Senjogahara Moor in Tochigi Prefecture Japan
November 9, 2008 · Print This Article
As Aya and I drove along a country road after leaving Nikko, to my left a vast expanse opened up, and from very first sight I was dazzled and drawn to Senjogahara Moor in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. This moor was not a scheduled stop on our trip, but thankfully I pulled over so we could pause and get a better look at this most unusual landscape for Japan.
I have really never seen anything like Senjogahara Moor in Japan before. I had no idea there were even moors in Japan. I had never seen a vast, flat, are of nature not covered by rice fields. This was open land. An expanse of golden foot high grass edged by birch trees and dark pines, all backed up by a backbone of blue-green mountains.
An old student of mine, a wise and very knowledgeable 68-year old Japanese man, told me that 40 years ago you could walk right out into the moor. He said back then the floor of the moor was still rather marshy and soft with lingering water and moisture. By e-mail he gave me this further information about Senjogahara Moor:
I studied the legend of Senjogahara.
Once open a time, the Giant snake that was the boss of Mt Nanntai
fought the Giant centipede that was the boss of Mt. Akagi in Gunnma prefecture.
The giant snake won the battle.
SENJOGAHARA MOOR PHOTO GALLERY:
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Majestic Senjogahara Moor of Tochigi Prefecture…
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Great photos, Jason! Another addition in my places-to-visit list.
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Jason Collin Reply:
November 11th, 2008 at 12:17 AM
Thanks Reon….yeah, it’s rare to find a rare unknown gem place in Japan, mostly because I’m not out driving around randomly very often. But this was a great find. I don’t have a lens wide enough to really do the moor justice, but it really is wide open. I’d say fall or spring are the best times to visit it probably.
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I visited here in 2004 also. It is an amazing place.
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Wow! All these cool places in Japan I didn’t even know about. Have to get out of Tokyo more often.
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Jason Collin Reply:
November 11th, 2008 at 5:31 PM
Getting out of the city at least once a month is key I think. I know it’s damn hard though to extricate oneself from the grip of Tokyo as trains are on someone else’s schedule and slow and boring, and driving has huge highway toll issues not to mention omnipresent traffic.
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That first picture is awesome.
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Jason Collin Reply:
November 15th, 2008 at 7:43 PM
Thanks Tom….I was quite pleased with a few of the photos in this group, especially the white birch shot (4th photo). It helped of course to have perfect light that afternoon.
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we should go there again if we can. but before sunrise dayo!!
Don’t be lazy to use a tripod!!
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Jason Collin Reply:
November 16th, 2008 at 10:59 PM
Yes, we definitely should! I can’t believe we saw another photographer’s collection of this exact place today! Talking with him (thank you for translating!) was really helpful to me and opened my eyes to what is possible with sub-Nikon D300 level cameras.
And yes, I have to be much less lazy about using my tripod!!
Ah, and yes, waking up before sunrise! I’ll really need your help for that!
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Yeah, Senjogahara is one of my most favourite places in Japan. The whole walk from Ryuzu-no-taki to Yunoko is amazing.
Autumn (end of October) is the best time to go – there are campsites in the area (closed from Nov.) – and it is relatively easy to get to by train and bus (the buses and roads will be crowded though). Once you’re there though, just walk everywhere!
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Jason Collin Reply:
November 17th, 2008 at 8:07 PM
Hey Dale…we weren’t even aware of Senjogahara so planned no time for a walk about. We plan on returning there in December though if possible, after seeing the amazing photos of that place at an exhibition yesterday, though it would mean waking up before sunrise!
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