Visitors take masks off to take pictures as hydrangea flowers are fully blooming at Meigetsu-in Buddhist temple Friday, June 11, 2021, in Kamakura, south of Tokyo. (Photo by Kiichiro Sato/AP Photo)
Wisteria Tunnel is located at the Kawachi Fuji Gardens in Kitakyushu, Japan. Flowering wisteria blooms hang to create rows bursting with color overhead and dappled shadows below.
Japan's Princess Mako (R) attends the enthronement ceremony where Emperor Naruhito officially proclaimed his ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on October 22, 2019. (Photo by Kazuhiro Nogi/Pool/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
People view live owls at, Owl's Forest which is located on the bottom floor of a building along a bustling street in the Harajuku area on Friday November 04, 2016 in Tokyo, Japan. Visitors can pet owls at the business. It is located next to one of Tokyo's many cat cafes. (Photo by Matt McClain/The Washington Post)
At the end of rice harvesting season, the folks of the Kagawa and Niigata Prefectures in Japan hold a straw festival to celebrate the abundance of the harvest. Dried straws cover wooden frames to form larger-than-life sculptures from animals like sharks and gorillas to vessels such as ships and tanks. The family-friendly event invites visitors of all ages to engage, interact, and play on the enormous structures.
A groundskeeper uses a bamboo broom at Kasumigaike Pond at Kenrokuen Garden in Kanazawa, Japan on January 12, 2016. The japanese garden, located next to Kanazawa Castle, encompasses over 28 acres in downtown Kanazawa. With two ponds, rolling hills with streams and bridges, is considered a strolling-style landscape garden. It's regarded as one of the top three most beautiful gardens in Japan. (Photo by Linda Davidson/The Washington Post)