Anmon Falls at the Shirakami Sanchi 暗門の滝@白神山地 The Shirakami Sanchi is an expansive mountain range encompassing Aomori and Akita prefectures that has a near-perfect example of a primeval Japanese beech, "buna," forest. It is a World Heritage UNESCO site and has a lot of hiking trails available for visitors to experience relatively unsoiled nature. When I first heard the term, "primeval forest," I wasn't exactly sure what it meant! It made me think of ancient and old, which is a good descriptor of what the Shirakami Sanchi is. The beech trees in the Shirakami Sanchi have been growing relatively undisturbed from human forces for hundreds of years. Another way to describe "primeval forest," would be "old growth forest," a prime example of how forests can thrive without human intervention. The hiking trail we took to the Shirakami Sanchi took us to Anmon Falls which are a trio of powerful waterfalls. Conditions on the trail are varying depending on the season and we were unable to hike out to the last waterfall due to treacherous conditions. Because conditions are varied, you must also rent helmets (¥100) before you can hike out to the waterfalls. At the Shirakami Sanchi, it's possible to view the cyclical force of nature. Whilst on the hike, you can also take a detour to observe Japanese beech trees in a regenerative cycle. We were able to see saplings growing in sunny patches opened up by fallen beech trees, and trees that looked like they were in their teen years, slowly but surely growing into sturdy duplicates of the their ancestors.