Showing posts sorted by relevance for query hanawa snow. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query hanawa snow. Sort by date Show all posts

Monday, 10 January 2011

Snow Country

Most of these photos were taken on the Hanawa railway line on the way back to Morioka from Odate.  The train line makes its way through the mountains that divide Akita from Iwate, through national forests, tired onsen towns, old mining areas.  In winter the snow can be very deep.   There was serious snow while we were up in Odate - more than 60cm in one day (areas around Tottori much further south had extreme snow).  The snow that was falling was 'bota yuki' - wet and heavy snow (as opposed to dry powdery snow).  My uncle's saying  'snow is pretty on a postcard'  has more than a grain of truth.  It is pretty - and the Hanawa line (which takes longer than the bus, even when it's the express) is one of my favourite trainlines in Japan so far - along with the Uetsu line from Murakami to Sakata in Niigata / Yamagata.   But shovelling snow wears thin after a while, and it makes for treacherous driving conditions, particularly when it melts and refreezes.
The train windows were very foggy, and while I used considerable newspaper to wipe the window clean, some of the photos have  bit of fog on the edges.
Snow but not cold enough to freeze rivers




Not a cemetry with crosses - rows for eggplant or beans?  buried under snow.

Snow halfway up the side of the house




The carpark at Itoku supermarket


Hiro's father with a snow clearing machine

Saturday, 21 January 2012

Which amount of snow stops the trains?


Which amount of snow stops the trains?
Picture A taken near Kazuno-Hanawa on the Hanawa line?   OR



B.   Tokyo yesterday snow falling but not collecting on the ground.









And the answer is




B.


A few flakes of snow yesterday and the subways were in chaos with delays and cancelled trains.  Most subways turn into suburban above ground trains once they get out of Tokyo so even though they are mostly underground, snow above ground can cause problems. Tokyo is not designed to cope with snow. Because it rarely snows cars don't have winter tyres and any amount of snow invariably causes traffic accidents.
(The photo above is JR rather than subway, the photo below is of subway delays,  but if I took a picture in the subway, it would be underground & you wouldn't see how little snow there actually is.)



Wednesday, 4 January 2012

New Year

We arrived back from Akita last night.
New Year was toned down this year.
Hiro's brother died unexpectedly in November and by custom there are no new year celebrations. There is no New Year card sending or receiving  - a "cold winter greeting, death in the family" card goes out and the correct response is to send no greeting card for New Year.  It seems very harsh - more than ever people need to know that there are people out there thinking of them.... I don't know the origin of the custom, but I dislike it.  There is no making or eating of traditional "osechi' New Year foods - which didn't bother me particularly as I can't get excited about eating cold foods to celebrate in minus temperatures , no annual mochi (rice cake) making.  For some reason it's not OK to make osechi, but it's Ok to eat it the osechi that thoughtful neighbours give. (knowing that it's not ok to make them). There is also no (Shinto) shrine visiting (though the Buddhist grave visiting is encouraged - though with the snow and the location of the grave at the top of a long stairway up the side of a mountain - we opted out)   Hiro & I popped into the local shrine anyway on the way back from Hiro restocking his tobacco, obviously we weren't meant to though as I stepped in a snow covered gutter on the way back and fell into a snow hole a metre deep... very fortunately I didn't fall as far as the water.  Hiro's parent's burned incense burned the whole time we were there.

The snow in Odate, and the whole Japan Sea side,  is particularly heavy this year. I was quite excited to be taking the Hanawa train line through the mountains again since there has been so much snow.  Alas it blizzarded the whole way, both ways, and we could only see the snow that was stuck to the window.

 Hiro's mother was beside herself with a mix of fright, shock and disbelief to find Hiro's father up on the roof  peak shovelling snow.  He thought it was a bit of an over reaction until the evening news reported a 37 year old man in the south of Akita dying because he fell shovelling snow from the roof.... Seeing that he decided he wouldn't get back on the roof . I have mentioned to them before it makes Hiro's and my life much easier if they stay healthy...  I doubt I will be winning prizes for filial piety, but it's true.

2011 wasn't the best year for Japan.  May the year of the dragon be brighter and better.

Happy New Year to all.

Friday, 4 January 2013

Back in Tokyo - holiday trains


We arrived back in Tokyo last night.  JR did magnificently with holiday crowds.  They seem to know the patterns of people movement well. The Hanawa sen had an extra carriage on the way up, but not on the way back (3 carriages vs 2 carriages).  Despite the snow, and crowds there were minimal delays (3 mins late leaving Morioka which wouldn't be enough to even be reported most places).
The NY is staggered this year.  Hiro returns to work today, many other people (who have companies with a little imagination) have today (Friday) off as well & will return over the weekend.   The train on the way up and  back were fully booked (people were standing on an all booked seats train).  But it didn't feel crowded anywhere.

Shenkansen on holiday timetables at Omiya station.  The Tokyo bound trains are on  the right, the north bound
(Sendai, Morioka, Aomori, Nagano, Niigata) on the left.
We had the good fortune of catching the Hayabusa


The Hanawa sen had beautiful scenery, as usual, though the condensation
inside and the snow fall outside made it difficult to see it.
http://ponkanchan.blogspot.jp/2011/01/snow-country.html


The Hanawa sen at Kazuno on the way up.



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.