Author: Benkei

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapeseed; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanohana

Canola flowers, Arakawa River, Kofu, Yamanashi, 4/12/2025

The Hakone Shrine is a Japanese Shinto shrine located on the shores of Lake Ashi in the town of Hakone in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is also known as the Hakone Gongen. The Hakone Shrine was founded in 757. The original shrine was at the summit of the Komagatake peak of Mount Hakone. The shrine was relocated to the shores of Lake Ashi in 1667.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakone_Shrine; https://www.hakonenavi.jp/international/en/spot/523; (In Japanese) https://hakonejinja.or.jp/

The Hakone Shrine, hakone, Kawagawa, 4/05/2025

Cider Trees, the Hakone Shrine, hakone, Kawagawa, 4/05/2025

Buttercup witch hazel (Corylopsis pauciflora), the Hakone Shrine, hakone, Kawagawa, 4/05/2025

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corylopsis_pauciflora

(Added) The Hakone Shrine and Suruga Bay, hakone, Kawagawa, 4/09/2025

There is a legend of the Nine-Headed Dragon (Kuzuryu) in Lake Ashi. It goes as follows:

Long ago, a terrifying nine-headed poisonous dragon lived in Lake Ashi, causing storms and tormenting the villagers. Every year, the village had a sorrowful custom of offering a young maiden as a human sacrifice to the dragon.

During the Nara period, a high-ranking Buddhist monk named Venerable Mangan (Mangan Shonin), who was training in the Hakone mountains, deeply grieved over this tragic situation and resolved to subdue the dragon. The Venerable Mangan built an altar on the shore of Lake Ashi and fervently prayed.

After a fierce battle, the poisonous dragon finally surrendered to Venerable Mangan and repented for its evil deeds. The dragon apologized for its past wrongdoings and vowed to become the guardian deity of Lake Ashi from then on.

Venerable Mangan built a shrine to enshrine the repentant nine-headed dragon as the Nine-Headed Dragon Great God (Kuzuryu Okami). This is a deified form of the repentant poisonous dragon. It is worshipped as the guardian deity of Lake Ashi, the god of water, and said to be the origin of the present-day Kuzuryu Shrine, the Main Shrine. There is also a sherine named the New Shrine within the grounds of Hakone Shrine for theNine-Headed Dragon Great God.

This legend is thought to have originated from the desire to personify the threat of the natural environment of Lake Ashi as a deity and to pray for the peace and safety of the people by subduing it. The nine-headed dragon may have symbolized the ferocity of nature and forces beyond human comprehension. The story of the dragon being subdued by the power of a real monk, Venerable Mangan, likely gathered people’s faith and was passed down through generations.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Ashi; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuzury%C5%AB

https://www.hakone-oam.or.jp/en/

Three Figures by Marisol Escobar

The World of the Sounds by Genichiro Inokuma

My Sky Hole 84 by Bukkichi Inoue

Intersecting Space Construction by Ryoji Goto

Man and Pegasus by Carl Milles and Walking Flower by Fernand Léger

Priest of Saigyo by Sotojiro Matsumura and The Hand of God by Carl Milles

The Hakone Open-Air Museum, Hakone, Kanagawa, 4/05/2025

(Added) The Hakone Open-Air Museum, Hakone, Kanagawa, 4/09/2025

Bamboos, The Hakone Open-Air Museum, Hakone, Kanagawa, 4/05/2025

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo

(Added) The Hakone Open-Air Museum, Hakone, Kanagawa, 4/09/2025

Honcho 2-chome Street, Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi, 4/04/2025

In late March and early April, Japan can experience cold weather. Even this year, it rained and snowed a few days ago. In the Aokigahara Woodland area in Narusawa village and Kawaguchiko town in Yamanashi Prefecture, there was snow and the air was crispy. 

Fresh green mosses on the surfaces of the tree roots and the fungus Perenniporia fraxinea on the tree bark in the Aokigahara Woodland, Kawaguchiko, Yamanashi, 4/02/2025

The fungus Perenniporia fraxinea was used be called Vanderbylia fraxinea (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanderbylia_fraxinea).

FYI: Moss https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moss

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_blossom

https://n-kishou.com/corp/news-contents/sakura/?lang=en

Cherry trees, Ubaguchi, Kofu, Yamanashi, 3/27/2025

Cherry trees, Mount Fuji Head Sengen Shrine, Fujinomiya, Shizuoka, 3/29/2025

Sengen Shrine: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sengen_shrine

Lichens, Mount Fuji Head Sengen Shrine, Fujinomiya, Shizuoka, 3/29/2025

Lichen: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichen

Types of Trees: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/cherryblossom/types-of-trees.htm

Prunus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prunus

List of Cherry blossom: (In Japanese)　https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B5%E3%82%AF%E3%83%A9%E3%81%AE%E4%B8%80%E8%A6%A7

https://mtfuji-whc.jp/en/

https://www.fujisan-whc.jp/en/index.html

Views of Mount Fuji from the observation deck of Mount Fuji World Heritage Center in Shizuoka, Fujinomiya, Shizuoka, 3/18/2025

Fugaku Wind Cave: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugaku_Wind_Cave

Narusawa Ice Cave: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narusawa_Ice_Cave

https://www.mtfuji-cave.com/en/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalagmite

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalactite

Fugaku Wind Cave and Narusawa Ice Cave, Fujikawaguchiko and Narusawa Village, Yamanashi, 3/18/2025

https://www.pref.yamanashi.jp.e.aao.hp.transer.com/kouko-hak/

Yamanashi Prefectural Archeological Museum, Kofu, Yamanashi, 3/18/2025

Ren and Mayu, Kofu, Yamanashi, 3/13/2025