Blue Ocean, Green Pine Grove and Mt. Fuji

Miho-no-Matsubara

(Shizuoka City, Shizuoka Prefecture) 

【Matsu-bara（松原）】 means a pine grove that usually spread at cost as a windbreak forest to protect towns from ocean wind. “Matsu（松）” means a pine tree that is said to be an auspicious tree in Japan. “bara (原)” means field. So the word “Matsu-bara” literally indicates a pine tree field. What a beautiful scenery, Mt Fuji is rising over the blue ocean and green pine trees. The magnificent scenery attracts Japanese people from a long time ago. In 8th century, the place was written in Manyoshu, the oldest collection of Japanese poetry. In 18th century, a prominent ukiyo-e artist, Hiroshige Utagawa, drew this scene in his work, “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji” that depicted variety of Mt. Fuji from different places and distances.

Miho-no-Matsubara, 5 km long, is a fantastic destination to spend a day relaxing and feeling the ocean breeze and the fragrance of the pine forest. At the middle of the pine trees forest, there is a distinguished pine tree that has long thick curved branches stretching parallel to the beach.

The tree has a legend that a fisherman found a celestial feather robe was hanged on the pine tree flowing in the breeze. When the man took the robe in his hand, he noticed a beautiful celestial maiden was standing behind a tree. She lamented and asked him to return the robe because she could not return to heaven without it. The fisherman is moved by her beauty and felt pity for her story. He asked her to perform a celestial dance for him in return for returning the robe. The celestial maiden wore the robe and performed a dance gradually rising to the sky. Fluttering the celestial robe, the celestial maiden was flying over Mt Fuji and fading into the Moon.

The pine tree has been worshipped as a tree that the god of the Miho Shrine descends. The God’s Road, 500m long wooden walkway along with rows of old pine trees, connects the shrine and the pine tree. The shrine houses a piece of clothes from 13th century that is said to be a remnant of the celestial feather robe. It is up to you if you believe it or not. It is a hidden treasure and does not open to the public.

After walking around the area in the sun, try Japanese Green Tea Cola that will refresh you up! It is Japanese style cola using green tea which is harvested in Shizuoka Prefecture as Japanese tea is local speciality of the prefecture. The taste is designed to complement Japanese foods.