Mountain Photographer

Shiro Shirahata 白籏史朗 (1933-) is a photographer of mountains, who was born at Ōtsuki city 大月市. There are a lot of mountain photo books which was taken by him. In my school days, I used to hold dreams of going to Himalaya and trekking the mountains, looking at his photos in "Mountain and canyon 山と渓谷(the short name : "Yamakei")" which is one of the most famous climbing magazines in Japan. The dreams still haven't come true, but these photos still cheer me up.

・The works of Shiro Shirahata on "FUJIFILM WEB PHOTO MUSEUM"

・Minami-Alps Moutain Photo Studio / Shiro Shirahata Memorial Hall 南アルプス山岳写真館・白籏史朗記念館 (Japanese version only)
View Shiro Shirahata Memorial Hall 白籏史朗記念館 on Google My Maps
The admission fee is Adult : 500 yen / Elementary & Middle school student : 250 yen.
PLACE: Narada, Hayakawa-cho
HOURS: 9:00-17:00 (Entry permitted up to 16:30)
CLOSED: The regular closing day is Wednesday & during the year-end and New Year holidays. When Wednesday falls on a national holiday, the facility will be closed instead on the following day.
There is free parking space available for about 40 cars.
I recommend you to stop off at the Memorial Hall on the way back from a trip to (climbing) the Southern Alps & Hirogawara.
The timetable of the buses for Narada(Minobu Station 身延駅 ~ Narada 奈良田)(Japanese version only)

■EDIT (July 2, 2009)
Photograph exhibition "Mt.Fuji of Shiro Shirahata 白籏史朗の富士" will be held at Shiki-no-Mori Oshino Park Koyo Okada Photo Museum　四季の杜 おしの公園　岡田紅陽写真美術館, from July 22th to August 31th, 2009. The admission fee is Adult : 300 yen / Elementary & Middle school student : 200 yen / preschool-age : charge-free (Permanent or the other exhibitions : extra costs). HOURS: 9:00-17:00 (Entry permitted up to 16:30) The Museum is open each day during the exhibition.
Refer to View Mt.Fuji from Lake Motosu on Google My Maps / View Mt.Fuji from Lake Motosu on my site

SOUTHERN ALPS OF JAPAN

The summer season is coming nearer. Climbers must not have been able to wait for it. Though "Yamabiraki 山開き(the summer climbing season opening ceremony)” of Mt. Fuji will be held after about a week, the Southern Alps's season will start a little before it (maybe the ceremony will be held tomorrow(June 27)).

From yesterday(June 25) to November 9th this year, the buses bound for Hirogawara 広河原 operate from Kōfu Station 甲府駅, municipal Ashiyasu parking 市営芦安駐車場 and Minobu Station 身延駅 (via Narada 奈良田 where there is a car park). Hirogawara is a departure point for climbing Mt.Kita(-dake) 北岳 which is the 2nd highest mountain in Japan and a transfer point for the bus bound for Kitazawa-tōge(pass) 北沢峠 which is a departure point for climbing Mt.Kaikoma(-gatake) 甲斐駒ヶ岳 & Mt. Senjō 仙丈ヶ岳.

Be aware that entrance by private automobile is prohibited from June 25th to November 9th in the following areas. It is possible to get to Hirogawara only by bus or taxi.
・Ashiyasu 芦安 (Minami Alps city) ～ Hirogawara ～ Kitazawa-tōge
・Narada 奈良田 (Hayakawa town) ～ Hirogawara
There are car parks at Ashiyasu & Narada. Travelers who use privately owned vehicles have to switch to buses or taxis there.

・Bus timetable for Hirogawara 広河原 & Kitazawa-tōge(pass) 北沢峠(Japanese version only) *Be aware that the timetable varies depending on the day of the week, the season and so on.

BUS FARE (one-way) :
Kōfu Station ~ Hirogawara 1900 yen
Kōfu Station ~ Yashajin-tōge-tozanguchi 1380 yen
Municipal Ashiyasu parking ~ Hirogawara 1000 yen
Municipal Ashiyasu parking ~ Yashajin-tōge-tozanguchi 510 yen
Minobu Station ~ Hirogawara 2300 yen
Narada ~ Hirogawara 1000 yen

*Be aware that you have to pay, per one-way trip, an additional charge of 100 yen (elementary school age : 50 yen / preschool-age : charge-free) for traffic administration cost, when you ride buses or taxis.

- Climbing informations on "Hiking in Japan" / Surrounding mountains of Hirogawara & Yashajin-tōge 夜叉神峠 -
・Kita-dake (北岳)
・Mt. Kai-Komagatake (甲斐駒ヶ岳）
・Mt. Senjō (仙丈ヶ岳)
・Mt. Houou (鳳凰山）(Houou-Sanzan 鳳凰三山)

- Photo Albums on Flickr -
・Kitadake trip, taken by Snowlet
・Kitadake on July 19-20, 2008, taken by Miha Cucek
・Senjōkatake 仙丈ヶ岳, taken by mutilation
・Kaikomagatake 甲斐駒ヶ岳
・Houou Sanzan 鳳凰三山
・Hirogawara 広河原

Refer to Panoramic viewing from peaks at home

View The southern Alps(Minami Alps) 南アルプス on Google My Maps

***** Reference data *****
"Minami Alps information" on the web site of Minami-Alps City's tourist association 南アルプス市観光協会 (Japanese version only)

EDIT (June 28, 2009)
I heard that there is exceptionally a lot of remaining snow this year, and especially the snow covers most of the climbing route at Ōkanbasawa 大樺沢(elevation 2000~2900m) of Mt.Kita(-dake). The concerned organizations urge climbers to carry an ice axe and crampons which can be helpful for walking on the snow.

WARNING! Although the rainy season has been over in Kanto region, Yamanashi & Nagano, the weather conditions have still continued to be poor. When climbing, you have to put on the appropriate clothes and carry the proper equipments. Please beware of your physical condition & the weather.

Mountain Photography

"i, cjw ~.::.~ hiking and climbing in japan" is an awesome site. Because of his fabulously beautiful scenery pictures, you must have feelings of being there.

And there are a lot of pictures which was shot in Yamanashi. Aino-dake, Aka-dake, Fuji, Hou-ou-San-zan, Kai-koma-ga-take, Kinpu, Kita-dake, Mitsutoge, Mizugaki, Senjo-ga-take...etc
Let's Check It Out!!!

Panoramic viewing from peaks at home

In Yamanashi, there are a lot of mountains which are ideal for hiking and climbing trails. We can enjoy fine views as it changes from season to season there. The nature makes us refreshed both physically and mentally, doesn't it?
But on occasions when you can't go for vacation because you have a full schedule, "QuickTimeVR Panorama Gallery" is useful.

***** My recommended Panoramas *****
#fujisan (Mt.Fuji) No.8 (You can see Kōfu-basin & Southern Alps 南アルプス)　
#kai-komagatake 甲斐駒ケ岳 No.1
#kannondake No.1 (You can see Kōfu-basin, Mt.Fuji, Kitadake 北岳, Yatsugatake 八ヶ岳, & Northern Alps 北アルプス)
#kinpusan 金峰山 No.2
#kitadake No.1

Be with You (Ima, Ai ni Yukimasu)

"Be with You (Ima, Ai ni Yukimasu いま、会いにゆきます)" is a Japanese movie, which was released in 2004. This movie in which Yūko Takeuchi 竹内結子 and Nakamura Shidō II 中村獅童 played the leading roles was mostly shot in Yamanashi & Nagano Prefectures.

■You can buy the DVD from the below link.

Ima, Ai ni Yukimasu Standard Edition
*Region Code: 2 (Japan, Europe, Middle East, and South Africa only)

Specifically, the scenes in the sunflower (himawari ひまわり,向日葵) -field in full bloom which was shot in Akeno, Hokuto city, provide spectacular beauty(refer to the site of PHOTO CONTEST in Akeno/Hokuto city in 2008).
View Akeno Sunflower Festival on YOUTUBE, shot by Yamanashi "Home of Mt.Fuji" Sightseeing Net 富士の国やまなし観光ネット The festa is held from late July to late August every year. This year it'll be held from July 25 to August 31. We'll be able to see more than 300 thousand sunflowers.
Edit4 :
明野のひまわり畑　Akeno Sunflower festival. (HD) by AQUA Geo Graphic on YouTube

・Akeno, Sunflower 明野、ひまわり on Flickr

Edit3 :
Hokuto city's official site (Japanese / English / Korean)
※You may be able to get detailed informations of the Sunflower festival if you follow the following steps : Click the link "English" (at the top of the page) →　Click the link "English Translation of the Webpage powered by Google" at the middle of the page →　Click the link of the picture "Sunflower Festival 2009"

Then in Akeno, there are "Haiji-no-mura ハイジの村 (Heidi 's Village)" (Yamanashi Prefectural Flower Center), "OBSERVATORY of Institute for Cosmic Ray Research by University of Tokyo" and a lot of spots to get glorious view of Japanese-Southern-Alps. These facilities & spots benefit from the fact that Akeno has the best insolation conditions all over the country and we can have a lot of fine days throughout the year. In autumn, we can harvest Asao-Daikons(浅尾大根 a type of Japanese radishes), from which takuan (たくあん,沢庵 yellow pickled radish) is often made.
・Haiji-no-mura ハイジの村 on Flickr

View 　Sunflower-field & Heidi's Village in Akeno 明野のひまわり畑とハイジの村 on Google Maps

Edit : on local TV news broadcasts on June 12, it was reported that sunflower's seeds were sown on the grounds in Akeno on the day and its flowers would start in blooming in about late july.

Edit2

"Direction of the Southern Alps 南アルプス方面" shot by chipo at Prefectural Flower Center,
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.