Nihon Shin Sankei (Japan's three new views) Kamagasaki

Welcome to Miho no Matsubara. I am the Celestial maiden of the Hagoromo legend in Miho.
Today, while walking along the Kamagasaki path, it will be my honor to help you make many discoveries. I am waiting ahead of you at the most popular spot Kamagasaki, which has a signature Miho no Matsubara view of Mt. Fuji. For reasons of safety, I would be most grateful if cyclists walked their bicycles along this path.
As stated on the monument, Miho no Matsubara is one of the three new views of Japan.
At the beginning of the Taisho period, readers of a well-known magazine voted it as the most popular tourist spot in Japan. The Japan's three new views monument was engraved by Heihachiro Togo. There are similar monuments at Onuma, Hokkaido and Yabakei, Kyushu.

Let us now proceed to the "Matsurin no michi" or "Pine Grove Path" in English.
About 50 meters ahead of this path surrounded by rather large pine trees, you will suddenly happen upon a multitude of much smaller, but altogether lovely group of pines.These are new young pines that were planted after a sickness caused a bunch of pine trees to die out recently. Since they are still quite small they are easy to observe. The pine sap is very sticky, so take great care to softly touch them.
The pine needles are prickly, aren't they? They look almost identical to red pines here, but it is the black pine which has the prickly needles.

About the organs of the Pine

I shall now explain the life cycle of pine cones as seasons change along this path. In spring, flowers bloom on pine branches. When summer comes, tiny pine cones emerge. As the weather shifts to the cool climes of autumn, one can hear cracking as pine cones open up. And finally in winter, one can discover fallen pine cones and sprouts preparing for spring's arrival.
As pine saplings, they become too dense and so after a short while, they are thinned out and take on a new life as decorations during New Year festivities.
I recommend searching for the "Matsu gumi" plant when the Pines grow big and tall once more.

Taxillus Kaempferi- Matsugumi

Let me give you an explanation of what the "Matsu gumi" plant or Taxillus Kaempferi, in English, is. If you look far up into the branches of the pine trees you can see that there is a leaf growing up there that looks to be a jumbled mess of a bird's nest, quite different from the needles that grow naturally on pine trees. "Matsu gumi," is a parasitic plant closely related to mistletoe.

Pisolithus tinctorius- Kotsubutake

Look closely enough and you might chance upon a lovely little round glossy dark brown mushroom. The mycorrhizal fungi are one type of mushroom that lives symbiotically with pine trees. You can see them if you do some thorough weeding or scrape through some pine needles.
Well then, continue on down the path until you come to a small "torii" and shrine on your right. From there, start your next guide.

The Japan's three new views monument was engraved by Heihachiro Togo. There are similar monuments at Onuma, Hokkaido and Yabakei, Kyushu.

Kamagasaki monument

Proceeding on the path to the right, at last we arrive at Kamagasaki with its commanding view of Mt. Fuji. You may suddenly feel a strong wind blowing.
Actually though, the pine groves surrounding this path obstruct the sea winds and so serve as constant protectors against them.

L-shaped breakwaters

Protruding from the coast is Kamagasaki. Mt. Fuji is visible from the left. In the great expanse of ocean that is Suruga Bay, the deepest in Japan, more than 1,500 species of fish make it their home.
Peering along the coast, one can see many wave-dissipating concrete blocks that have been installed. On the left side, do you know that there are many buried four-cornered boxes over there?
These are a new type of block called "L-shaped breakwaters" which do not project out of the sea. There are boxes buried in the ocean which are the size of four-story buildings.Here at Miho no Matsubara, we want to preserve the scenery while also protecting the area from disaster, so we are replacing the old breakwaters with new ones that can be buried out of sight.
Well then, it is now time for me to go.Please continue onward to enjoy the scenery of Kamagasaki.

Looking backwards from Kamagasaki monument in Miho no Matsubara, nearby Miho Shrine's Kami no Michi there is another Miho no Matsubara scenic spot monument.

Miho no Matsubara scenic spot monument