Backcountry Ski Tour in Fukushima

-会津駒ヶ岳 Aizu Komagatake Altitude:2,132m

-April 29 and 30, 2012

-Maps: 檜枝岐，会津駒ヶ岳(1:25,000)

-Starting Point: 檜枝岐，滝沢登山口

-Altitude of Staring Point: 930m

-Weather : good

-Itinerary: piston along the summer route, take/take off ski at 1,400m

-Conditions of Snow: good

-Avaranche Activity: nothing

-Accommodation:  駒の小屋 Y3,000 without meal service

-Equipment: nothing special

hiking up in the beech trees

my ski, telemark, Nunyo (BD) et Scarpa T3

view towards the summit

almost summit

view from the summit towards Echigo

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Cherry Blossom

Cherry blossom holds great meaning for Japanese.  It's not exaggeration to say that there is tremendous importance attached to the significance of the connection between rebirth of nature and that so many official, formal and cultural events take place at the same time.... such as school entrance ceremonies, the start and end of the fiscal period. etc.

April cherry blossom marks the end of the cold winter weather and the arrival of hope alongside bright, warm Spring days.  This is a new beginning.  This is rebirth.  This is the start of something beautiful.

Here I would like to introduce phrases quoted from an essay of David A. Sein which explains Hanami , cherry blossom viewing.

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Cherry blossom viewing hanami is one of the most popular events of the year in Japan.  When the cheery trees are in bloom, millions of people go to parks, (like in Ueno Park) riversides, ( like  Sumida River) and even cemeteries (like in Zoshigaya, Yanaka) to enjoy the beauty of these lovely blossoms.  They sit under the trees, eating, drinking, chatting, appreciating the beauty of the white and pink flowers.

Blossom viewing is a very old custom in Japan.  At first, it was done only by nobles, and they went to see plum trees instead of cherry blossoms.  After a while, cherry blossoms became more popular, and by the 1600s, blossom viewing had become popular among ordinary people as well.  

Cherry blossoms are important to Japanese people because they remind us that life is short, and that you should appreciate the wonderful things around you, since they may not last for very long.  

One thing that many foreigners wonder about is why the beautiful cherry trees have no cherries.  The reason is that they are bred for blossoms rather than fruit.  They actually do have very small cherries, but they're really tiny and aren't good to eat.

Tea Ceremony, September

In the world of tea ceremony, there is an idea of being ahead of its season.  We conceive the arrival of next season by the flower arrangement, the ball or other utensils prepared by the host.  At the last lesson, it was last Saturday, and it was very hot and humid because of a coming typhoon, but the ceremony room was full of autumn.   I felt my sprit calmed down and relaxed only by sitting in the room and forgot the annoyance.

Go Up Along Uono River, Nagano

Journey along the river Uono:

 16, 17 and 18th of July, 2011 with my good friends

Iwana, Japanese trout They are in the stream with clean and cool water.

What a wonderful world!!

The journey will be soon finished with this messy bush.

looking back the trace where we walked...

view of Shiga Kogen in the direction of Kita Alps

http://g.co/maps/fjjuj

Chanoyu, Tea Ceremony

I have been studying chanoyu, tea ceremony for 2 years, but I'm still not accustomed to the etiquette, rules and movements of the tea ceremony.   One of the reasons seems to be the fact that the rites which  have been almost disappeared in our days are so complicated.  The prof. is not usually demonstrate to the student how to do, but she just says " It's not correct way, Ms." every time when I make mistakes.  The students have to learn only by observing how other students do.  Oh, I cannot remember them.  It takes so long time to be a master of tea...

If someone ask me, "What is the charm of chanoyu?,  I would respond them, "When I sit quietly in the simple  tatami room which is totally different from our modern life, I can forget the real life.   And when  I concentrate myself on the preparation of a bowl of tea,  my heart is full of peace and I am able to find serenity of my mind.  Reaching this situation of spirt is the most charm of chanoyu." 

These are photos of this month's decoration.  The theme are iris, fresh green, etc.

Flowers and hanging scroll.  From these seasonal decorations, the guest can feel the thought of the host.

My Prof. 

Confections in  forme of iris

implements

Ski in Fukushima

On April 28-30, 2011, my friends and I went skiing at Mount Aizu Komagatake in Hinoemata Village in Fukushima Pref. .  It locates actually 280km far from the Fukushima nuclear power plant, so,  to be honest, I was a little bit concerned about the safety of the roads and the mountains themselves in Fukushima and the radioactive air, but as I drove my car to the Hinoemata Village, I forgot my concerns: On the way, the roads were completely normal, though partly closed at Shiobara Onsen because of a shoot of a big rock on the road. Nothing has been changed!  I felt more relieved than anything.  I felt happy to come again to Fukushima after that disaster.

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On 29^th, we climbed up on ski with skin and skied down.  Normally, it takes about 4 hours to climb up to the top, but that day, we were very tired.  We did no exercise for about 7 weeks, because we didn’t felt doing mountaineering after having seen the catastrophe led by tsumani and nuclear power plant.  Finally, we could not reach the top as the weather got worse, but we were so happy to be in the mountain fields. 

on the way to the summit.

The slope of Aizu Komagatake is not steep, but rather easy.  However, it was a little bit difficult for my level of ski.  We skied freely through the forest of beech trees (buna in Japanese that represent Japanese broad-leaf trees).  We had a good tree run!　Nature gave us power! 

skiing on the slope of beech trees

On 30^th, I said good-by to my friends and drove my car to see my grand mother who lives in Ibaraki Pref.  Ibaraki had also damage and they still have aftershocks, and threat of radioactivity.  So they are very much worried.  Granma was so pleased to see me.