Wandering Through Japan - Shiraito Nature Park

On my way to Shiraito No Taki, the first location for my physical letter subscribers, I noticed that there was a signpost announcing the existence of Shiraito Nature Park. Not being one to miss out on a chance to explore, after visiting the waterfall my wife and I started to follow the marked path further up the hill.

It was a surprisingly steep trail, considering the overall size of the hill, but thanks to the road surfacing there was no risk of slipping or falling. The terrain was reasonably typical, in my experience, of hills in Japan; some wildflowers and grasses line the sides of the path dispersed by the occasional group of cedar trees or bamboo. In this case, it was cedar, and while undoubtedly pleasant enough, it’s nothing, somewhat ironically, to write home about. That is until you turn around.

We were fortunate enough to have a photographer coming down the hill at the same time we were making the ascent, and I became curious as to why he was holding his camera up in the air; apparently taking photos of tall grasses and trees. As I looked around in an attempt to spot what had caught his attention we were rewarded with one of the most spectacular views of Mt Fuji that I have ever seen. With this being the end of autumn, we were able to see the mountain in its most iconic form - snow-peaked and bright in the sunshine. One of the beautiful juxtapositions of living here is seeing the mountain covered in snow, seemingly minutes away, while it is twenty degrees or higher where we stand.

After making numerous stops to appreciate the view, what likely should have been a five-minute walk turned into ten before we finally reached the park. I must confess to being a little disappointed at this point since it turns out that name is referring to it being a playground surrounded by nature, rather than something akin to a national park or wildlife area as I had imagined and hoped for. That said, it is certainly not without vegetation and is apparently being used to seed wildflowers, judging by the masses of tiny pink and white blooms around us. If you happen to be here with children, the park certainly seems to be popular and reasonably well equipped. They have even taken certain safety precautions here, for example, there is a fence around this one and a complete lack of ‘murder slide’ (see my letter from Gotenyama). Of course, with the view, it is an ideal place to come to let your children safely run around and have fun while you take in the scenery.

Since I am apparently too big for such a place, we continued along the path which forked off to the right for the playground and left around the top of the hill. This turned out to be an excellent choice, for after walking another five minutes or so we found a perfectly situated bench. I must applaud whoever decided to place it there, for it not only gives unrestricted views of Mt Fuji, but allows you to gently scan across the green slopes - mineral-rich and lush from ancient magma flows - leading the eye towards Fuji city and eventually even allowing for a peek of the Pacific Ocean in the distance.

Were we not starting to get a little hungry (it was drawing close to four-thirty by now) it would have been easy to let time pass us by as we watched over this gorgeous landscape, which unlike many of the view spots from the city, was unmarred by a spider web of power and phone lines. Sadly it was time for us to head back down the way we came, but I am confident we will return in spring to see what new colours await us then.

If you would like to see more of my travels through Japan, please do check out my website Wandering Through Japan. You can find a complete list of the digital letters, enjoy the additional photos taken from various spots across Japan and subscribe to receive a physical letter every month.