At the foot of the beautiful World Heritage site, Mount Fuji, still adorned with snow, the Fuji Shibazakura Festival is being held by the shores of Lake Motosu. The shibazakura, which typically begin blooming in mid-April, reach their peak shortly after Golden Week, continuing to bloom one after another for a month. Covering the vast, undulating park centered around Ryujin Pond, the shibazakura spread across the entire area, boasting 500,000 plants of seven varieties such as MacDaniel Cushion and Autumn Rose, displaying shades of pink and purple. The landscape, with the majestic Mount Fuji as a backdrop, still adorned with snow reaching down to its foothills, is truly spectacular and has been selected as one of Japan’s 31 Most Beautiful Landscapes. Like elsewhere, this year is no exception as foreign tourists flock here even more than Japanese visitors. Japan is currently the number one country in the world that people want to visit. Japan, the holy land of peace, is the goal of the 21st century.

残雪の美しい世界遺産・富士山の麓、本栖湖畔では春の風物詩「富士芝桜祭り」が開催されています。例年４月中旬から咲き始めたシバザクは、ゴールデンウィーク直後頃にピークを迎え、1ヶ月の間に次々と咲き続けます。竜神池を中心とした起伏のない大きな公園内一面に広がるシバザクは、マックダニエルクッションやオータムローズといったピンクやパープルなど7品種の芝桜50万株が咲き誇り、残雪がまだ山裾まで残る霊峰富士を背景にした風景は正に圧巻で、「日本の美しい風景31選」にも選ばれています。ここも、今年の例外に漏れず、日本人以上に外国人観光客が押し寄せています。世界で今一番行きたい国の１番に選ばれているのが日本です。平和の聖地ニッポン、21世紀の目標です。