2 3

Introduction 4

Regional map 5

Hokkaidō 6

Tōhoku 36

Kantō 68

Chūbu 110

Kansai 138

Chūgoku 174

Shikoku 204

Kyūshū & Okinawa 228

Photo captions 258

Index 269

Acknowledgements 272

Beautiful World Japan

ContentsHokkaidō 7

Chūgoku 174

Chūbu 110

Kyūshū & Okinawa 228 Kansai 138

Tōhoku 36

Shikoku 204

Kantō 68

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4Beautiful World Japan

JapanJapan cuts a swathe through latitudes and climates, with snow-covered mountains in the north and tropical island beaches in the south. Its landscapes have been shaped by boiling rock, water, and irresistible tectonic forces from the Pacific Rim of Fire. Volcanoes and hot springs pepper the land, which periodically shudders and shakes.

Japan also sweeps through time, fusing tradition and futurism like few other nations. Its unique culture has been shaped by millennia of influences that can be discerned wherever you look, from Zen rock gardens and Shinto shrines to Kyoto’s geisha dances. It is an island that has been unusually closed-off for centuries and they do things differently here.

As a result, the country has always mesmerised, if not even bewildered, visitors. Japan super-fan Anthony Bourdain once said ‘I think all of us understand that we don’t understand anything about Japan.’

This book of photography aims to depict the most beautiful aspects of Japan’s natural world and its most fascinating traditions and innovations. We witness how sakura, the annual wave of cherry blossom, inspires crowds to follow its progress across Japan, we meet macaque monkeys soaking in hot springs and watch chefs prepare intricate edible marvels. Cranes dance as trains speed across extraordinary bridges. Neon metropolises with crowded crosswalks contrast with silent groves of giant bamboo and still lakes.

We’ve organised the book by region from Hokkaidō to the islands of Okinawa. Whether you’ve explored Japan before or hope to visit it for the first time, a pictorial journey through this country will fascinate and inspire.

H O K K A I D O

T O H O K U

K A N T O

C H U B U

K A N S A I

C H U G O K U

S H I K O K U

K Y U S H U

O K I N A W A

Kushiro-shitsugenNational Park

Akan National Park

Shikotsu-ToyaNational Park

Mt HakkodaOirase Gorge

Towada-Hachimantai National Park

Naruko Gorge

Mt Zao

Lake Inawashiro

Matsushima Bay

Okinawa-jimaKume-jima

Mount Fuji

Kumano-gawa

Iriomote-jima Ishigaki-jima

Tokashiki-jima

Taketomi-jima

Yakushima

Iya Valley

Hakodate

Niseko

BieiSounkyoKamikawa

Aomori

Akita

Yamagata

Hiraizumi

FukushimaKita Shiobara

ChibaNarita

Naha

Beppu

Izumo

Chiran

Hirado

Naruto

Yasugi

Nagato

Himeji

Tottori

Nagasaki

WakayamaTakamatsuTokushima

ToyamaNagano

HakubaKanazawa

TakayamaYamanashi

MatsumotoShirakawa-go

Mie

Sapporo

SendaiNiigata

Yokohama

Tokyo

Kochi

OsakaKyoto

Fukuoka

Okayama

Kumamoto

Hiroshima

Kitakyushu

S E A O F J A PA N

E A S TC H I N A

S E A

PA C I F I C O C E A N

S E A O FO K H O T S K

114 115Chūbu Chūbu

Gokoyama › The region is known for its gasshō-zukuri thatched-roof farmhouses

124 125Chūbu Chūbu

Shirakawa-gō › Sheltering from the snow under a farmhouse’s thatched roofYamanashi › Mt Fuji looms above Lake Shojiko

126Chūbu

Yamanashi › Japan’s most-famous natural wonder, Mt Fuji, in all its majesty

129 Chūbu

Nagano › Autumnal scenes around Kagami-Ike (‘mirror pond’)

257 Kyūshū & Okinawa

Kumamoto › The landscape of Minami Aso takes in the world’s third-largest volcanic caldera

270 271 Indexindex

Fukuoka 231, 234–235Hirado 228–229Iriomote-jima 248Ishigaki-jima 246–247, 249Kitakyūshū 252–253Kumamoto 230, 256–257Miyazaki 237Nagasaki 244–245Naha 233Okinawa 240–241Taketomi-jima 254–255Tokashiki-jima 250–251Yakushima 232

Llakes & rivers 14–15, 41, 44, 45,

48–49, 50–51, 55, 56–57, 76–77, 78–79, 112–113, 122–123, 124, 128–131, 139, 148–149, 160–161, 167, 174–175, 182–185, 206–207, 222–223, 237

Mmountains & volcanoes 10–13,

28–31, 40, 46–47, 55, 110–111, 112–113, 124, 126–127, 132, 194–195, 256–257

Nnational parks 11–13, 24–25, 28–31,

44nightlife 90–91, 98–99, 104,

152–153, 154–155, 164–165, 234

Ppeople 36, 52, 58, 88–89, 100–104,

125, 133, 144–145, 146–147, 150, 163, 169, 172–173, 216–217, 231, 234–235, 242–243, 246–247

Rrice terraces 62–63, 138, 201

SShikoku 204–227Ehime 214–215Iya Valley 206–209, 222–223Kōchi 226–227Kotohira 218–219Naoshima 212–213Naruto 210–211Shōdo-shima 220–221Takamatsu 224–225Tokushima 205, 216–217

shrines & temples 64–65, 66–67, 71, 72, 105–107, 109, 118–119, 142–145, 148–149, 150–151, 166, 168, 169, 188–193, 198–200, 233, 242–243

TTōhoku 36–67Akita 38–39Aomori 36–37, 40, 46–47, 50–51Fukushima 41, 48–49, 56–57Iwate 53Matsuo-kyo 42–43

Matsushima 59Miyagi 45, 55Niigata 62–63Sado Island 58, 60–61Sendai 54Towada-Hachimantai National

Park 44Yamadera 64–65Yamagata 52, 66–67

Vvillages 38–39, 52, 114–115, 125

Wwildlife 8–9, 24–27, 42–43, 130–131,

136–137, 204

Bbridges 48–49, 70, 92–93, 96–97,

116–117, 122–123, 174–175, 182–185, 208–209, 210–211, 218–219, 222–223

Ccastles & palaces 74–75, 140–141,

171, 196–197, 226–227cherry blossom 53, 76–77, 78–79,

80–81, 170, 171–173, 204–205Chūbu 110–137Fukushima 112–113Gokoyama 114–115Hakuba 110–111Kanazawa 122–123Matsumoto 118–119Mt Fuji 124, 126–127, 132Nagano 128–131Shirakawa-gō 125Takayama 116–117, 121, 134–135Toyama 136–137Yamanashi 124, 126–127, 132Yudanaka 133

Chugoku 174–203Ehime 182–183Hiroshima 177–180, 182–185,

196–197Iwakuni 174–175Izumo 198–200Miyajima 188–191Nagato 192–193Okayama 180–181

Shōdo-shima 201Tottori 186–187, 194–195Yasugi 202–203

cities 18, 20–23, 32–33, 34–35, 71, 72, 82–85, 86–87, 88–97, 98–99, 103–107, 109, 116–117, 118–119, 121, 122–123, 134–135, 136–137, 140–141, 143–151, 152–153, 154–157, 160–165, 170, 171–173, 177–180, 180–181, 196–197, 202–203, 216–217, 224–225, 226–227

coastal Japan 58–61, 68–69, 92–93, 97–98, 136–137, 186–187, 188–191, 200, 210–211, 212–213, 214–215, 220–221, 228–229, 240–241, 249, 250–251, 254–255

Ffestivals 18–19, 54, 102, 108,

122–123, 139, 216–217, 246–247food & drink 36–37, 88–89, 98–99,

100–101, 104–105, 120, 121, 154–157, 234–235

Ggardens 17, 72–73, 134–135,

140–141, 148–149, 180–181, 202–203, 224–225, 238–239, 252–253

HHokkaidō 7–35

Akan National Park 30–31Daisetsuzan National Park 11–13Hakodate 32–33Kamikawa 7, 14–15, 16–17Kushiro-shitsugen National Park

24–25Niseko 10Sapporo 18, 20–23, 34–35Shikotsu-Tōya National Park 28–29

KKansai 138–173Himeji 171Hongū 169Kyoto 140–151, 154, 156–161, 167,

170, 172–173Mie 138Nachi 166, 168Osaka 152–153, 155, 162, 164–165Wakayama 139

Kantō 68–109Chiba 68–69, 100–101Kanagawa 70, 108Narita 72Satte 80–81Tokyo 71, 73–79, 82–85, 88–97,

103–107, 109Yamato 102Yokohama 86–87, 98–99

Kyūshū & Okinawa 228–257Beppu 236Chiran 238–239Dazaifu 242–243

Index