Mount Fuji in Winter  (03:59)
Mount Fuji, Japan's tallest and most famous mountain, towers above a scenic region of lakes and highlands that is just 1 1/2 hours drive from Tokyo. In summer, people come from all over to scale this beautiful peak, but the scenery around its base attracts visitors all year round. Winter attractions include views of the snow covered summit reflected in the lakes, horseback trekking through snow-covered woods, illuminated ice caves and spectacular lakeside fireworks events.

Winter Train to Tsugaru  (04:40)
The Tsugaru region in the far north of Japan's main island is a remote area with its own unique culture and history, including the Tsugaru-jamisen, a type of shamisen played in a vigorously distinctive style. Tsugaru's winters are icy cold but also extremely beautiful, and a fine way to travel through this snow-covered landscape is by the special winter season train run by the Tsugaru Railway. Antique carriages featuring old-fashioned pot-belly stoves will carry you snugly on a route that links Tsugaru's major sights.

Nature's Beauty at Lake Akan  (03:51)
Lake Akan, in eastern Hokkaido, is a beautiful lake set among mountains and primeval forest that has become a popular year-round leisure destination. One unusual pastime is to sit in tents to fish through holes in the ice when the lake freezes in winter. This also the home of unusual green spheres of algae called marimo. Formed by the rare conditions in the lake, marimo found here are larger than anywhere else in the world. A festival at the lakeside town features songs and dances in praise of nature by the local Ainu people.

Cruising Down the Shimanto River  (04:22)
The Shimanto River, on Shikoku, is one of Japan's clearest and most beautiful rivers. And for centuries, Japanese tourists have been coming here to enjoy the scenery from yakatabune river boats. These wooden boats have a large cabin in which passengers sit on tatami mats to enjoy a meal of freshly caught river fish and prawns while watching the deeply forested banks pass by. Among the sights you see as you eat are fishermen casting their nets in the traditional way to catch the next meal.

Ajisai - Hydrangeas in Hakone   (03:41)
The hydrangea is a flower native to Japan, where it is called ajisai. This delicately colored flower blooms everywhere during the rainy season, but one of the finest places to see it in all its many varieties is the beautiful mountain and hot spring resort of Hakone, one hour from Tokyo by train. The tracks of Hakone's nine-kilometer long switchback railway are lined with over 10,000 blossoms, the varieties changing as the train climbs higher up the mountain, and special sections are even illuminated at night.

Hiking the Shinetsu Trail   (04:29)
This newly completed hiking trail runs for 80 km through the Sekida mountains, an easily accessible range of 1,000 m peaks covered with old forests of Japanese buna beech trees. These woods, filled with springs, lakes and ponds, are unique for being almost entirely free from other tree species, and also for the way they have been shaped and polished by the region's heavy winter snowfall. The Shinetsu Trail is open year-round, and is a wonderfully convenient way to explore the delights of nature in Japan.