Can't sleep. Juhyo will eat me.
April 10, 2008 9:56 PM   Subscribe

I want to put winter behind me like any other right-thinking Midwesterner, but these trees are too cool to ignore.

On Mount Zao, in Yamagata prefecture, the Juhyo silently lurk. Or if you prefer you can visit Mt. Zao during greener seasons.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia (19 comments total) 12 users marked this as a favorite
 
My God. Those are amazingly beautiful, but - what is with the snow in Japan? Is it horizontal? Made of Peeps? What?
posted by Miko at 10:17 PM on April 10, 2008 [2 favorites]


Zao gets pretty windy and that affects how the snow settles on the trees. I've been up there to go snowboarding and I can say that the trees are awesome.
posted by mexican at 10:46 PM on April 10, 2008


Very cool. The green and red tinting of some of the pictures is making me wish I could view them with 3-D glasses.
posted by amyms at 10:50 PM on April 10, 2008


In the evening, the monster trees really come to life when the visitor center illuminates them with an array of multi-colored lights.

Cool.
posted by PercussivePaul at 12:15 AM on April 11, 2008


Wow. Seriously. Wow.
posted by headspace at 4:59 AM on April 11, 2008


Some of the trees look drunk. Also, the photos made me want to grab a spoon and dig in. Thanks for this post.
posted by preparat at 5:14 AM on April 11, 2008


amazing & beautiful - thanks for this!

sadly, it seems juhyo may be an endangered species
posted by jammy at 5:31 AM on April 11, 2008


Posts like this are why I love Metafilter; I had no idea these existed. Thanks!
posted by TedW at 5:42 AM on April 11, 2008


looks cold there.
posted by Balisong at 6:31 AM on April 11, 2008


Amazing—I add my thanks!
posted by languagehat at 7:07 AM on April 11, 2008


Excellent. Added to list of stuff I want to see first-hand before I buy farm.
posted by everichon at 7:34 AM on April 11, 2008


It looks a lot like trees hit with the snow making devices used on ski hills, but I don't see most of the telltale signs so I'll just chalk it up to amazing!
posted by Null Pointer and the Exceptions at 7:41 AM on April 11, 2008


Looks like lost souls in misshaped bodies, seeking the way out. Lovely!

End of winter not in sight yet, in Switzerland. Snow line came down to the city last week, and plenty snow in the mountains.
posted by Goofyy at 7:45 AM on April 11, 2008


Reminiscent of some monsters in Miyazaki films - esp Spirited Away. Wonderful.
posted by johngumbo at 8:22 AM on April 11, 2008


The second photo in your main link resembles the march of the mystics from the movie The Dark Crystal. Very neat.
posted by Atom Eyes at 9:00 AM on April 11, 2008


it was thought that if trees reached a thousand years of age, they could come alive, particularly at night, and some were quite dangerous.

I would totally believe this.

Amazing photos, great find, wonderful post - thanks!
posted by rtha at 10:09 AM on April 11, 2008


Beautiful! Makes me wish for a good snow.
posted by LeeJay at 10:11 AM on April 11, 2008


what is with the snow in Japan?

I spent a winter in Sapporo in '94 and I noticed the snow was much different than the snow I was used to back in Oregon, even though we were basically at the same latitude. Not sure if it was due to Japan being an island, or something else, but it was much more "fluffy" snow than back home. It was like those little Styrofoam balls that sometimes fall out of packing material.
posted by pwb503 at 11:41 AM on April 11, 2008


So that's where the killer monster snow goons spawn,
posted by casarkos at 3:24 PM on April 11, 2008


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