...Nature in Yakushima

Monkeys and deers. Deers on the island of Yakushima are quite rare but when i was there, there seemed to be loads and they were quite happy with the tourists taking photos of them and getting quite close. The monkeys cause a lot of problems on the island with eating vegetation and breaking fences. They are trying to be controlled with the use of electric fences in certain areas, but the fences aren't very high so it looks like the monkeys can just jump from tree to tree and easily clear the fences. The deers and monkeys seem to co-exist happily with each other.

...Diving in Yakushima

Diving anywhere in the world is great (so i'm told!) but having only dived in England and now Japan, abroad seems to win by a long way! The visibility is amzaing and the colours of the fish and the coral are unbelievable, you see them in photos but to see them up close is a completely different experience. I even saw Nemo and lots of baby Nemo's (Clown Anemonefish).
The dive school was http://www.hailan-diving.jp/

...Yakushima

Shritani Unsuikyo Forest this is one of the most beautiful forests i've ever been to, every tree and rock piece of ground that is touched by sunlight frequently is covered in moss. There are so many different shades of green and the light breaking through small gaps left by the trees make this forest almost magical.




The other 2 people in the picture are some more travellers i met on the island. The girl (Katie) is a student from Australia, and the boy (Shoichi) is also a student studying Japan.

...Miyajima

Miyajima is the owner to one of Japan's most photographed views, the O-torii Gate (sometimes known as the floating gate) which is part of the Itsukushima Shrine. At low tide its possible to walk out to the gate.

These views are taken from the second highest peak at 430metres above sea level, at the Shishiiwa Station

...Hiroshima

The Peace Memorial Park


Shukkeien Gardens, this was a small and very beautiful garden in the middle of the city. It would have made a nice retreat for office workers during their lunch breaks or after work, but as there is an entrance fee i doubt it gets used for that purpose.

...Aomori

Suspension bridge and Aspam Building and a nearby water feature next to the harbour,

...Morioka

The stone splitting cherry tree!!

...Akan National Park, Hokkaido

The weather had changed by the time i arrived in Akan, but the beauty in the landscape is still there.
Lake Mushu

Mt Iou (Sulpher Mountain)

An elderly lady was boiling eggs on some of the steam outlets and then selling them.


Lake Kusharo

...Tokyo Fish Market

After a couple of lazy days wandering around Tokyo we headed to the Fish Market, we both over-slept and therefore missed the busy period early in the morning.

...Mt Fuji

Mt Fuji, Japans largest mountain it stands 3,776 m (12,388 ft) high!! For some strange unknown reason me and Tatjana decided to climb it?! the climb started at 8pm in the dark. We climbed until about midnight which took us to the 7th (out of 10) station. Here we stayed in a hut which was very over-priced and the facilities were non-existent!!
We woke at 430 ish to watch the sun-rise, see the photos below. They explain themselves!


After watching the sun rise for about 30-40mins it was back to bed until about 9, then set off again for the summit at about 930 and eventually reached the top at about 130!



The stick that i'm holding i bought on the mountain and at each station on the way up to the top i had it stamped, and also stamped at the top!

...Mt Fuji

After some photos at the top and well earned rest, we headed down the mountain!


Above is the path we used to get from the top all the way down, and below is the same path looking up the mountain. The dust you can see is from people coming down the path.

...Naoshima

Naoshima is a small island located in the Seto Inland Sea. The island was beautiful and the main attractions to the island is the Chichu Art Museum and Benesse House, both designed by Tadao Ando.
The Chichu Musuem didn't allow any photos to be taken in the gallery, on show was work from James Turrell, Walter De Maria, Claude Monet and the gallery itself designed by Tadao Ando. To see images of the work click here.
The photos don't do the work any justice being there and experiencing the work was amazing. My favourite pieces were by James Turrell "Open Sky" and Walter De Maria "Time/Timeless/No Time".
Benesse House i didn't like as much as the works shown in the Chichu Art Museum. Again no photos were allowed to be taken to see the art work click here.
My favourite piece here was similar the "Open Sky" by James Turrell, this one was called "The Secret of the Sky" by Kan Yasuda. The two pieces were similar because the sky played at big part of the work and sitting/lying looking and listening to the outside world which was very peaceful and relaxing.
The island was littered in art work, which i was allowed to take photos off, below are some of the art works around the island, for a full list click here.