing in Grand Cayman with his wife on August 13 last year. "I've been out three nights in a row trying to capture a Perseid (meteor shower) since the conditions here are amazing, and finally got lucky," he said.

An enthusiastic stargazer, 39-year-old Lewis de Mesa wasn't going to miss an opportunity to snap the Camelopardalids meteor shower in May this year. Standing atop the highest peak in the United Arab Emirates, de Mesa snapped this impressive shot but wasn't thrilled by the result. "Not so much luck here in the United Arab Emirates," he said. "It wasn't that great ... Good thing I got some Milky Way goodness."

• iReporters have sent stunning photos of the night skies


• You don't need expensive equipment for impressive results


• Share your photos with CNN iReport and you could be featured on CNN

The Art of Movement is CNN's monthly show exploring the latest innovations in art, culture, science and technology.

(CNN) -- For thousands of years, man has looked to the stars in search of answers. Who are we? Why are we here? Are we alone?

The ethereal nature of the cosmos has brought inspiration to great thinkers throughout history -- Aristotle, Albert Einstein, Carl Sagan to name just a few. Through its profound beauty, the night sky has become a symbol of the possible.

Yet, too often, we get so caught up in the daily grind of work, family and friends that we fail to take a moment and appreciate the vast expanse overhead.

But not all of us.

Across the globe tonight, many will pack a duffel bag. In it: a camera, tripod, flashlights, telescope, perhaps a blanket and maybe some snacks before setting off in search of the perfect location for a late-night photo shoot.

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Among them could be Slovenia-based stargazing enthusiast and photographer, Iztok Medja. "The stars remind me that we are small and not so important as we think," he says. "But it's not the gear that makes the photo. You have to just love this stuff. And go outside and practice and learn. One day you will get something."

In Kathleen, Georgia, iReporter Greg Hogan tucks his kids in bed before grabbing his camera and stepping out into his front yard. A fairly new stargazer, he's only been snapping shots of space for the last six months but he's already besotted.

"I bought a telescope for $25 at a yard sale and the first time I saw Saturn's rings, I was completely hooked," he says. "There's just so much out there that people don't realize that you can see without the equipment being expensive, if you just slow down a minute and take a peek."

WATCH: Zero gravity training with NASA

The skies above us are a fascinating place with endless possibilities and iReporters across the globe are sharing their stories of snapping shooting stars, planets, galaxies, meteor showers and more. Explore the gallery above to view some of the best iReport astrophotography and find out the story behind these dazzling images.

Do you have a passion for astrophotography? Share your photos with iReport and you could be featured on CNN.com.

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