Bijinbayashi

A beautiful beech forest with many slender trunked trees. It has become known as Bijinbayashi (Woods of the Beautiful Women) thanks to the beauty of these slender trees. It is popular with photographers and tourists from all around Japan.Around 100 years ago the beech trees in this area were all chopped down leaving just open fields. However, the following year the shoots of mountain beech trees started to emerge all together and this beech forest became known as a refuge for wild birds, eventually gaining its current name of Bijinbayashi.In the spring the new buds appear on the trees even as there is still snow lying here and there on the ground. Then in summer the trees are enveloped in vivid green leaves and visitors can enjoy the cooling breezes that waft through the forest. In the autumn the forest changes to a rich umber colour as the autumn leaves change colour before falling to the forest floor. Then in winter the entire forest is covered in a silvery white blanket. The branches of the beech trees covered in snow reflect the sun’s rays and glisten like diamonds in the pale winter light.