Natural beauty of Japan

Japan's natural scenery is truly miscellaneous. The country is blessed with both mountains and seashores, and the climate varies richly from rest to place and with each passing season. Living amidst such natural beauty, the Japanese have since ancient times had a great reverence for forces that transcend human power. The beauty of nature and the wonder it inspires are expressed in Japanese writing and picture. Japan's rich culture can be said to have its roots in the country's abundant natural scenery. Although Japan has sacrificed some of its natural setting to modernization, the country is making every effort to preserve what remains for future generations.
OLDER Singaporeans would remember the long-running Japanese television drama series Oshin, which was exposed here in 1984. It told the story of a girl from a poor family in Japan who overcame the adversities and obstacles of her self-effacing rural beginnings in the Yamagata prefecture, and went on to achieve success and fame.
The NHK production, which has been shown in 59 countries, was shot on location in beautiful spots in Japan such as the Ginzan Onsen (Ginzan Hot Spring) area and the Oshin Museum in Yamagata.
These, plus the many other natural attractions elsewhere in Japan, should be very refreshing and interesting for those who long for more than the bustle of cities and the lure of shopping malls - something which Singapore has a lot of.
Yamagata, on the main island of Honshu, is Japan's largest producer of cherries and pears. It is the true fruit basket of the country as a lot of other fruits such as watermelons, apples, grapes and persimmons also abound.
August is summertime in Japan and this is when the days are bright and fruits ripen. Just the ideal time to visit spots in Yamagata, such as Yamadera, where one can view an ancient holy place, Konponchudo, built on the mountainside, or the Okama Crater Lake, formed more than 380 years ago, after a volcanic flare-up. The individual feature of this body of opal-blue water, 300m in diameter, is its colours which change several times a day, depending on the weather. That's why the Japanese also call it the Goshiki-numa or Five Colour Swamp.
After this, head for the Ginzan Onsen, where the early episode of Oshin were shot. Enjoy the sight of the steamy Ginzan-gawa (Ginzan River) and the four-storey inns made of wood, which line both sides of the river.
While here, a visit to the Oshin Museum is a must since in the 1980s, the museum building was used as the house where Oshin and her relatives lived.
By now, the visitor would have begun to be thankful for the monuments of ancient Japan and its breathtaking natural beauty. So the Shigoma Shrine, with a history of 1,200 years, is a must-see. In it resides the god of long life, a deity you might want to please with a visit.
The Matsushima Bay area in the Miyagi state is so beautiful that it would be a sin not to visit it. This spot, with its 260 pine-clad islets, has been hailed as one of Japan's three most scenic areas. The best way to see it is to take a boat cruise and meander slowly through this huge cluster of islets.
Since most Singaporeans who visit Japan land in Tokyo, try visiting the Asakusa Kannon Temple. This temple has a 1,300-year history and houses the god of wind and the god of thunder.
Drive through the city by bus or taxi. If you are on a group tour, your direct will give you an interesting run in this metropolis.
Go to Ginza, Tokyo's high-end shopping area for a stroll and make a stop at the Ueno Flea Market, a bustling place that sells bric-a-brac and local food. If you are in Tokyo in spring, you ought to go to Ueno Park to view the sakura or cherry blossoms.
In summer, there are also brilliant fireworks displays all over Japan. The Japanese call them hanabi taikai.
Seasonal colours are a feature of Japanese life and you should go back home appreciating the many hues of nature even more.
Japanese beauties have been using the coffee outer layer of the rice kernel, known as the rice bran, for centuries to achieve their legendary flawless complexions. Why? Rice bran is rich in oil, makes an effective exfoliant and contains phytic acid, a B-complex vitamin that can help improve blood passage and stimulate cell turnover when used topically. The highest compliment a Japanese women can ever be paid is to be called a nuka bijin, which literally means a rice bran beauty. Used for many centuries - rice bran or nuka is an age old secret of the East for maintaining beautiful skin. It is used in many ways - to cleanse, exfoliate, revitalize, prevent wrinkles, make the skin level and blemish free.
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Hakone National Park offers many picturesque views, but carrying around the park is a complicated system of multiple modes of transportation. The Hakone Sightseeing Loop Tour is the easiest way to hit the major sights within a day, but it can easily become confusing to plan your journey. This review may help!

Famous and beautiful 

Buy the Hakone Free Pass, for its convenience and price. Most trains to Hakone from Tokyo require a transfer in Odawara, so you can pick up the Hakone Free Pass at the JR office there. The Free Pass is valid for 3 days, and covers train journey from Odawara to Hakone (not covered by typical JR passes), as well as all Hakone-area transportation.

Start early in the morning with the "Hakone Tozan Bus". This is a blue bus, and it will take you all the way to Moto-Hakone (about 30-40 minutes from central Hakone). You can catch this bus at the Hakone Yumoto Station, though there was also a bus stop two blocks from my ryokan. These buses run only all 1 hour or so.

Moto-Hakone is a quaint little town with ramen shops and canoe rentals along the banks of Lake Ashi. While some dining options exist at the other stops along the Hakone Sightseeing Tour, the choices are limited until you return to Hakone Yumoto proper. If you're hungry at Moto-Hakone, eat there!

The bus will drop you off at the pirate cruise dock at Moto-Hakone. From there, take one of the pirate ship cruises across Lake Ashi to Togendai. The pirate boats are preposterous, but they make the journey in an easy 15-20 minutes. Be on the lookout for the Hakone Shinto Shrine, identified by the balanced torii in Lake Ashi.

Natural beauty of Japan

At Togendai, hop onto the Hakone Ropeway, which will travel uphill, stop at Owakudani, then travel downhill. During the uphill travel portion, look behind you for a view of Mt. Fuji (on a clear day). You can also view Mt. Fuji from the Owakudani stop. Owakudani, the sulfur vents, are an unusual find between all the greenery you'll see en route to it!

After the following leg of the Hakone Ropeway, you'll be in Sounzan, where you catch the Hakone Tozan Cablecar to Gora. From Gora, take the Hakone Tozan Train back to Hakone Yumoto. The Hakone Tozan Train makes a combine of strange switchbacks, which you'll think are taking you the wrong way.

This is the easiest way to see the Hakone National Park area, and it is definitely worth the time and cost. Because this loop tour will take the better part of the day, an overnight stay in Hakone is recommended. The main shopping area of Hakone, immediately surrounding the Hakone Yumoto train station, is bustling and full of many reminder and tourist shops. Hakone is well-known for its Yosegi Zaiku woodcraft and manju, so it's an interesting place to browse the shops. You'll find numerous ryokan and guest houses in Hakone.
The word “Chanoyu” means Japanese Tea Ceremony. The Chanoyu Natural Beauty & Spa is a traditional Japanese tea service room inspired Day Spa located on Smith Street, Collingwood just in the region of 3kms from the Melbourne's CBD. A perfect place to escape from the everyday for a true sense of entertainment and wellbeing…
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The people of Japan have incorporated natural ingredients into their skin care routines for generations.  With a rich supply of sea vegetables, grains, and tea products at their disposal, these nutritional ingredients have become staples in both diets and personal care routines in Japan.  This quick overview of Japanese ingredients showcases the building blocks of Japanese skin and hair care.  Japanese ingredients can be used to make batches of traditional recipes, or they can be fused with other types of ingredients to create new and unique formulations.

 Beauty of Japan

Wakayama Prefecture is located on the west side of the Kii Peninsula, the largest peninsula in Japan. It is a place of great scenic beauty and is delimited by mountains and ocean. Most of the prefecture is taken up by mountainous areas, and it has been called the “land of trees” since ancient times. Wakayama’s climate is comparatively warm and pleasant, with striking differences between each season, all of which have their own unique charm. Cherry blossoms burst into full bloom in the spring, summer is the time to enjoy a resort atmosphere at the oceans and rivers, and in the autumn you can view brilliantly colored foliage. Snow falls and piles up in the mountains at Koyasan and other locations during the winter, creating a truly mystical display. The coastline stretches for about 600 kilometers (or 372 miles) in the southwestern part of the prefecture, where you can enjoy unique scenery such as the Hashigui Rocks in Kushimoto, a row of 40 large and small unusually shaped rocks. Warm climate of Wakayama is suited to a griculture (mainly fruit), and scenery with ume (an apricot like fruit) flowers in the region of February is especially evocative of Wakayama

This mysterious, natural work of art, featuring a straight line of large and small unusually shaped rocks which stretches for around 850 meters, appears to be the stakes of a bridge. The fantastic scenery colored by the sunrise is specially popular as a photo-taking spot. One legend says that the monk Kobo Daishi attempted to build a bridge here.
Doro Valley is designated as one of Japan’s special natural monuments of scenic beauty. This ravine, located on the headwaters of the Kitayama River, is also called “Dorohaccho” and is beloved as a traveler attraction with great natural beauty. Visitors can enjoy scenery of cliffs and unusually shaped rocks on speedboat cruises throughout the ravine.
Japan is a land of great natural beauty. Mountains and hills cover about 70 percent of the country. In fact, the Japanese islands consist of the rugged upper part of a great mountain range that rises from the floor of the North Pacific Ocean, jagged peaks, rocky gorges, and thundering mountain waterfalls provide some of the country s most amazing scenery. Thick forests thrive un the mountainsides, adding to the scenic beauty of the Japanese islands.
Numerous short, swift rivers cross Japan's rugged surface. Most of the rivers are too shallow and steep to be navigated. However, their waters are used to irrigate farmland, and their rapids and falls supply power for hydroelectric plants. Many lakes nestle among the Japanese mountains. Some of them lie in the craters of extinct volcanoes. A large number of hot springs gush from the
ground throughout the country.

Natural beauty of Japan

ncient Japanese elevated this fascination with nature into what was later called Shinto, the Way of the Gods. This belief system that imbued every mountain, every stream, and even impressive trees with a spirit. These deities, known as kami, were considered cheerful and friendly to humans. If kept satisfied, they would watch over being affairs and refrain from causing natural disasters.
But the kami also would not hesitate to unleash their wrath if humans violated their cardinal rule of physical and spiritual cleanliness. To appease the kami, worshipers avoided defiling holy places by undergoing thorough ritual purification before passing beneath the torii, the gate leading into the sacred precinct of a Shinto shrine. Clean humans meant happy kami, and happy kami meant a peaceful realm.
Although its origins are obscure, Shinto helped forge national and political unity by emphasizing Japan's divine beginnings through myths and legends. For example, the Shinto creation myth tells of a pair of deities called Izanagi and Izanami who created the islands of Japan when droplets of water dripped down from Izanagi's spear. After the couple descended from the heavens to live on the islands, they had numerous divine offspring, including the sun goddess Amaterasu, the most important deity in Shinto.
Later generations of Japanese emperors claimed their divinity — and therefore their true to rule — by tracing their imperial lineage back to Amaterasu herself. As a direct descendent of the sun goddess, the ruler became a Living God who was to be worshiped along with his all-illuminating celestial ancestor.