Oni-Oshi-Dashi

About forty minutes from the resort town of Karuizawa, where Tokyo's wealthy keep their summer homes, there's Oni-Oshi-Dashi, which translates roughly as 'Demon Pushing Out Rocks'. It's a rugged, surreal landscape of rock formations, formed when lava from an eruption of nearby volcano Mount Asama flowed into hot mud on the slopes, then cooled and solidified into these twisted shapes.

It's now an attraction for sightseers, with paths laid through the rocks, easy access by car or bus, and of course a restaurant and souvenir shop, which sells cute little demon toys to take home.

It's a fun place to stroll around slowly. As you wind around the paths you can admire the flowers sprouting between the rocks - it is, in essence, a giant rockery - and the butterflies and dragonflies they attract.

There's also a beautiful view down the slopes of the mountain, and it's fun to find shapes in the rocks. Some of the more anthropomorphic ones have been given names like 'Shrine Dog Rock' and 'Parent and Child Rock'.