Five days later, I went to a ranch in Gujo city, Gifu prefecture, and looked through the viewfinder of my camera to find a field of violet-pink flowers waiting for me.

This time I wore a white polo shirt and a black trekking hat. No necklace and no sunglasses. My mouth was somewhat sore from the mouth ulcers. I’m not in such dire straits at the moment that I’m willing to jump at any job.

I was fascinated by the flowers. Anyway, I was taken aback by the beauty. It may have been a tourist ranch, but the brochure said, “Take a deep breath,” so I took a deep breath. Yeah, it’s not the first time I’ve done this.
　
I could smell the flower garden right in front of me. Or maybe I just felt like I smelled it. It was a lavender flower garden. This place sometimes tends to be, how to say it, dreamy. It’s like being in an imaginary world.

There used to be a kind of barbecue house for families. They provided food, a place to rest, facilities for outdoor activities, entertainment, and above all, a quiet environment.

The price was not too high. Families are usually not that wealthy. When I say families, I include children and pets.

It was hot there. It must have been 35 or 36 degrees Celsius.

On the three sides of the lavender field were the plateau flower field, the church flower field, and the secret flower field, where there was a church like you would see in the West, but the bell there was rusty and faded.

The flower garden area was full of colors. There were blue Russian sage, yellow marigolds, pink alstroemeria, and red sun patients.

From one side of the lavender field, I could see Mt. Dainichigatake (1,709m) and Mt. Hakusan (2,702m).

Dainichigatake is locating to the southeast of Hakusan, and the empty ski resort looked as if a landslide had occurred. There were no people on the trail. There was an off-season atmosphere in the air.

Maybe it was, it wasn’t.

While drinking water, I thought about Dainichigatake and Hakusan. To go or not to go? I would spend most of the afternoon trying to get to the two mountains.

I walked about two kilometers to the pasture and took some breaks on a bench near the pond. As I drank the water, I began to feel more and more amused by the reality that people were feeding the carp in the pond. How can food for carp be more expensive than the water we drink?
　
In the pasture, I saw some fascinating animals such as Suffolk sheep, native to England. But, I couldn’t find the animals I was looking for.

It seemed that milking the cow wore out the cow, and pulling the horse wore out the horse’s nerves. Humans seemed to be abusing them by paying for their desires.

It would be harder to eat shabu-shabu (a type of hot pot) after seeing the cows at the ranch than it would be to beat the famous horse, Deep Impact. You don’t just look at a cow and say, “That looks good in shabu-shabu.”

In any case, animals have the right to live free as they are born. 

Put them out to pasture. Long live the animals!

I left the pasture and continued for a while, crossing the road train station. I climbed the stairs and returned to the main house where I could see the observatory. I sat down on a bench in front of the main house and waited patiently.

I rested for five minutes or so. Then I went back the way I came.

When I left the entrance gate, I returned to my parked car and made a U-turn to go to my next destination.

That was the end of the half-day.

Reference

Japanese https://note.com/yasuharunagura/n/n3ca574c92c87

I headed for Soni Village in Nara Prefecture. The long drive from Nabari was totally depressing.

Even though Mie Prefecture is a big place, there is no other place in the world that is so boring to drive. There was nothing on Prefectural Road 785 from Nabari to Soni Village. People are just doing forestry there.

It’s the same in every non-urban border town. Just like Chinatown is the same everywhere. Chinatown in Yokohama? It’s one of the most prosperous Chinatowns in Japan, but all you can find there are soup dumplings and a few Sichuan restaurants.

It’s true that after dark, you can see the shopping district bathed in a beautiful sunset. At dusk, like a Muslim wearing a hijab (scarf), there is something a little exotic about it. But I had to go to Soni Village to remember my past in the highlands.

The road to the south is as monotonous as the principal’s bragging. Through the mountains, down the hills, just winding along the river, through the mountains, up the hills, just winding along the river. That’s it.

It was four o’clock when I arrived at Soni Village. The Soni Plateau awaited me there.

I parked my car in a toll parking lot. It was raining lightly and the ground was a little damp. It took me a while to get going properly, and I needed to pay 800 yen for parking. The reason I came here was not to promote my health but to reminisce about the past.

I remembered that I had been here once about eight years ago. In the fall, when the silver grass was turning from white to silver and from silver to gold. Maybe I was tired. Maybe I was just naked in the middle of a highland meadow. I can’t imagine that I was playing alone in the awn there.

Most of the pond had become a wetland due to the accumulation of sediment over the years. The water in the pond was stored by rainwater and underground water from the mountains. There is a legend of a giant snake in the pond, and if I were to encounter one, I would run away at once. If it bit me, I would give it a kick and snap it clean in two.

I climbed the plateau in silence. I slowly extended my hand to the camera and grasped it in my palm. The sensation in both my legs was crazy. They were numb. The back of my thighs was beginning to ache. I had walked 12.4 kilometers that day, or 29,962 steps. I felt like having a drink that day. When I was tired from hiking or working hard, I wanted to moisten my throat.

I made it to the summit. The view from the top was so beautiful that I opened a bottle of whiskey and fell asleep in a drunken stupor. I’m done. Thank you. Then I turned around and headed back down.

A stylish young woman in a flowery dress with a white parasol was also going down the steps of the meadow. In a quiet meadow, there is always at least one gorgeous woman like her. I pulled up, looking for plants in the marsh.

I returned to my starting point and walked to the parking lot. I looked up at the sky. There were clouds in the sky, but it was a cool and refreshing evening. Then I got into the car and left the Soni Plateau.

Reference

Japanese https://note.com/yasuharunagura/n/nd9f006c51705

I was looking for a regatta.

I have a costly hobby, and I have enough money to satisfy it.

I haven’t issued a bad check so far.

I just whimsically typed an incomprehensible sentence that happened to come to my mind.

If I drowned, it might be “Goodbye.”

A little south along the lake, there was a bright red torii gate.

The beautifully sunny Benten-jima was receiving a warm day.

I’m not a local person. Do you bow like a geisha to the torii and say “Hello” ?

I was playing while taking pictures until after 2 o’clock.

I was able to enter just by placing two 100-yen coins.

As I climbed the dark stairs, I saw a gold-leaf ceiling.

From the view of the castle, the color of the mountains and sky felt like a tropical country.

I was constantly taking pictures and completely forgot the time.

2021

Hamamatsu Castle　　　

is located in center of Hamamatsu city.

2021

Hamamatsu
Castle Park

is a relaxing place conveniently located within walking distance of Hamamatsu station.

I have seen this castle once.

At first, I was on my way to the Hamamatsu Museum of Musical Instrument.

I was 29 years old at that time, and I was carrying a backpack.

I looked back and looked back and thought that I had learned the journey.

Referene

Photography in Shizuoka, Japan (May, 2019)