Mount Hachimantai

Hiking Through the Misty Forests and Seaside Vistas of Tohoku, Japan | Condé Nast Traveler

"I was standing in an ancient beech forest at the edge of Towada-Hachimantai National Park in Japan's Tohoku region, and the place felt almost otherworldly: it sits deep in the Ōu Mountains on Honshu's northern tip and is famous for its autumn colors, hundreds of species of moss, and the Oirase Gorge river valley with abundant waterfalls. The Oirase Stream, fed by Lake Towada's volcanic double caldera, is the primary source of the area's rich biodiversity; native bears, foxes, tree frogs, tanuki (raccoon dogs), and even bioluminescent moonlight mushrooms inhabit these woods. The black oaks and gnarly maples were ablaze, and I found trees I'd never heard of—white bark magnolias, fantail willows, and Manchurian elms with epiphytic violets peeping from their mossy trunks—making the whole landscape feel especially magical." - Adam H. Graham