Autumn Leaves Photography Workshop 

The annual JDS Essence of Autumn Photography workshop always includes Japan’s most iconic symbol, Mt. Fuji, as does the annual Essence of Spring Cherry Blossom photo tour as well as the annual Hokkaido Photo Tour.  In our team’s opinion Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Parks, in Japanese (富士箱根伊豆国立公園), is a must visit for domestic and international travelers.  This national park was established on February 2, 1936, one of the first four national parks established in Japan, which consists of Mount Fuji, the Fuji Five Lakes, Hakone, Izu Peninsula, and the Izu Islands.  The park is spread out though three prefectures, having countless outdoor activities, with a variety of geographic scenery and features such as: more than one thousand volcanic islands, the isle of Hachijojima (the furthest point south) which is several hundred kilometers from the base of Mt. Fuji.  Between the two points are countless ancient pilgrimage routes - today hiking trails, hundreds of beaches, dozens of lakes, hundreds of rivers, streams, dozens of splendid waterfalls, and countess natural mineral healing hot springs.  Annually, millions of visitors soak in the park’s hot springs for spiritual and mind-set health, similar to Shinrin-Yoku (森林浴) (forest bathing making contact with and taking in the atmosphere of the forest). Onsens (mineral hot springs) have been used for their medical healing benefits for thousands of years, and are said to benefit those with illnesses such as recovery from exhaustion, stress-related disorders, including sleep disorders, depression, hypertension, recovery from illness, muscle stiffness, neuralgia, muscle soreness and arthralgia, including back pain and rheumatism, plus many other ailments, the list goes on and on.  On this note, all lodgings on JDS Japan photo tours have natural hot springs that ryokan/hotel guests may use with males and females bathing separately, and some lodgings have private hot springs that couples or singles may use.  Other lodgings even have family size private onsens.  In Japan, part of the onsen bathing culture is that there are shower stalls, each having a seat where you wash before entering the onsen.  There are no bathing suits allowed in hot springs, but towels, soaps, and washing towels are provided.   Also, there are even a few wild hot springs, where a few of our workshop leaders pitch their tents and enjoy hot springs under the moonlight and campfire.