Friday 4 January 2013

Snow and New Year

Most of these are self explanatory.... snow.
They are on the way to and from Hanaoka onsen, on the Hanawa sen,
at the main shrine in Higashi Odate and in the backyard.
No space for overtaking  - a woman on the way to the onsen.






The land in this area has subsided a lot due to mine subsidence.
The river is higher than some of the land on the behind the river bank.


Hanaoka onsen

Photos from the Hanawa sen



the backyard

the backyard


This tree should feel quite appreciative.
particularly if it compared itself to this one...

I guess this tree, beautiful as it is, was not coddled as a sappling.


tying on omikuji
If you don't pull out good luck, you can always go back for another
one... well not really, but it didn't stop Hiro's niece.  She changed
her luck from small luck to big luck so I guess I can only commend her initiative.



4 comments:

Rurousha said...

The shrine photos are beautiful!

My attitude towards snow has changed since I came to Japan. Initially I thought it was magic stuff, but now I've gained a healthy respect for it. I admire hardy folk who can live in those conditions.

Visit? Yes. Live there? My sunny southern soul shrieks in protest ...

Theresa said...

Thank you! Not very deep, is it. I like it deep... After you've seen roof-high snow you can never go back.

Cecilia said...

It wasn't very deep, it had only started to cover the ground a week before NY. Last year there was much more snow - yuki kaki daily, this year I didn't do any.
There were no NHK reports of people falling off rooves and dying - last year the woman who lives opposite Hiro's parents and must be 80 or so since she's older than them, was up on her roof sweeping off the snow.
Hardiness sometimes blends into foolhardiness.

It seems that NHK aren't advocating for heating the same way they do for air-con... I wonder why? It's much easier to die of the cold than from the hot.

Unknown said...

The backyard pics are the best!

Now, only if you don't mind (otherwise please erase my post) perhaps you or your blog readers might want to have a look at “Simon and Hiroko,” “ a dramatic love story located to a large extent in Japan, which has gathered several appreciative reviews and blog interviews.

Available at:

Amazon

Kobo

On sale at $0.99 for several days only.

I wish you’d take a stab at it too, as impressions from current residents would be very special for me.

I lived two years in Tokyo and I enjoyed the place very much.

Cheers.
Marius Hancu
Goodreads