From Jaipur to Jodhpur, India's northerly Rajasthan region is famous for its ancient forts, opulent palaces and gleaming marble monuments.

Forget Hawaii, California and Bali. India could be the next big thing in the surfing world.

At Fusahiro Shimojima's workshop, in the industrial city of Saitama, fires rage in small pits and an earthen floor absorbs the din of hammering. The 44-year-old Japanese swordsmith pounds the nascent blade of his newest creation, sending molten sparks flying majestically into air.

Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" is one of the world's most reproduced and reinterpreted paintings -- but no one has done it quite like Japanese artist Keita Sagaki.

Their almond-shaped eyes stare blankly into space. The ambivalent corners of their mouths leave their moods utterly indiscernible.