Photography & Digital ArtDEC 23, 2021

I Traveled To The Ancient Shiratani Unsuikyo Forest In Japan And Here Are 15 Pictures That I Took There

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I captured Shiratani Unsuikyo in Yakushima, Japan. Yakushima is a subtropical island off the southern coast of Kyushu and part of Kagoshima Prefecture. It is covered by an extensive cedar forest that contains some of Japan's oldest living trees. Trees that are more than 1000 years old are affectionately called yakusugi (a combination of Yakushima and sugi, the Japanese word for cedar), the most ancient of which may be over 7000 years old.

The island's cedar forests were logged extensively in the past, particularly during the Edo Period for the production of cedar shingles. Today the forests have well recovered from past logging and are a national park, while some areas were declared a Natural World Heritage Site in 1993. Most tourists come to the island to hike through the forests and see the ancient cedar trees.

Shiratani Unsuikyo is the motif of "Princess Mononoke". Princess Mononoke is a 1997 Japanese epic historical fantasy anime film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, produced by Studio Ghibli.

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#1

I Traveled To The Ancient Shiratani Unsuikyo Forest In Japan And Here Are 15 Pictures That I Took There

76points

I am a Japanese professional landscape photographer whose clients include Apple, Google and SONY, and won the first prize in the international photo contest IPA 2016. I am expanding my activities both in Japan and overseas. I have held a solo exhibition at Sony Imaging Gallery Ginza, Tokyo in 2019 and have over 30K followers on Twitter and Instagram.

I started photography as a hobby when I was 18, and have been working as a freelance photographer since I was 24. I take landscape photos in Japan and abroad.

#2

55points

#3

51points

The forests of Yakushima are a very special place among the forests of Japan. The primordial forest, purified by pure water from long ago, is still alive today. The greenery of the forests of Yakushima has a healing power that cannot be found in any other forest. This is a tourist destination in Japan that I hope people from overseas will visit.

#4

51points

#5

50points

Photography was not my first "love". Originally, I had a strong yearning for painting. I used to draw as a hobby. I'm not a very good painter, but I still paint from time to time. Additionally, when I was in college, I played the drums. My photographic sensibility is also very much influenced by music.

#6

45points

#7

36points

The forests of Yakushima are very beautiful, but the place that impressed me the most is probably the Finnish Lapland region, which I visited in winter. I was fascinated by the gradation of natural colors created by the clear air. I have posted about it on Bored Panda before. You can check it out here.

I still want to go to Iceland and the Lofoten Islands in Norway. Maybe that's gonna be my next destination!

#8

Pass the famous moss forest and climb up to this large rock at an elevation over 1000 m for the most popular view of Yakushima's interior. Whether you are met with a panorama of the interior mountains or a sea of fog.

35points

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34points

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33points

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32points

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28points

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24points

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22points

#15

18points

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