Google Street View gives you a tour of ancient Japanese caves.

Now you don’t need to be Indiana Jones or some lone adventurer to get a view of some really cool looking caves, tunnels and passage ways. Google’s Street View feature now lets you view a few Japanese caves, right on your computer, as reported by Mashable. The company’s photography crew took some brilliant shots of a few dug up caves in Japan and it’s available for public viewing. The first caves in Japan that can be checked out, include the Okubo-mabu mines, a few tunnels and passages and can be viewed here.(http://maps.google.co.jp/maps?ll=35.096439,132.447267&spn=0.006162,0.009538&sll=35.096772,132.446579&layer=c&cid=6986604069369491873&panoid=3Cr4FSwuqzgY8wkAW9jE9Q&cbp=13,17.47,,0,0&brcurrent=3,0x355a0f13e7f8a6d1:0x4bfdd53f11d35909,1&t=m&cbll=35.096991,132.44663&z=17)

The other ones, called the Akiyoshi-do limestone caves have some brilliant sightings as well and can be viewed here. Street View, at the moment is more pedestrian oriented, but with these images it looks like things are set to change. It’s important to note that this digital imaging will be of good help to researchers as well as scientists who can analyze the causes of natural disasters and their effects on these caves and passages. Natural disasters, such as tsunamis, earthquakes and cyclones can be studied better to gauge their effects and to understand what exactly causes damage to natural habitats and zones.

As you can see, Google Street View isn’t just about sticking to the street and giving you a close view of your surroundings. It can be taken to just about any place in the world that’s worth visiting. Now, how about visiting the tomb of Tutankhamun, or the beautiful city of Machu Picchu, or the Pyramids at Giza, or something that’s featured, so often in Windows XP wallpapers, Stonehenge? We’d love Google Street View to give us a close eye view of more beautiful places in the world.

On the downside, there’s a chance that it may make you even more of a couch potato, as all you’ll do is want to visit these places by a single click of your mouse. Either way, that’s more of a personal problem. As of now, Google Street View in new places is definitely something we’re looking out for. Where do you think should Google Street View go next?