Yakushima, Japan Adventure - Rain Forest

Other photos available: Yaku-sugi trees; Mountains; also Yakushima Waters. Also, read more about the World Heritage, park, and ecosystem of Yakushima here.

Yakushima photos - Rain Forest

There is good water here - and a lot of it. The forests change as you go up in altitude, from the coast to the nearly 2000 meter summit of Miyanoura peak.

Inside the Forest

Scenes that inspired the Princess Mononoke Animation movie
were taken from Yakushima.

The rich, dense forest, and the constant damp climate and rainfall make this rainforest ecosystem unique in the world.

The forests are very thick, and dense. It was often too dark for easy photographing. So I used some tricks with my digital camera (Nikon), including a few in black and white.

Ephiphytes: the dense ecosystem that is the Yakushima forest reveals complex symbiotic relationships between these numerous plants.

Can you see the animals in the forest?

The main wildlife we saw were the playful monkeys (here), and stocky deer. A lot of birds were seen and heard, but there seemed to be few bugs, insects, snakes and other annoyances, leaving it very enjoyable for the traveler.