Introducing popular sightseeing spots in Kanagawa Prefecture! Azumayama Park A scenic park famous for its early-blooming rape blossoms Azumayama Park in Ninomiya Town offers sweeping views of Mt. Fuji and Sagami Bay. From January through February, about 60,000 early-blooming rape blossoms come into full bloom, covering the slopes near the summit in a yellow carpet. It’s a short 20-minute hike to the summit. There are several routes, but first-timers should try the Yakubaguchi Course, the closest route from Ninomiya Station. The shaded paths feel pleasant, and you can picnic on the grassy summit plaza while enjoying a peaceful atmosphere. The park’s famous 102-meter-long slide is a hit with children! In late March it becomes a spectacular coaster running through a tunnel of fully bloomed cherry trees. The park also offers seasonal displays of azaleas, hydrangeas, cosmos, and other blooms. Basic Information Address: Ninomiya, Naka District, Ninomiya Town, Kanagawa Prefecture Phone: 0463-72-3611 Access: About a 5-minute walk from the North Exit of JR Ninomiya Station

This is the Minami-Alps City Tourism Association. We will share lots of appealing information about Minami-Alps City, Yamanashi Prefecture, through Cool Japan Video. ◇What is Minami-Alps City, Yamanashi Prefecture?◇ Minami-Alps City covers about 5.9 percent of Yamanashi Prefecture and has a population of around 70,000. Located in the western part of Yamanashi, the city sits embraced by the majestic Southern Alps. In 2003, six towns and villages—Hatta Village, Shiranecho, Ashiyasu Village, Wakakusa-cho, Kushigata Town, and Kosei Town—merged to form Minami-Alps City. In 2014, the entire city was designated the Minami-Alps UNESCO Eco Park. The Southern Alps surrounding Minami-Alps City span Nagano, Yamanashi, and Shizuoka prefectures and form Japan’s largest mountain range. It includes 3,000-meter peaks loved by climbers, such as MtKitadake, Senjogetake, Houou Sanzan, and Kai-komagatake. ◇Tourist attractions in Minami-Alps City◇ ・Ecopa Inagako Located on the slopes of MtKushigata, Ecopa Inagako offers nature classes, the Forest Science Museum, camping and BBQ facilities, and other hands-on experiences. It is a popular spot for families to enjoy time in nature. ・Yukyari no Sato Juen Yukyari no Sato Juen is a multi-purpose facility that features 100% natural hot spring baths, accommodations, barbecue areas, and tennis courts. It also serves as a base for mountain climbing. ・Roadside Station Shirane Farm Products Direct Sales Market Renovated in April 2023, the spacious market offers a relaxed shopping experience. Visitors can buy fresh local fruits, vegetables, and specialty products, making it a popular destination for people from inside and outside the prefecture. ・Yashagami Pass This pass at the southern end of the Houou Sanzan offers sweeping views of the Southern Alps. You can reach the pass in about an hour, making it suitable for family hikes. ◇Local specialties and gourmet foods of Minami-Alps City◇ Minami-Alps City is known for abundant fruit production, including cherries, plums, peaches, grapes, persimmons, kiwifruit, and Shine Muscat grapes. When these fruits are in season, you can enjoy fruit picking at orchards across the city. Cherry picking and Shine Muscat harvest experiences are especially popular with families and couples. These fruits are also popular choices for hometown tax return gifts. ◇Rich nature and hot springs in Minami-Alps City◇ The city offers seasonal natural beauty and plentiful hot spring resources. You will find many hot spring facilities, from day-use baths to hotels and ryokan, catering to a wide range of needs. Please take time to refresh your body and mind in the hot springs. Minami-Alps City, Yamanashi Prefecture, is filled with rich nature and delicious local products that create lasting memories for visitors. We look forward to welcoming you to Minami-Alps City. Stay tuned to Cool Japan Video for recommended information about Minami-Alps City!

Himenosawa Park Himenosawa Park, a famed flower spot in Atami, overflows with seasonal blooms all year round. It is a natural park where you can also enjoy a full-fledged adventure playground. About 600 species of plants grow within the park. In an environment that feels like a botanical garden, flowering trees such as azaleas and a variety of wildflowers burst into bloom. (The photo shows azaleas that bloom from late April to early May.) About a 90-minute trek from Himenosawa Park will take you to Jukkoku Pass, allowing you to fully enjoy nature on the way. Please enjoy the moving floral scenes to your heart’s content, where flowers welcome you whenever you visit. Address / 1164 Himenosawa, Izu-san, Atami City, Shizuoka 413-0002 Telephone / 0557-83-5301 (Himenosawa Park Management Office) Access / From JR atami station, take a bus bound for the Motohakone area for about 30 minutes and get off at Himenosawa Park Admission / Free Parking / Free (Sazanka Parking: 46 passenger cars, 3 buses) and others

Jukkokutoge (Jukkoku Pass) Jukkoku Pass is said to have gotten its name because, long ago, you could see ten provinces—Izu, Sagami, Suruga, Tōtōmi, Kai, Awa, Kazusa, Shimōsa, Musashi, Shinano—and five islands (Ōshima, Niijima, Kozushima, Miyakejima, Toshima). From the summit of Mt. Hikaneyama, you can look north to Mt. Fuji, west to Suruga Bay, and east to Sagami Bay. Over the years many artists have tried to capture this panorama with a brush, but tradition says the scale and beauty defeated them. A cable car runs to and from the summit. You can also reach it by trekking from Himenosawa Park in about an hour and a half, enjoying the natural surroundings. In spring azaleas bloom in profusion, summer brings a pleasant cool breeze, autumn waves fields of silver grass, and winter welcomes you with the warm sunshine of the highlands. ※The “Sky Dog Run” reopened on November 11, 2023! Address / 1400-20 Kuwahara, Kannami, Tagata District, Shizuoka Prefecture 419-0101 Phone / 0557-81-6895 (Jukkokutoge Cable Car) Access / From JR atami station, take the bus bound for the Motohakone area for about 40 minutes and get off at “Jukkokutoge Noboriguchi.” Hours / Cable car 9:00–17:00 (runs every 15 minutes; one-way trip about 3 minutes) Open year-round. Temporary closures may occur for maintenance, weather, or public circumstances. Fares / Round-trip cable car: adults (junior high school and older) 730 yen; children 370 yen ※Dogs are allowed (leash required; 300 yen round trip per dog) Parking / 320 spaces; 22 large-vehicle spaces (free)

The bottle is a sunset scene from the top of the forest Ehime Prefecture. The silhouette on the right side of the photo is a shrine at the top of the mountain. On the front of the shrine is written "Ishidoyama Daigongen Women's Path", and inside the shrine is Ishido Kongo Zao Daigongen. The mountain you can see in front of you is Mt. Ishizuchi, the highest peak in Shikoku. In the majestic nature, the mind is cleansed and you feel reverent. It is an ancient mountain worship and the original scenery of Japan that we want to preserve for the future.

Ninomiya Town 20th Azumayama Rapeseed Flower Watching At the summit of Azumayama, 60,000 early-blooming rapeseed flowers reach their peak from late December. From the panoramic view you can see the Tanzawa and Hakone mountains, Sagami Bay, the Izu Peninsula, and—on clear days—the beautiful, snow-capped Mt. Fuji unfolding right before you. Please come and enjoy this memorable scene of yellow, pale blue, and white in the New Year season. During the event period we offer a stamp rally and receipt rally, station-to-trail hikes, and weekend sales of local products and other events. It’s a 5-minute walk from Ninomiya Station to the trailhead, and a 20-minute walk from the trailhead to the summit! You can enjoy an easy hike♪ We look forward to your visit. Event Period: Saturday, January 13, 2024 to Sunday, February 18, 2024 Location: Azumayama Park Opening Hours: 8:30 AM–5:00 PM Organizer: Ninomiya Town Tourism Association Co-organizer: Ninomiya Town Supporters: Kanagawa Prefecture; Kanagawa Prefecture Tourism Association (Public Corporation) Contact: Ninomiya Town Tourism Association 0463-73-1208 9:00 AM–5:00 PM

I was very satisfied to see the Hatanagi Suspension Bridge, which is about a 40-minute walk from the Hatanagi Dam in Shizuoka Prefecture, and the spectacular view of the autumn leaves as shown in the photo.

Ushimado Shrine in Ushimado, Okayama Prefecture At the entrance, the coast spreads out, It was beautiful and mysterious with a long staircase to reach the shrine, and there was 😌 a green tunnel and a torii gate on the way

A primeval beech forest in Oyama in Tottori Prefecture. Every year in late October, the autumn leaves begin and it is very beautiful.

It is a large mountain in Tottori Prefecture, with an altitude of 1729 m. The autumn leaves spreading under the wild south wall are beautiful. The view from Kagikake Pass on the Hiruyama Daisen Skyline is wonderful.

Katsuoji Temple / Minoh Katsuoji Temple, which is famous for its "Victory Daruma", was even more crowded with tourists as the autumn foliage season began. This is one of the photos I took at Katsuoji. This is the most confident photo I took on my first outing in a long time! By the way, Katsuoji Temple is crowded with tourists around noon, so considering the cold, I think it's just right to arrive around 2 o'clock in the afternoon!

This is one of the large and small mountains in Ashikaga City, where the weather is good and the best climbing days were taken! It was late October, so the leaves were ✨ about to turn After all, I realized that Japan is rich in nature!

Expo Commemorative Park / Osaka In the large flower field, various flowers were in full bloom, from the kochia and cosmos in this photo to the slightly rare red buckwheat flowers! It was very beautiful, and in addition to the flower garden, you can also enjoy soft serve ice cream and coffee in the beautiful and vast square! Why don't you visit 😌 now during the holiday season? Admission: 260 yen for adults, 80 yen for elementary and junior high school students

Last weekend of October I was wondering where to go, so I went to Kamikochi. This view was waiting for me when I arrived at 5 am by express bus on Friday night. Unfortunately, we couldn't see the sunrise, but in the fantastic fog, the Hotaka mountain range gave us a glimpse of our faces.

The carpet of the gods of Mount Kurikoma It was said that it was not good this year, but not at all It was so beautiful that I was impressed, and I enjoyed it for 6 hours until I climbed up and down. There are several climbing routes, but the one that is easier from the Miyagi Prefecture side is the central route. The other Higashikurikoma route will be muddy, so be careful.

This photo was taken in November at Mt. Eboshi in the Central Alps. When I looked up, the leaves were dyed colorfully and it was stunning. I love autumn when you can put various colors in one frame with just the leaves.

It is Mt. Eboshidake in the Central Alps in November. It is a satoyama that can be easily climbed, but the autumn leaves are splendid. The leaves were dyed autumn colors all over the place, so it was difficult to cut out the frame, but I am satisfied that I was able to finish the photo with a symmetry that makes use of the straight lines of the trees. I would be happy if I could beautifully capture the shapes created by nature!

Autumn leaves from the mine road, which is a mountain trail to Mt. Sekikuradake in the Northern Alps. The autumn leaves of the Northern Alps are famous, but I personally think that Mt. Yukikura is more beautiful in color! The autumn leaves that glow in the backlight are my favorite natural color.

Autumn leaves from the mine road, which is a mountain trail to Mt. Sekikuradake in the Northern Alps. The autumn leaves of the Northern Alps are famous, but I personally think that Mt. Yukikura is more beautiful in color! The diagonal shadows were lovely.

This is a photo from near the summit of Mt. Asahi in the Northern Alps in autumn. The plants and trees were colored by the morning sun, and a fantastic scenery could be seen. When you butterfly flower it, the scenery changes all at once!

This is the morning sun seen from the summit of Mt. Asahi in the Northern Alps in autumn. The color of the nature under my feet illuminated by the morning sun was wonderful. Autumn plants go well with the morning sun and sunset.

It is a view of Yuhigaoka located just off the Asahidake hut in the Northern Alps. Since it is a place where people rarely come, you can see this superb view by charter. I was impressed by the scenery with an overseas feeling.

It was when I climbed Mt. Asahi in the Northern Alps. When I looked at the map after arriving at the tent site, there was a place with a nice name called Yuhigaoka, so I stretched my legs. It was a wonderful sight that could not be defeated by the name.

I took this photo in Mt. Tsubame in early autumn. The round ball water droplets were cute and I took a close-up picture. I also like the fact that only one leaf is red. The color is Fujifilm's ClassicNega.

It was when I climbed Umbrella Mountain in the Central Alps of Nagano Prefecture in November. I was gassing until the last minute, but suddenly the sun came out and showed me a fantastic scene.

Hello to everyone watching Cool Japan Video! This is the Iwanai Tourism Association. We bring you travel and event information about Iwanai-cho, Hokkaido, facing the Sea of Japan. For our first post, we’ll introduce Iwanai-cho and its sightseeing spots! Iwanai-cho sits on Hokkaido’s west coast and is famous as the birthplace of asparagus. The town’s name is said to come from the Ainu words iwau meaning sulfur and nai meaning river. The population is 11,173 (as of the end of August, Reiwa 5). Because it faces the Sea of Japan, winters are severe, but it is relatively mild compared with other parts of Hokkaido. Average summer temperatures reach around 25°C, with highs near 32°C. Winter brings snowy scenery that is perfect for skiing and snowboarding. Iwanai-cho pumps up deep seawater from the Sea of Japan and uses it in local industry. At the Iwanai Deep Sea Water Facility (the local industry support center) in town, residents and visitors can purchase deep seawater. This mineral-rich deep seawater is also excellent for cooking. Iwanai-cho offers stunning natural surroundings and historical sites where you can enjoy a wonderful time. Here are some of Iwanai-cho’s most attractive sightseeing spots! Along the Doudou Iwanai Port Line, Roadside Station Iwanai and the product information center Taramaru-kan provide tourist information about Iwanai-cho. Please use them as a reference for sightseeing. Local specialties such as tarako and kazunoko, plus taramaru goods, are also on sale. Kikoin Temple lets you experience Japanese culture and is the oldest temple in Iwanai-cho. Its wooden Buddha, entirely covered in gold leaf and standing 6.8 meters high, is designated Iwanai Town Tangible Cultural Property No. 1 and is truly impressive. Kikoin is about a 10-minute walk from Roadside Station Iwanai. Maruyama Observatory, at the foot of Mount Iwanai, is a recognized Japan Nightscape Heritage site and a must-see attraction. It’s beautiful by day, and the sunset and night views are especially recommended. You get a panoramic view over Iwanai-cho and the Kaitan Peninsula. Iwanai also hosts the Kida Kinjiro Museum of Art, dedicated to Nihonga painter Kinjiro Kida, who spent his life here. Enjoy Kida’s works arranged by period. The museum also stages exhibitions by other artists and concerts. Outdoor fans can enjoy hiking, camping, and many nature-rich spots. ■ Camping / Iwanai Auto Campsite Marine View This campsite features a vast lawn and offers cottages, RV sites, car sites, and free tent sites to suit different needs. The center house has showers, a shop, laundry, a library, and a meeting room. ■ Hiking / Mount Iwanai and Mt. Raiden Mount Iwanai, which continues from Iwanai Auto Campsite, rises to 1,086 m and is the Niseko range’s easternmost peak on the Sea of Japan side. Iwanai Onsen and nearby ski areas make good rest and recreation spots. Next to it stands Mt. Raiden at 1,211 m. In spring, alpine plants color the slopes, offering a delightful trail experience surrounded by nature. ■ Rental cycles / Kikoin Temple Exploring Iwanai-cho’s scenic spots by bicycle is recommended. Kikoin offers free rental bicycles. The rental desk is at the temple office, so please visit if you wish to borrow one. Iwanai-cho has a wide range of comfortable accommodations to meet travelers’ needs. Choose from hotels, guesthouses, or campsites to suit your trip to Iwanai. Various events and festivals are held in Iwanai-cho. The summer Iwanai Doto Festival fireworks display lights up Iwanai Port with 5,000 shells reflecting on the water for a spectacular show. Stage events and food trucks add to the gourmet offerings. (Contents from the August 2023 event) Finally, here is information on hometown tax donation gifts packed with Iwanai specialties. We offer a variety of local products as return gifts. Popular gifts include salted kazunoko, a special roast chicken, and the Kurashima Milk cheese and butter set! Tarako and nishin-meshi are also highly recommended. This time we shared part of the charm of Iwanai-cho, Hokkaido! Please visit Iwanai-cho and enjoy a special time. We look forward to your continued support!

Komadome water fall is considered Nasu's foremost waterfall. It is three meters wide and falls down around around twenty meters from a cliff on the Yosasa river. During autumn time it looks amazingly beautiful.

Tomakomai City's unexplored area "Shichijo Otaki" Shichijo Otaki is located in the national forest of the Maruyama district near the border between Tomakomai City and Chitose City, and is a spot where you can see a large waterfall 16m high and about 2.3m wide up close! Shichijo Otaki, with its deep green trees and majestic waterfall, is a spectacular view. In order to enter the national forest where Shichijo Otaki is located, you need an application for approval from the Eastern Iburi Forest Management Office, so please check with the Eastern Iburi Forest Management Office below for details. 【Eastern Iburi Forest Management Office】 Address: 3-4-1 Hinode-cho, Shiraoi-cho, Shiraoi-gun, Hokkaido TEL：0144-82-2161

From Takaosanguchi Station to the cable car boarding area, you will find TAKAO 599 MUSEUM. This facility displays insect specimens and taxidermy of creatures that live on Mt. Takao. Once every hour, a projection mapping show highlights what makes Mt. Takao special. A café on site lets you enjoy a good cup of coffee while gazing at nature. I once viewed the specimens with students from our school, and the students from Sri Lanka, who had never had the chance before, were deeply moved. Mt. Takao is home to many rare creatures. Studying in such a nature-rich setting is a valuable experience for students.

Students from our school are volunteering as guides on Mt. Takao. They mainly guide hikers from Europe and North America. If you see them, please feel free to say hello!