Rainy days and rural Japan
A photo essay
Kia ora Koutou, Tim Bunting, Kiwi Yamabushi here on the Japan you never knew you wanted to know.
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Rainy days are the best. Rainy days in rural Japan?
Even better.
There’s nothing like taking a hot bath in an outdoor onsen on a rainy day. Well, snowy days are also good because you can make snow angels, but still, rainy days in rural Japan;
The low clouds create a barrier between the ground and the mountaintops making them float in the sky. It makes the mountains seem like slow moving monsters from way off in the distance.
This next view shows a huge contrast between New Zealand and Japan:
In New Zealand if there is a hill with a good view, there is a house.
In Japan, this is hardly ever the case, or at least in rural areas. The only things you ever see on hills are power pylons or satellite towers, and the ever-present patchwork of forests (a remnant from WWII rebuilding that caused some 40% of Japan’s residents to get pollen allergies).
Well, this may be an exception, or it may just be the onsen with the best view in the prefecture, come here and judge for yourself.
And then, one of my favourite shots, albeit usually when Mt. Chokai is more visible.
Sometimes all you can see is the summit, it makes for interesting viewing to say the least!
Same view as before only a little change in zoom. This time you really get a feel for the expansive rice fields, and where the monsters’ power comes from.
Some swans, the true sign of winter, and a completely different view but of those very same monsters (I think, I could be wrong. I’m certain that’s Taizo-san, which looks amazing at this time of year, to the left and I think that’s Yozo-san, the mountain with the legendary giant white snake, to the right).
This time it isn’t clouds blocking our view of the base of the mountains, it’s a highway. Very good for getting places (apparently this and the Shinkansen have only increased people immigrating to Tokyo), but also an eyesore, especially on these rural rice fields which used to have nothing else.
Speaking of Taizo-san
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Ka kite ano.
Tim.