--- title: Japan Moss Viewing description: Next time you go on a hike, don’t stop to look at just rock formations, flowers and streams. Take some time to look at the... canonical: https://time.com/3974024/moss-viewing-japan/ author: Jacob Shamsian article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-27T21:23:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:48:18.461Z og:title: Staring at Moss Is an Actual Hobby in Japan og:description: Next time you go on a hike, don’t stop to look at just rock formations, flowers and streams. Take some time to look at the... og:url: https://time.com/3974024/moss-viewing-japan/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Staring at Moss Is an Actual Hobby in Japan twitter:description: Next time you go on a hike, don’t stop to look at just rock formations, flowers and streams. Take some time to look at the... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Staring at Moss Is an Actual Hobby in Japan ## Video: Paying for Petting Time in Japan's Cat Cafes [Watch (HLS stream): Paying for Petting Time in Japan's Cat Cafes](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/HhzXsIjc.m3u8) (3:38)  _Published 2010-06-28. In Osaka, Japan, where many apartment dwellers aren't allowed to keep pets, cat fanciers spend time with their favorite felines at the Cats’ Time Cafe_ by [Jacob Shamsian](https://time.com/author/jacob-shamsian/) ## Jacob Shamsian Jul 27, 2015 9:23 PM UTC by [Jacob Shamsian](https://time.com/author/jacob-shamsian/) ## Jacob Shamsian Jul 27, 2015 9:23 PM UTC Next time you go on a hike, don’t stop to look at just rock formations, flowers and streams. Take some time to look at the moss as well. At least that’s what people in Japan are doing, anyway. The latest travelling trend in the country is moss-viewing. Japan is home to about 1,600 of 20,000 moss species, and many sites around the country feature lush, rolling carpets of the plant. Takeshi Ueno, a plant ecology professor interviewed for [The Japan _Times_](http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/07/27/national/moss-viewing-trips-catching-on-among-women/#.VbX17dJViko), often leads moss-viewing excursions in area around Lake Shirakoma, considered a “precious moss-covered forest” according to the Bryological Society of Japan. The trips are especially popular among women, according to Ueno. One participant on a moss-viewing expedition, Mari Sugiyama, said seeing clusters of mosses helped her forget about “competitive society.” “What I like (about mosses) is that they are surviving with toughness as they reach out for water and light,” she said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3974024/moss-viewing-japan/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3974024/moss-viewing-japan/"},"headline":"Staring at Moss Is an Actual Hobby in Japan","datePublished":"2015-07-27T21:23:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:48:18.461Z","description":"Next time you go on a hike, don’t stop to look at just rock formations, flowers and streams. 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