[Photo diary]Superb views of Tanuki-lake and Shiraito-falls that even beginners could take!

Hello! I’m “Yocean”, an amateur photographer.

This time, I posted two kind of photos which were taken when I went to “Tanuki-lake” known as the magnificent view spot of Mt. Fuji and “Shiraito-falls”, one of the components of world heritage in Shizuoka-prefecture.

Since these spots are really famous and have amazing view, even if you are a beginner, you can easily take nice photos. So, I highly recommend you to go there if you are going to go to the Mt. Fuji.

Please enjoy my pictures then!

How to access to Tanuki-lake and Shiraito-falls

Fujinomiya-city is the automobile society in which the trains and buses run very infrequently, so I recommend you travelling by car. If you don’t have a car, you should go to Shinfuji-station by bullet train and get a rental car around there. It takes about 40 min. from Shinfuji-station to Tanuki-lake by car.

First, please head toward the National Park Resort, Kyukamura-Fuji. Free parking is available for visitors around there.

Within walking distance, there is a public observation deck, known as the magnificent view spot for Mt. Fuji. Weather permitting, I’m sure that you can take nice photos!

As for Shiraito-falls, it takes about 35 min. from Shinfuji-station by car. The falls is about 10 min. from Kyukamura-Fuji, so I guess you should go there on the way to the Tanuki-lake.

There is a parking for tourists near Shiraito-falls, but it’s comparatively expensive for this region (500 JPY for a car).
Near that parking, there are some parking which have a reasonable price (200 JPY for a car) or some restaurants which have free parking for customers. So, I think that’s better.

If the weather is on your side, you can definitely take amazing photos there too!

[Photo 1] Upside down Fuji reflected in Tanuki-lake

First, I went to Tanuki-lake and got the shot of the Mt. Fuji from the public observation deck of Kyukamura-Fuji.

Unfortunately, it was cloudy on that day. Although I couldn’t see the whole shape of the Mt. Fuji, luckily the top of it peeked behind the clouds, so I released the shutter at that timing.

I heard that depending on the season, “Diamond-Fuji” (the moment when Mt. Fuji overlaps with the sun) and “Snow-makeup-Fuji” (Mt. Fuji covered with snow) could be observed, but there was no snow at the time.

The local people said that May or October is the best season for shooting Mt. Fuji with snow-cap.

[Photo 2] Relaxing on the public observation deck of Kyukamura-Fuji

There are some benches on the deck of Kyukamura-Fuji. However, because of it’s off-season, no one was there so I had the place to myself.

Staring at the Mt. Fuji, while chilling at a quiet place made me forget what time it was. That is the best part of off-season, I think. After taking some pictures, I fully enjoyed the situation for a while.

This is the view I saw at that time.

I used bokeh effect to represent the relaxing atmosphere. I hope you feel that.

There were a lot of people enjoying BBQ and camping around Tanuki-lake, so I thought the place is suitable for taking a rest.

[Photo 3] Cosmos blooming in Fuji

Since I found beautiful cosmoses on the way from Tanuki-lake to Shiraito-falls, I stopped by there to take photos.

Cosmos is written in Japanese Kanji as “秋桜 (fall cherry blossoms)”, so we could smell the scent of fall in the air when cosmos begins blooming.

Walking around with a camera, I usually notice the beauty of small nature like this.
Taking a closer look and appreciating it’s beauty, then I realized daily works and stresses I swamped with tend to make me forget my feeling towards nature.

I’d like to acquire the photographing skills to make the small nature stand out.

[Photo 4] The top of Otodome-fall

On the way to Shiraito-falls, I went to Otodome-fall which is right next to them.

Otodome-fall is really a powerful fall, but I couldn’t find a good spot to take a photo. Therefore, I had no choice but to shot from the top of the fall.

At the end of the rapid stream, there is a 25m high vertical fall.

If I had a chance to go back again, I’ll make sure to capture its powerfulness.

[Photo 5] Shiraito-falls, a treasure house of negative ions

At last, I had arrived at the Shiraito-falls.

The shiraito-falls are different from other falls and are strange falls because its water gush from a cliff made of a lava flow.

As the water flow down with a lot of splash from the whole cliff, we can expect the healing effect of negative ions from the magnificent falls.

This photo was taken while I was being healed with the beautiful sounds and the natural mist shower from the falls.

As I imagined, the excellent object makes it easier to get a nice photo.

By the way, if you have a ND filter and can slow down the shutter speed, the falls looks silky. Shooting the great falls makes me want to buy the filter. lol

Conclusion

As compared to Tokyo or Osaka, time goes by so slowly in Shizuoka, I felt.

The people in Shizuoka such as the taxi driver and the restaurant staff I met on the trip were also friendly.

I think I’ll go back there with my camera again when I’m tired with work and commute.

Thanks for your reading the article through to the end.