Photographed on January 1, 2014. This is a beckoning cat omikuji from Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine. 🐈 It looks like something good might happen.

This is the Year of the Horse omikuji from Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine. May it bring you blessings as well.🐴✨

Photographed on January 1, 2014. This is a photo spot at Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine.

This is the nighttime view of Kaiyukan Aquarium at Mount Tenpō in Osaka. The winter night breeze chilled the air and sharpened the scenery, making it feel just right.

This year marks the 60th Tomakomai Skating Festival. The highlight is shibare-yaki, a jingisukan grilled outdoors below freezing (the Hokkaido dialect word shibareru means "cold"). Grilled on a drum-can grill and enjoyed with beer, the seasoned jingisukan tastes exceptional. A huge ice slide is another favorite with children. Tomakomai’s signature winter event, the Tomakomai Skating Festival, takes place this year on Saturday, February 7 and Sunday, February 8, 2026.⛸ We hope you will join us!

Photographed on January 1, 2014. Around 6:00 a.m. at Kawagoe Kumano Shrine, this is the temizuya (water pavilion). The unusual atmosphere compared with usual is lovely.

Photographed on January 3, 2014. This is the New Year floral temizu basin at Kawagoe Hachimangu Shrine.

These sparrows were photographed near Asahi Station when I went to Nagano to photograph the Nagano Electric Railway. They played together in a flock on the fluffy snow, their soft bodies so charming that I nearly forgot the cold.

Woody Winter School - Now Accepting Participants - Combine wooden parts and try making a fire truck 🚒 This is a woodworking class hosted by the Forest Museum “Mokumu”. You may come to Komu, The Museum of the Forest, and work at your own pace over about one month. Estimated work time is about 15 hours. If you work about four hours a day, you can expect to finish in four days. Duration: Thursday, February 5th – Sunday, March 1st Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays each week 10:00–16:00 ※Lunch break is from 12:00 to 13:00 Location: Woodworking Room, Komu, The Museum of the Forest, Nishiokoppe Village Participation Fee: 10,000 yen Residents: 5,000 yen ※Accommodation and meals are not included How to Apply: Please contact us by Sunday, February 1st. Forest Museum “Mokumu” 📞 0158-87-2600 Capacity is limited to five groups, so please apply early. - Forest Museum “Mokumu” - SASAKI Craft Exhibition Now On! - Winter opening hours: 10:00–16:30 Last admission accepted until 16:10 Admission Fee: High school and older: 500 yen 4th grade elementary to junior high: 300 yen Ages 3 to 3rd grade elementary: 100 yen Under 3 years old: Free #Forest Museum Mokumu #Woodworking Class #Woody School #Participants Wanted #Wooden Toys #Woodworking

Photographed on January 3, 2014. This is the hanachozu (flower water basin) at Kawagoe Hachimangu Shrine. It looks festive and bright for the New Year.🎍✨

Reihoku Sunset Marche — January Announcement📣 Happy New Year🎊 Our first announcement of the year is the Reihoku Sunset Marche in January♪ 👀 Highlights of this Sunset Marche 👀 ❣ At the Reihoku Sunset Marche, where agricultural products, processed goods, and prepared foods from Reihoku are sold, freshly shipped bagged mikan (tangerines) will be available this time 🍊 Please enjoy these seasonal farm products❣ We look forward to seeing you 😊 Don’t forget to bring your own shopping bag🛍✨ Scheduled produce for sale: ・Aspara greens ・Cauliflower ・Turnips🫜 ・Pumpkin🎃 ・Cabbage ・Cucumbers🥒 ・Kale ・Rice🌾 ・Coral leaf feather ・Taro ・Sweet potatoes🍠 ・Potatoes🥔 ・Garland chrysanthemum (shungiku) ・Daikon radish ・Tomatoes (Aiko, cherry) ・Chinese cabbage ・Green peppers🫑 ・Broccoli🥦 ・Ponkan ・Mikan🍊 (bagged, boxed, bag-hung) ・Mizuna (Beni-hoshi variety) ・Lettuce (sunny, leaf) ・Welsh onion (single stalk) 🥦🍅🥕🍠🥬🧅🫑🌽🌶🫛🍆🫚🥔 Reihoku Sunset Marche Date: Sunday, January 11, 1:00 PM–3:00 PM Location: Amakusa Reihoku Tourist Association (Reihoku Town Local Products Center, 4535-1 Kamitsufukae, Reihoku)

Yesterday it dropped to minus 26 degrees, so the water vapor in the air froze on the tree branches, creating beautiful hoarfrost. Hokkaido, Sarabetsumura.

Otowa Bridge in Tsuruimura, Hokkaido It is a famous spot for photographing the red-crowned cranes.

Hoshino Resorts Tomamu’s Christmas Everyone was making snowmen and enjoying snowball fights.

Photographed on January 3, 2014. These are the hanachōzu (flower water basins) at Kawagoe Hachimangu Shrine.

A runway-like single road leading to MtJonen With its pyramidal shape, this beautiful peak is Azumino’s symbol!! A Northern Alps mountain that is unmistakable when viewed from Azumino

January 6th This morning in Azumino is clear and sharply cold Last night’s snowfall lightly dusted the countryside white The Northern Alps, lit by the morning sun, look magnificent!!

Photographed on December 29, 2025. This is the torii at Kawagoe Hachimangu Shrine dressed for New Year’s. 🎍

At a quiet temple in Kawagoe, piles of weathered Daruma rest in one place, their wishes fulfilled. Each New Year, people return their old Daruma here, a ritual of gratitude and release. In the frame, an elderly woman gently places hers atop the others, bowing slightly—an act she learned as a child. Once, her parents brought her; later, she brought her children. The Daruma come and go, but the tradition remains, passed patiently from old to young, year after year. Location: Kitain temple, Kawagoe, Saitama.

Happy New Year! This is the first sunrise of 2026 as seen from Bansei Onsen. May many people visit Taiki Town again this year!

Photographed on December 29, 2025. This is the New Year–style hanachōzu (flower water basin) at Naritasan Kawagoe Betsuin.🎍

Sun pillar and diamond dust at Kirigamine, Nagano Prefecture The 1/3 weather forecast predicted a temperature of −8°C and 80% humidity. Since snow had been forecast until 21:00 the night before, I thought it might appear and drove out. By the time I arrived at 21:00, the snow had already stopped, but a light dusting of powdery snow had settled. At 22:00 the car’s outside thermometer read −12°C, so I went to bed hoping the temperature would keep falling. I hiked 600 m along the snowy road from the parking lot to the shooting point just after 6:00 in the morning. The morning temperature was −12°C. Mount Fuji was clearly visible. There were clouds above Yatsugatake, but at 7:20 a sun pillar appeared above them. I silently wished for it to appear below as well, and from around 7:24 the diamond dust began to sparkle. The sun pillar lasted about 15 minutes, but the diamond dust continued to glitter afterward. I had visited several times last year without success, so I was delighted to see it this time.