21 SURREAL Strange Places To See In Japan
FROM Mysterious Deep Sea Locations; to Giant Statues and Temples; These are 21 SURREAL Strange Places To See in Japan !
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8. Mount Koya
The first to settle on Mount Koya was a monk in the year 819. Over time, it became the headquarters for the Koyasan Shingon sect of Japanese Buddhism. On the mountain, you’ll find a plethora of notable locations, including the Okunoin mausoleum, as seen here, and the Kongobu-ji--a major Koyason Shingon temple. Mount Koya has a long and deeply spiritual history as well as a lot of picturesque views. Many people love coming here during the winter when the whole settlement gets covered in snow.
7. Ueno Park
In the Ueno district of Tokyo, we find Ueno Park, an enormously popular public park in the country’s capital city where some of the best sights for cherry blossom trees can be marveled at. The park takes in over 10 million visitors every year. Established back in 1873, the park now features nearly 9,000 trees, such as at least 3 types of cherry trees. Major museums located at the park also help bring in the many visitors it does, like the Tokyo National Museum and the National Museum of Nature and Science. Not only does it attract humans, but a myriad of birds take to Ueno Park for their wintering ground.
6. Itsukushima Shrine
A most magical sight awaits anyone who comes across the Shinto Shrine’s floating gates along the the island of Itsukushima’s coast. The actual Itsukushima Shrine has been destroyed many times over the years, with a history that started in the 6th century. The shrine of the modern day was first designed and built in 1168. The gate on the bay is a favorite landmark, which only looks like it gloats on the water during high tide. You’ll have to wait until low tide to be able to walk to it without getting wet.
5. The Yonaguni Monument
The sear near the coast of Yonaguni already rose to prominence as a favorite diving spot well before the discovery of the Yonaguni Monument. The mysterious geometrical landmark was discovered by the director of the area’s tourism association as he was trying to find a nice place to just watch hammerhead sharks swim by. The discovery was made in 1987 and since then, the pyramid-like structure has baffled historians as to how it got there. A collection of stone structures have been found here, with no one knowing where they came from.
4. Aoiike
In one season, the Blue Pond or Aoiike in Hokkaido might look more blue in the next season. And it also depends on the wind. Sometimes, the pond may look like a flat mirror against the sky--while at other times, it may flow this iridescent blue. This man-made pond is located in Biei and was created so that the nearby town could be protected from harmful volcanic mudflow. It gets so blue sometimes that it almost doesn’t even look real. To explain why it gets so vibrant, speculation says that the blue comes from the colloidal aluminum hydroxide. Once, the pond even turned brown from a drop in the water, mixing it with more sand and mud.
3. The Hakkoda Mountains
More volcanoes. Just south of the city of Aomori sit the volcanic mountain range known as the Hakkoda Mountains that dates back to the Pleistocene era. The highest peak, Mount Odake, takes about four or so hours to climb. But one of the best things to see here can be experienced during the winters when the trees get submerged in snow, making strange standing shapes along the mountainside that look like figures rising from the mountains, bending and life-like. You can also find high altitude wetlands such as Tamo, Kenashi, and Suiren Lake.
2. Fushimi Inari Shrine
Within this head shrine dedicated to the god Inari is also associated with 32,000 other sub shrines scattered across the country. The Fushimi Inari Taisha, located in the Fushimi Ward in Kyoto, was built at the base of thea mountain. Its earliest structures date back to the 8th century, ThIn the mythology, foxes, or kitsune, are considered messengers, and a handful of fox sculptures can be seen all over Fushimi Inari. During the Japanese new year, millions of people arrive to worship at this shrine.
1.Hitachi Seaside Park
While most people come here for the baby blue eyes flower field that bloom on Miharashi Hill throughout the year, one of the oddest yet beautiful things you can also see include a field of Bassia scoparia that turns a bright magenta during the autumn season and only get redder as the climate gets colder. The Hitachi Seaside Park, in Hitachinaka, requires you to enter through the Hitachinaka Nature Forest before you get to the flowered hills.
Fukui Pref. Press Tour: The host of 2010 Japan APEC Energy Ministerial Meeting
4-5 March, 2010 【Fukui Pref. Press Tour: The host of 2010 Japan APEC Energy Ministerial Meeting】
This June, Fukui Prefecture will be hosting the 2010 Japan APEC Energy Ministerial Meeting, which the energy ministers from 21 countries and regions, mainly from Asia Pacific, will be gathering to discuss global warming issues and energy conservation measures. In order to cover the prefectural approach to centralization of energy R&D/human resources in Asia, 14 journalists from the U.K., Taiwan, Germany, Vietnam, Korea, China, Bangladesh, France, Italy, and the UAE took part in the press tour.
The participating journalists visited the prefectural energy R&D hub, Wakasa Wan Energy Research Center, and Monju, the prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR), which is now set for restart after a gap of 15 years. They also heard from Governor Issei Nishikawa about the Energy R&D Centralization Plan as well as the prefectural industry, food and other items.
On the second day, the group of journalists learned about Japanese candles by visiting the historical Japanese candle maker, Kodaikokuya, which started business in the center of Fukui City in 1865. Mr. Ryuichiro Otsu, the executive director and seventh generation of Kodaikokuya, explained his attempts to make new-style Japanese candles while preserving the identity of tradition, and he gave the journalists a guided factory tour. At the Ichijodani Asakura Clan Ruins, which are the ruins of the castle town of the 16th century, the journalists heard about the excavation research which started in 1967 and its history. The journalists also enjoyed the local traditional dishes called Asakura Zen which was served by the group of local housewives who are trying to preserve the traditional recipe.
At the end of the tour they made quick visits to Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum, the leading-edge of dinosaur research in East Asia, and Maruoka Castle, which is famous as the oldest standing castle in Japan.
*Fukui Prefecture, the host, and the Foreign Press Center, Japan co-organized this press tour.