The lovely article below reminded me of my trip to Soni Highland 曾爾高原 in Soni Village, Nara Prefecture 奈良県曽爾村 in three years ago:
My wife and I were paying visits to shrines in the back country of Yoshino, Nara Prefecture, the day before our visit to Soni Highland⬇️
After visiting Yoshino, we stayed overnight near Shōrenji Dam 青蓮寺ダム in Nabari City, Mie Prefecture 三重県名張市. Next morning, we took a local bus of Mie Kōtsū 三重交通 to Soni Highland.
Location
Photos taken during the trip on 19th Nov. 2022
<No captions provided>
The weather was perfect when we were walking around🌞
Regardless of how well I captured it in my photos, it's clear that Soni Highland has a very unique shape. This entire region, including Soni Highland, is said to have been buried under volcanic🌋 ash due to intense volcanic activity that occurred approximately 15 million years ago.
After taking a "healthy" lunch🥗 at Soni-kōgen Farm Garden, we went back to Nabari Station by Mie Kōtsū bus, and then took a limited express by Kintetsu Railway and Shinkansen to go back to Tōkyō via Kyōto.
🔳
P.S. I was in Nabari City five days ago (13th~14th Nov. 2025) for paying visits to the following shintō shrines⛩️ in Mie Prefecture:
<Nabari City>
Urufushine Shrine 宇流冨志禰神社 & Ebisu Shrine 蛭子神社
<Kameyama City>
Nobono Shrine 能褒野神社 & Fuke-Kōtatsudai Shrine 布氣皇舘太神社
