Journeys in Japan - Hokkaido - Summer gardens under the northern sky [1080p]
Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost main island, turns into a paradise of flowers in spring and summer. After the harsh winter, plant life erupts in all its brilliant glory. It's a wonderful place to discover gardens.
The 250-kilometer highway from Asahikawa to Obihiro passes close to eight notable gardens. That is why it has come to be called the Hokkaido Garden Path. Each garden has its own individual character, setting, and vegetation.
Anthony Wood is a photographer from the United States who has lived in Japan for 10 years. His home state, Minnesota, has vast and abundant nature, much like Hokkaido. At the beginning of this trip, Anthony focuses his camera mostly on the beautiful flowers in full bloom. But as his journey continues and he meets the people behind the gardens, he trains his lens more on them.
On this edition of Journeys in Japan, Anthony embarks on a road trip through the far north of Japan, in search of beauty.
Ueno Farm Ueno Farm People come from all over Japan to visit this garden created by Sayuki Ueno, one of the most popular gardeners in the country.
16-186 Nagayama-cho, Asahikawa-shi, Hokkaido
Tel: +81-(0) 166-47-8741 (English OK)
Tokachi Millennium Forest Tokachi Millennium Forest This dynamic garden was created by British designer Dan Pearson, who found inspiration in the surrounding mountains and hills. The section known as the Earth Garden was carefully calculated to fit the undulations of the surrounding hills.
Jussen, Ha-obi Minami, Shimizu-cho, Hokkaido
Tel: +81-(0) 156-63-3000 (English OK)
Tokachi Hills Tokachi Hills The theme of this garden is food. The main plants here and the beans of Tokachi, alongside vegetables, cereal crops, fruit, herbs, and edible flowers. Besides being beautiful to look at, it also boasts a delicious restaurant. Hungarian chef Victor Moldován prepares dishes using fresh ingredients that he picks each day from the garden.
13-5 Nisshin Aza, Makubetsu-cho, Nakagawa-gun, Hokkaido
Tel: +81-(0) 155-56-1111 (in Japanese only)
Shichiku Garden Shichiku Garden The owner of this garden, Akiyo Shichiku, devoted herself to this project after her husband died. Her aim was to create a scenery of fields full of wild flowers, just like she remembers from when she was a child. After more than 20 years of constant effort, the result is this beautiful garden.
107 Yonsen Nishi, Biei-cho, Obihiro-shi
Tel: +81-(0) 155-60-2377 (in Japanese only)
Lake Shikaribetsu This is highest-altitude lake in Hokkaido. Visitors can take part in a range of outdoor activities, including canoeing.
(Nature Center) Shikaribetsu-kohan, Shikaoi-cho, Kato-gun, Hokkaido
Tel: +81-(0) 156-69-8181 (in Japanese only)
Daisetsu Mori-no Garden
This garden, produced by Sayuki Ueno (of Ueno Garden), has been created by using many different flowers that embody Hokkaido.
841-8 Kikusui, Kawakami-cho, Kawakami-gun, Hokkaido
Tel: +81-(0) 1658-2-4655 (in Japanese only)
Rokka-no Mori Rokka-no Mori This landscape-type garden was opened by a long established Hokkaido-based confectionery maker, Rokkatei. The aim was to create a scenery inspired by the designs of wild flowers and plants on the wrapping paper that the company has used since the old days.
249-6 Nishi-Sansen, Tokiwa, Nakasatsunai-mura, Kasai-gun, Hokkaido
Tel: +81-(0) 120-012-666 (in Japanese only)
Manabe Garden Manabe Garden This is the first garden in Japan in which the main attraction is the trees. Visitors can enjoy discovering the many different shapes and colors of their leaves.
6 Nisen, Inada-Higashi, Obihiro-shi, Hokkaido
Tel: +81-(0) 155-48-2120 (in Japanese only)
Kaze-no Garden Kaze-no Garden This garden became famous in Japan after being used as the setting for a television drama. It was also produced by Sayuki Ueno.
Shin-Furano Prince Hotel, Nakagoryo, Furano-shi, Hokkaido
Tel: +81-(0) 167-22-1111 (English OK)
Nansei Islands subtropical evergreen forests | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
00:02:14 1 Island subgrouping
00:05:13 2 Names and extents
00:05:38 2.1 Nansei Islands
00:06:53 2.2 Ryukyu
00:08:34 2.2.1 Historical usage
00:10:05 2.3 Okinawa
00:11:29 2.4 Southern Islands
00:11:58 3 History
00:12:07 3.1 The Eastern Islands of Liuqiu
00:13:26 3.2 Ancient Japan's Southern Islands
00:18:01 3.3 Kikaigashima and Iōgashima
00:21:32 3.4 Shimazu Estate and Kamakura shogunate's expansion
00:24:22 3.5 Tanegashima under the Tanegashima clan
00:25:50 3.6 Amami and Tokara Islands
00:26:54 3.7 Okinawa Islands
00:30:34 3.7.1 Historical description of the iLoo-Choo/i islands
00:31:46 4 Population
00:31:55 4.1 Ryukyuan native people
00:33:24 4.2 Religion
00:34:13 5 Ecology
00:34:21 5.1 Yakushima
00:34:56 5.2 Amami, Okinawa, Miyako, and Yaeyama
00:37:14 6 See also
Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
Learning by listening is a great way to:
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- reduce eye strain
Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.
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Speaking Rate: 0.9664458632079789
Voice name: en-AU-Wavenet-B
I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
=======
The Ryukyu Islands (琉球諸島, Ryūkyū-shotō), also known as the Nansei Islands (南西諸島, Nansei-shotō, lit. Southwest Islands) or the Ryukyu Arc (琉球弧, Ryūkyū-ko), are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yonaguni the westernmost. The larger are mostly high islands and the smaller mostly coral. The largest is Okinawa Island.
The climate of the islands ranges from humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa) in the north to tropical rainforest climate (Köppen climate classification Af) in the south. Precipitation is very high, and is affected by the rainy season and typhoons. Except the outlying Daitō Islands, the island chain has two major geologic boundaries, the Tokara Strait between the Tokara and Amami Islands, and the Kerama Gap between the Okinawa and Miyako Islands. The islands beyond the Tokara Strait are characterized by their coral reefs.
The Ōsumi and Tokara Islands, the northernmost of the islands, fall under the cultural sphere of the Kyushu region of Japan; the people are ethnically Japanese and speak a variation of the Kagoshima dialect of Japanese. The Amami, Okinawa, Miyako, and Yaeyama Islands have a native population collectively called the Ryukyuan people, named for the former Ryukyu Kingdom that ruled them. The varied Ryukyuan languages are traditionally spoken on these islands, and the major islands have their own distinct languages. In modern times, the Japanese language is the primary language of the islands, with the Okinawan Japanese dialect prevalently spoken. The outlying Daitō Islands were uninhabited until the Meiji period, when their development was started mainly by people from the Izu Islands south of Tokyo, with the people there speaking the Hachijō language.
Administratively, the islands are divided into Kagoshima Prefecture (specifically the islands administered by Kagoshima District, Kumage Subprefecture/District, and Ōshima Subprefecture/District) in the north and Okinawa Prefecture in the south, with the divide between the Amami and Okinawa Islands, with the Daitō Islands part of Okinawa Prefecture. The northern (Kagoshima) islands are collectively called the Satsunan Islands, while the southern part of the chain (Okinawa Prefecture) are called the Ryukyu Islands in Chinese.
Okinawa | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
00:00:48 1 History
00:03:24 1.1 1945–1965
00:05:29 1.2 1965–1972 (Vietnam War)
00:08:22 1.3 1973–2006
00:10:08 1.4 2007–present
00:13:23 1.4.1 Marine Corps Air Station Futenma relocation, 2006–present
00:16:05 1.4.2 Helipads construction in Takae (Yanbaru forest)
00:16:32 2 Geography
00:16:40 2.1 Major islands
00:17:37 2.2 Cities
00:17:51 2.3 Towns and villages
00:18:03 2.4 Town mergers
00:18:11 2.5 Natural parks
00:18:41 2.6 Fauna
00:19:22 2.7 Flora
00:19:40 2.8 Geology
00:20:04 2.9 Climate
00:20:55 3 Demography
00:21:03 4 Language and culture
00:21:21 4.1 Language
00:22:19 4.2 Religion
00:22:40 4.3 Cultural influences
00:23:36 4.4 Other cultural characteristics
00:25:54 4.5 Karate
00:26:28 4.6 Architecture
00:27:30 5 Education
00:28:33 6 Sports
00:29:16 7 Transportation
00:29:24 7.1 Air transportation
00:30:01 7.2 Highways
00:30:38 7.3 Rail
00:30:49 7.4 Ports
00:31:11 8 Economy
00:32:47 9 Military
00:32:55 9.1 United States military installations
00:33:54 10 Notable people
00:36:05 11 See also
00:36:23 12 Footnotes
Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain
Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.
Listen on Google Assistant through Extra Audio:
Other Wikipedia audio articles at:
Upload your own Wikipedia articles through:
Speaking Rate: 0.8750903818171809
Voice name: en-AU-Wavenet-D
I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
=======
Okinawa Prefecture (Japanese: 沖縄県, Hepburn: Okinawa-ken, Okinawan: ウチナー Uchinaa) is the southernmost prefecture of Japan. It encompasses two thirds of the Ryukyu Islands in a chain over 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) long. The Ryukyu Islands extend southwest from Kagoshima Prefecture in Kyushu (the southwesternmost of Japan's four main islands) to Taiwan. Naha, Okinawa's capital, is located in the southern part of Okinawa Island.Although Okinawa Prefecture comprises just 0.6 percent of Japan's total land mass, about 75 percent of all United States military personnel stationed in Japan are assigned to installations in the prefecture. Currently about 26,000 U.S. troops are based in the prefecture.