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What’s great about Japan? Glad you asked, since we’ve got the answer in long form right here.

But if you’re pressed for time, this amazing video, in a little under four and a half minutes, will give you a beautifully condensed version of what makes Japan so special.

If you had to sum up Japan’s appeal in a word, “variety” wouldn’t be a bad choice. With that decided, if you were inclined to communicate your pick through video rather than words, and you were incredibly talented at doing just that, it might end up looking a little like the creation of Swiss filmmaker and Japanese resident Marc Ambuehl.

Accompanied by Oyosute Aina from the soundtrack to anime film Wolf Children Ame and Yuki, Ambuehl visits metropolitan Tokyo, refined Kyoto, and resilient Hiroshima, before ending his journey with a stop at Hyogo Prefecture’s Kinosaki Onsen hot springs.

Along the way, he shows us Japan’s bustling urban face in the form of Shinjuku, Kobe’s Port Tower, and the Shinkansen bullet train.

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We also see the nation’s cultural heart in the form of backstreets lined with wooden buildings…

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…and festival-goers and newlyweds in clothes that wouldn’t have looked that out-of-place a couple of hundred years ago.

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Add in a few scenes of natural beauty…

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…and of course, some mouth-watering meals…

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▼ Don’t forget the ice-cold draft beer!

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…and Ambuehl’s film adds up to a short but very sweet love letter to Japan.

▼ Not to mention his girlfriend/traveling companion

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Perfectly encapsulating the multi-faceted lifestyle and potential experiences that enthrall visitors and residents alike, the video is titled Our Japan. You’d be hard-pressed to find truer or more heartfelt encouragement to go find yours, too.

Related: Marc Ambuehl website
Source: Kotaro 269
Images: Vimeo