My Memory of Snowy Mointain

Around the age of 50, I was crazy about climbing snowy mountains. On a day of clear sky you climb a snowy mountain then it's the best mood.

There are mountains called Tateyama in the Hokuriku region in Japan. This mountain is well known for its “snowy corridor”. Around April a snowy corridor is made on the road to Tateyama around 2000 altitude meters, as a result of removing snow. We call it “Yuki no Otani”. Amazingly, snow walls beside the road become 20 meters high.

When I climbed this mountain, although at the end of May, there were many Chinese tourists around us in a bus. Oh yes, their voices were very loud, so I soon noticed they were from China. This sightseeing spot is very popular for Asians.

After coming back home, I drew this painting. This landscape is a view from the top of Mount Tateyama.

Seki city : the place making Japanese swords and a singer Lisa was born

Seki city has been well known for making Japanese swords. It's very famous in Japan, and this city has a history of 800 years about making cutlery. During the middle ages, making swords started here.

In the history of Seki, the most famous sword craftsman was called "Magoroku Kanesada". It's said that his swords were used by Hideyoshi Toyotomi, Shingen Takeda, Toshimasa Maeda and others.

It's interesting, this place is known for the birth place of Lisa, who is a singer of "Kimestu-no-Yaiba". This is a title of a Japanese anime, which is very popular with young people around the world. This anime is also known for the English title "Demon Slayer". The title of the song of this anime is "Grenge", and Lisa's Japanese name is Risa Oribe. 

The scenery for making Japanese swords is amazing. You can see it in Seki city and you definitely would be surprised to see that. Two craftsmen knock iron up with big hammers. Sparks are flying around them in the workshop. 

Speaking of Japanese swords, samurais had used them a long time ago, but now they are seen as artistic works. It’s very beautiful. So, there are many collectors of them in Japan. But you can't buy them without a license, even if you want to buy, here in Japan.

As sword craftsmen in Seki, they are making them with traditional methods. Therefore, Seki city is getting popular for foreign tourists now. If you are interested in this kind of culture, try to visit Seki city.

My city is next to Seki city and there are relatives living in the city. So I often visit this place, which is a very simple place. I love this place. 

Limited village making traditional food

Reading one letter from my friend who is Japanese American, I’m reminded of one village in my region. It’s called Yama-no-mura located in the northern region. It’s a tiny village and about 200 people are living there now.

I had visited there only once when I was in my 20s. This village is 1000 meters in altitude, so they have deep snow every winter. When I visited there, it was also in winter, February. 

This village is well known for producing dried Japanese white radish called Kanboshi-Daikon. It’s very simple and traditional. Actually, in the company I'm working at, we treat these products in our supermarket. You have better boil Kanboshi-Daikon with other food, with a soy sauce. It’s similar to Japanese Oden.

This village is close to a mining mountain called Kamioka-Kozan. Around the middle of the 20th century, Kamioka was a very lively town. But, when it came to around the end of the 20 th century, Kamioka had become a small town. Mining industry impacted the local region very much, anywhere in the world, I think.

This month, my coworker visited Yama-no-mura for his business trip. So I’m reminded of a lot of things about the village. I found an online video about this village. Please try to watch it.