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Terrific Tochigi! Japanese prefecture proves its beauty with scenery showcase【Video】

This jaw-dropping video will make you wonder how Tochigi Prefecture came in last in the prefectural popularity poll.

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Our reporter takes a sightseeing trip up Tokyo Skytree, admits he only has one regret

Our reporter Seiji finally ascends one of Tokyo’s most beloved tourist attractions — and for a discount!

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Japanese staircase fanatic finds beautiful spot that looks like a real-world M.C. Escher painting

Who knew you could cram that many stairs into one place in reality?

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Three bridges in Okinawa Prefecture offer the most spectacular panoramic vistas of the sea【Pics】

Who wants to play hooky with us down in the islands next weekend?

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Snow falling at Ginzan Hot Spring has Twitter in awe with its otherworldly beauty 【Photos】

No, that’s not a screenshot from a Ghibli Film, it’s real life!

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We visit Tomonoura, the scenic harbor town that inspired Studio Ghibli’s “Ponyo”【Photos】

If you’ve seen Ponyo, Studio Ghibli’s adorable movie about a fish girl who wants to be human, then the above location may seem pretty familiar. That’s because it was taken in the port town of Tomonoura, where Hayao Miyazaki and his team spent months getting the inspiration and imagery to create their next animated film.

As massive Ghibli fans, we had to take a look at the town for ourselves and see what real-life Ponyo looks like. Read on to check out the beautiful scenery for yourself, and see the effect that Ponyo has had on the town, as well as the effect the town had on Miyazaki.

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Japan’s Top 10 Scenic Train Trips–according to two “densha otaku” train guides

Greg Cope and Ken Mitchell have been riding Japan’s railways for over 30 years. “When I first started to travel around Japan,” recalls Greg, “I was struck by the fact that Japan not only has one of the most efficient railway systems in the world, but they have myriad types of railways, from new to old, conservative design to outlandish.”

On one of Greg’s succeeding trips back to Japan, he asked his train aficionado friend Ken, who had seen a lot of Japan during a visit in 1967, to come along. “I devised an itinerary…incorporating a variety of different trains. The trip that I had nutted out from the timetable turned out well and I was hooked on Japan’s railway system,” says Ken.

Greg and Ken wanted to share their Japan rail experiences with others, so to achieve this goal they started Trainaway Tours out of Australia in 1998. These guys are living the train otaku dream, so when RocketNews24 started looking into Japan’s best, most scenic railways, we went straight to them for recommendations. From JR lines to small private rails, tourist trains to steam locomotives, let’s look at their picks for the top 10 train trips in Japan.

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Diamond Fuji: One of the most beautiful views of Japan’s iconic mountain

Every year at the end of December, something magical happens to Japan’s tallest mountain. As the sun descends in the sky bringing a close to another day, it meets with the summit of Mount Fuji for a few brief moments, making it appear as if the peak is topped with a glistening diamond. Thousands of people flock to vantage points around the area for a chance to see this special phenomenon, dubbed “Diamond Fuji.”

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Sit back and enjoy the journey: Japan’s Top 10 local train rides

Nowadays with discount airlines, hybrid cars and night buses, it’s easy to get where you want to go quickly and cheaply. Of course, in Japan trains are probably the most utilized mode of transportation. Some train companies around Japan, however, have really taken to heart the idea that “Life is a journey, not a destination,” as there are many train lines which are designed as sightseeing trains, or just happen to pass through beautiful scenery and let you enjoy the journey – the beautiful forests, the stunning seaside, sometimes even the trains themselves are part of the experience.

Recently Rakuten Travel announced its top 10 list for the best local trains around the country. Let’s take a look at what these train lines have to offer after the jump.

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Japanese netizens are ready to visit a Final Fantasy world, and you can go too!

RPGs like Square Enix’s Final Fantasy take us to faraway worlds with extraordinarily picturesque locations; places that couldn’t possibly exist on this planet. Mother Earth would have to be a scenery designer to create locales as visually stunning as RPGs do.

But Earth is a much stranger place than we can imagine, and some of the craziest “must be photoshopped” places turn out to be just the simple strangeness of our planet. Luckily for us, if you ever wanted to visit a place that would fit perfectly into a Final Fantasy world, Earth has you covered. Watch yourself when you stand up, because your jaws are about to be all over the floor.

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I’m sure taking a trip across Japan is a thought that has crossed the minds of many, whether they’ve already visited the country or not. However, unless you’re enjoying a gap year or have an extremely understanding boss, taking enough time off to see it all in one go isn’t easy. Experiencing the change in climates as you travel between the different regions of the country or admiring the scenery particular to a specific area carries an undeniable charm. If only there were a way to experience Japan in its full glory without being restricted by the factor of time.

Well, we might have just the solution for all you busy people out there. It comes in the form of a special Google Street View movie which boasts footage of the whole journey across the country, from the northernmost tip of mainland Japan right down to the south.

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