Hard to choose which picture this time

Lots of Snow, blue sky and monkeys

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February 4th 2008
It was such a good day, far better than any of us expected. The train ride was picturesque, even from the Shinkansen. The countryside near where the monkeys were was stunning, especially with a good layer of snow on it. The walk through the snow covered forest to get the the monkeys was magic and to top it all off there were possibly 100s of monkeys doing cute stuff everywhere, it was hard to leav ... read more

Asia » Japan » Nagano

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In 1603, a Tokugawa shogunate (military dictatorship) ushered in a long period of isolation from foreign influence in order to secure its power. For 250 years this policy enabled Japan to enjoy stability and a flowering of its indigenous culture. Fol... ... read more