On December 24th, 2021, photographer イナガキヤスト Yasuto Inagaki (@inagakiyasuto) posted a photo on Twitter that went viral.

In what may be one of the most perfect "natural" Christmas images we've ever laid our eyes on, Inagaki captured this fir tree in the northernmost Japanese prefecture of Hokkaido:

Reproduced with permission from イナガキヤスト Yasuto Inagaki (@inagakiyasuto)

Against the backdrop of a gorgeous blue and orange-hued sky, Inagaki captured a magnificent fir tree and the crescent moon as if it were its crowning decoration, effectively replacing the Star of Bethlehem on this natural Christmas tree.

Inagaki later wrote in a separate tweet: "This is a photo that could only have been taken on this day, at this timing."

The position of the fir tree, the shape of the moon, and the location of the moon's appearance all had to coincide to create this miraculous photo.

A masterpiece of natural beauty, the image went viral, and Inagaki's Tweet has nearly 211,000 likes and over 32,000 retweets at the time of writing.

Understandably, the photo elicited a lot of praise, with comments such as:

  • "It's such a soul-soothing image..."
  • "The light sprinkling of snow on the ground adds to photo's charm."
  • "This could be a poster!"

By - grape Japan editorial staff.