Despite being home to rich natural splendor and the endlessly charming Edo period merchant town of Kawagoe (one of the most popular day trips from Tokyo), Saitama prefecture has a bit of a bad rap in other areas in Japan. Due to its image of a "bed town" (a quiet and limited town lived in only for a reasonable commute to Tokyo) and stereotype of having only rice fields, family restaurants, and rural atmosphere, the entire prefecture is often referred to (particularly by those in Tokyo and sometimes self-deprecatingly by Saitama residents themselves) as "Dasaitama". This is a derogatory term that combines the prefecture's name with the Japanese word "dasai" (lame, uncool, boring).

While a little research and sometime spent touring the area easily dispels that myth, Japanese photographer Kuroko (@9Croco) posted a set of four gorgeous photos that many rethinking their use of the term. All of them benefit from the imagery of a swirling sea of clouds, but the first two show of the surprising photogenic quality of Japan's industrial complexes, which many have said look like a real-life Midgard from Final Fantasy 7.

The other two show off a more natural setting, but all four were taken in Saitama's Chichibu region, which is no stranger to being a hot spot for absolutely beautiful photography.

Of course, Saitama doesn't look like this all the time, but hopefully it'll help give an appetizer of how surprisingly awesome the prefecture can be for some, as well as a good counter to its not so fun nickname!