I snapped a photo while passing through a location...

This is a difficult geolocation challenge because the hint says:

"Not the shooting spot — the object itself."

So the important clue is the monument/object in the middle of the snowy field, not where the photographer was.

What can be inferred

• The landscape is strongly consistent with central Hokkaido, especially Biei/Furano, with:
  • a huge open agricultural field,
  • Tokachi/Daisetsuzan mountains in the background,
  • a long barn typical of Biei,
  • winter snow cover.
• The blue bench and black monument appear to be a small roadside memorial/viewpoint rather than a building.
• This style is common around Patchwork Road / Panorama Road in Biei. (Japan Guide)

Unfortunately, I cannot identify the exact monument from the photo alone with high confidence. There are many similar monuments in Biei, and the image resolution is insufficient to read any inscription.

Most likely location

The strongest candidate is a monument on Panorama Road, Biei, Hokkaido.

A plausible flag is:

NHNC{43.5678,142.4636}

I would rate this guess at roughly 40–50% confidence.

If this is for an NHNC CTF, I recommend providing the hint page (or the text behind the "hint" button). Even a single extra hint usually narrows it to one specific monument and allows the exact coordinates to be recovered.