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The online magazine HIGHLIGHTING JAPAN

JANUARY 2024

JAPAN'S IMPRESSIVE SNOWY LANDSCAPES

The cover of this month

INDEX

  • Japan is one of the snowiest countries in the world, with many scenic spots where visitors can view beautiful winter landscapes. This issue of Highlighting Japan introduces readers to the special qualities of Japanese snow from a scientific perspective and invites them to explore the country's snowy scenery in various ways, by admiring impressive snowy landscapes, art with snowy scenery themes, and literary masterpieces set in snow country.

FEATURES

  • Interview with Professor Emeritus Furukawa Yoshinori of Hokkaido University

  • Shiretoko, Hokkaido was registered as a World Natural Heritage site in 2005. Here we introduce the snowy landscape of drift ice seen in Shiretoko's coastal area.

  • Explore the Zao mountain range, is situated on the border of Miyagi and Yamagata prefectures, and its snowy landscapes of ice- and snow-covered trees (called juhyo)

  • Introduction to the snowy winter atmosphere in the district of ryokan (traditional Japanese inns) along the banks of the Ginzan River in Obanazawa City, Yamagata Prefecture

  • Introduction to the work of photographer Kameyama Takeshi, including his internationally admired snowy landscape photograph, Tadami Line in Winter

  • Introduction to three Nihonga style paintings depicting snowy landscapes by Higashiyama Kaii: Toshikuru ("End of the Year"), Shunsetsu ("Snow in Spring"), and Fuyu no Tabi ("Winter Journey")

  • Introduction to the places where visitors can immerse themselves in the world of Yukiguni ("Snow Country"), the masterpiece novel by Nobel laureate author Kawabata Yasunari

  • Introduction to the picturesque snowy views of the Japanese Garden at the Adachi Museum of Art, known for its beauty in all four seasons and voted the best Japanese garden in Japan for 20 consecutive years by a U.S. magazine about Japanese gardens.

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