Water Landscape of Yakushima

Yakushima, the island located in the south of Japan was designated a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site in 1993. And also its virgin forest is famous for where the movie “Princess Mononoke” took place. Every year, many travelers from all over the world are coming to enjoy its great nature. We focus on the culture and people living on this wonderful island and deliver it by videos.

―Water vapor from the warm Kuroshio current produce clouds that touch Yakushima’s mountains, and eventually becomes rain that falls to the ground.

Clouds that change shape moment by moment and a landscape with water droplets moistening the forest are captured on video.

Music: Better Days – Bensound.com

The Lifetime of Water

Warmed in the East China Sea, the Kuroshio Current changes its flow eastward off the coast of Yakushima.

Moisture in the air meets Yakushima’s mountains causing heavy rain.

Nearly 100% of the electricity on the island is generated by hydro power.

Yakushima has the highest annual precipitation in Japan with approximately 4,000mm of rainfall in the flatlands and 10,000mm in the mountains.

The soil consists mainly of granite and is low in nutrients, so the growth of cedar, for instance, is slow.

The rain that falls in the mountains makes its way down many waterfalls and returns to the sea.

“It rains 35 days a month in Yakushima.” (Ukigumo [Floating Clouds] by Fumiko Hayashi)