By MOOK Scenic Spots Family, compiled and reported
Every winter, pure white snow blankets various regions of Japan, layer upon layer, sometimes accumulating to several meters thick. Majestic mountaintops, sprawling mountain ranges, and rooftops are all covered in thick snow, creating a pure white world that feels as if time has frozen, exuding a serene beauty.
The precious cultural heritage of Shirakawa-go’s gassho villages takes on a fairy-tale-like ambiance when illuminated at night in the winter. (Photo / kankou-gifu)
1. Shirakawa-go Gassho Village
Have you ever truly seen the enchanting sight of snow-covered thatched-roof gassho-style wooden houses, like something out of a fairy tale? Japan’s secluded — Shirakawa-go Gassho Village. Nestled among mountains, crisscrossed with rice paddies and traversed by rivers, this quiet mountain village is dotted with over a hundred charming gassho-style homes, brimming with captivating allure.
The Zao Snow Monsters take on bizarre shapes that almost seem alive. (Photo / apple101)
2. Yamagata Prefecture – Zao Ice Trees
Every winter, sea winds loaded with moisture sweep in from the Sea of Japan, causing dew to freeze on fir trees. The frost forms into ice, encapsulating entire trees. These bizarre tree icicles become the snow monsters of Zao, standing tall on the mountainsides. As light shifts, their eerie silhouettes create a mysterious atmosphere, making them a unique winter spectacle of Zao.
White Horse Falls is enveloped in icy mist, presenting a scene straight out of a fairyland. (Photo / visit-hokkaido)
3. Hokkaido Biei – White Horse Falls
Located in Biei’s Platinum Onsen area, White Horse Falls gets its name from the waterfall that cascades down through rock crevices, resembling a white beard. The water surging from underground splashes against rocks, creating sparkling blue glimmers in the waters of the Biei River — an incredibly captivating sight. When the winter lighting season arrives, the cold mist combines with surrounding frost and icicles under the illumination, crafting a fantastical scenery reminiscent of a watercolor painting.
Frost flowers bloom, adorning the backdrop of the majestic Mount Oakan — a seasonal highlight in Hokkaido. (Photo / poketabi)
4. Lake Akan – Frost Flowers
The small white frost flowers on the lake’s surface are delicate and uniquely shaped ice crystals, intricate and fragile, yet truly moving. These beautiful frost flowers blooming on the lake surface get covered by snow after a snowfall, only to slowly reform once the snow clears. Growing or disappearing depending on temperature and the state of the frozen lake surface, these frost flowers have become a unique winter feature of Lake Akan.
The red-crowned crane, Kushiro’s most iconic wildlife, is known as the “god of the wetlands.” (Photo / b5.secretchina)
- 1
- 2