Photographer Yui Hirayama (@yuiphoto2) travels Japan capturing stunning shots of gorgeous scenery and famous sites. You may remember that just recently, he photographed the healing nature of a shrine's Holy Washing Pond in a stunning shot that many on Twitter couldn't believe wasn't a painting.

Hirayama once again has Twitter doing a double take, with another marvelous photo that has many surprised that the scenery captured in it actually exists in Japan. The photographer recently visited the Tove Jansson Akebono Children’s Forest Park in Saitama prefecture, and took photo that looks lifted straight from a fairytale.

Source: @yuiphoto2

Located in Saitama prefecture, the Tove Jansson Akebono Children’s Forest Park brings to life the aesthetic of the world of The Moomins, cute troll characters created by Swedish-speaking Finnish illustrator Tove Jansson that are so popular in Japan they've got their own theme park and cafes.

The park itself features the “Mushroom Houses” and “the House of the Forest" found in the popular picture books, but Hirayama's skilled photography and well-timed shot shows the park as fantastical scenery that would fit right in the pages of a Moomin picture book. Many on Twitter were surprised that the "foreign" aesthetic of the area was actually a place photographed in Japan.

For more breathtaking photography of Japan, be sure to follow Hirayama on Twitter!


By - grape Japan editorial staff.