The annual JDS Essence of Autumn Photography workshop always includes Japan’s most iconic symbol, Mt. Fuji, as does the annual Essence of Spring Cherry Blossom photo tour as well as the annual Hokkaido Photo Tour.  In our team’s opinion Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Parks, in Japanese (富士箱根伊豆国立公園), is a must visit for domestic and international travelers.  This national park was established on February 2, 1936, one of the first four national parks established in Japan, which consists of Mount Fuji, the Fuji Five Lakes, Hakone, Izu Peninsula, and the Izu Islands.  The park is spread out though three prefectures, having countless outdoor activities, with a variety of geographic scenery and features such as: more than one thousand volcanic islands, the isle of Hachijojima (the furthest point south) which is several hundred kilometers from the base of Mt. Fuji.  Between the two points are countless ancient pilgrimage routes - today hiking trails, hundreds of beaches, dozens of lakes, hundreds of rivers, streams, dozens of splendid waterfalls, and countess natural mineral healing hot springs.  Annually, millions of visitors soak in the park’s hot springs for spiritual and mind-set health, similar to Shinrin-Yoku (森林浴) (forest bathing making contact with and taking in the atmosphere of the forest). Onsens (mineral hot springs) have been used for their medical healing benefits for thousands of years, and are said to benefit those with illnesses such as recovery from exhaustion, stress-related disorders, including sleep disorders, depression, hypertension, recovery from illness, muscle stiffness, neuralgia, muscle soreness and arthralgia, including back pain and rheumatism, plus many other ailments, the list goes on and on.  On this note, all lodgings on JDS Japan photo tours have natural hot springs that ryokan/hotel guests may use with males and females bathing separately, and some lodgings have private hot springs that couples or singles may use.  Other lodgings even have family size private onsens.  In Japan, part of the onsen bathing culture is that there are shower stalls, each having a seat where you wash before entering the onsen.  There are no bathing suits allowed in hot springs, but towels, soaps, and washing towels are provided.   Also, there are even a few wild hot springs, where a few of our workshop leaders pitch their tents and enjoy hot springs under the moonlight and campfire.

During the JDS Hokkaido photography tour, our participants always visit Mt. Fuji to capture the iconic peak during golden hours. And during the Essence of Autumn Cross Country Photography Tour and the Essence of Spring Cherry Blossom Photography Tour, our team and our workshop leaders spend five days introducing participants the Mt. Fuji region.  Included are the Fuji five lakes at the base of Mt. Fuji, the sea of trees (Aokigahara 樹海, Jukai), ice caves, waterfalls, power spots, Zen Buddhist Temple Sanctuaries, and Ancient Shinto Shrines, and everyone spends a couple of days exploring the Hakone region. As locals, our team is able to avoid tourist pollution and introduce participants to authentic Japan. 

In Autumn, the Japanese maple leaf trees leaf out in blazing brilliant eye popping saturated reds, oranges and yellows.  Japan’s autumn is eye candy for those who appreciate the fine arts, and for those who are fortunate enough to be visual artists/photographers, but you don’t have to be a pro photographer to enjoy and take eye candy breathtaking autumn images while in Japan, it’s our workshop leader’s job to make sure he is by our participants’ sides, to assist them in taking home gallery worthy fine art imagery.  And believe us, there is lots of ground to cover on the annual cross country Essence of Autumn photo tour Japan. Highlights include: snow monkeys, brilliant autumn landscapes in the land of the rising sun, exploring ancient Buddhist and Shinto Sanctuaries and their pilgrimage routes, which we follow from day one throughout the entire workshop experiencing authentic Japanese unique culture.  Plus our workshop participants visit maple red leaves corridor for illumination of autumn trees, as well as various other illumination events.  And this authentic autumn in Japan journey is fully inclusive business class from the time you are picked you up to the time you are dropped you off twelve days later.  Make sure to be bring lots of memory cards, a good sense of adventure, as there are thousands of kilometers of ground to cover on this once in a lifetime journey though Autumn in Japan.