Japanese larch windbreak trees and their shadows stretching across the pure white snow in perfectly straight rows paint a beautiful picture that looks like a tapestry pattern. The scenery was discovered in the air above the town of Shari in the Okhotsk region during an aerial shooting session photographing drift ice.

According to the Shiretoko Shari Agricultural Cooperative, “The crops for this area are mainly wheat, sugar beets, and potatoes. In its natural state, the town of Shari is an area that experiences strong winds coming in from both the ocean and the mountains. To protect field crops, windbreak trees have been planted here.”

The Cooperative reports that windbreaks are decreasing yearly due to the elimination of trees because crops planted in their shadows do not grow, field layout revisions come into play, and trees can get in the way of work when larger machinery is incorporated into farming practices. Looking at the situation from a different angle, these forests could be a surprising resource for tourism.