Miho no Matsubara, Pine forest on Miho Peninsula, Japan.
Miho no Matsubara is a pine forest on Miho Peninsula in Shimizu-ku that stretches along the coast of Suruga Bay. The trees form a continuous green strip between beach and road, with open views of Mount Fuji across the water.
The pine forest was declared a national scenic monument in the early 20th century, when Japan began protecting landscapes with Mount Fuji views. Later, the site became part of the UNESCO World Heritage entry for Mount Fuji, recognizing art and belief around the volcano.
The name of this pine forest appears in the Noh theater tale Hagoromo, where a celestial dancer loses her robe in the branches. Visitors see the Miho shrine, which today draws pilgrims who believe in the old story and pray here for good fortune.
The best time to visit is early morning or late afternoon, when the light shows the volcano and coastline clearly. A wide path leads from the entrance through the trees to the beach, making the grounds easy to explore on foot.
The beach sand is now uniformly black, likely from the volcanic rock that formed the peninsula. A local account holds that the Abe River once supplied the white sand; when too much of it was used during construction of the nearby Shinkansen line, the sea swept the white layers away and no new sand replaced them.
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