Top Three Views

The famous 'top 3 scenic places' in Japan are supposedly Miyajima, in Hiroshima, Matsushima, in Miyagi, and Amanohashidate in Kyoto. Of these, I have only been to Miyajima, and it was lovely, but I wouldn't say the best.

Of course, the brilliance of a view depends on a lot of things; time of year, the sun's position in the sky, whether it's cloudy or clear, etc. I have been fortunate to see many very beautiful sights. But here are my personal top three.

3. Omuroyama. This is a not-very-famous mountain near the Jogasaki coast on Izu peninsula. I went during Golden Week. The mountain has a ropeway to the top, and the whole mountain was covered in grass. There were wildflowers everywhere; the sky was blue; and from the top we could see far in every direction. We faintly saw Mt Fuji from one side, and the top of the mountain was a great, grassy basin.

2. Sunflower field in Yamanashi prefecture. This was near the 'Heidi's village' miniature theme park. Thousands of sunflowers, against a backdrop of mountains half-shadowed in mist, with rays of sunlight playing over them.

1. Yuzawa Gala ski resort. This ski resort is in Niigata prefecture. We took a gondola to the ski run, and sat in a cafe and had a cappuccino. This is the view we saw: