Irohazaka road near Nikkō, Japan
© LightRecords/Shutterstoc
Info. Irohazaka road
These bends in our photo are just eight of the 48 curves you'll navigate on your way up and down Irohazaka, a pair of winding mountain roads outside the city of Nikkō in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. That's one switchback for each of the 48 hiragana symbols in an ancient Japanese writing system, with each turn marked by a sign showing one symbol. This is how the scenic loop got its name – “i-ro-ha” are the first three syllables of the old Japanese alphabet and “zaka” means “slope”.
Related Images
Brown pelican, San Diego, California, USA
Crescent-tail bigeye fish in the Great Barrier Reef, Australia
Plum-headed parakeet at Shimoga, Karnataka, India
Polar bears at play in the Arctic
A green sea turtle swims in the Pacific Ocean near the French overseas territory of New Caledonia
Two red-crowned cranes in Kushiro, Hokkaido, Japan
Elephants in Jim Corbett National Park, India
Northern hawk-owl, Canada
Today on Bing
Castle of Zafra, Guadalajara province, Spain
Nov 22, 2024
Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Nov 22, 2023
Old Town of Bern, Switzerland
Nov 22, 2020
For Fibonacci Day, an agave plant
Nov 22, 2019