Photos of Iwate

Four loads of my washing machine and I am still not at the end of my laundry basket. So I have decided to abandon the project and put up my photos of Iwate as promised.



The big snow was no lie. Look at this car parked near where I stayed.


You can still use the ski slopes on Mount Appi for another few weeks, and in the shaded areas, there were still some pretty big drifts.




However, the melt is definitely on.


And there is a feeling of new life. Various plants and trees starting to sprout and bloom and battle the elements.




These are 蕗の薹 (Fukinotou) that just grow at the side of the road.



They're a real forager's delight and are the first mountain vegetable to grow after the long winter. They are a bit of an acquired taste as they are fairly bitter - but I really enjoy them deep fried as tempura.

You know you're in the country when you're walking along and see signs like this one.

What I'm still trying to figure out is, if you can't use a gun, then what are you going to hunt the bears with? Fisticuffs? A stick?

This is Mount Iwate seen from two different sides. One is said to be the male side and one the female. Can you guess which is which?



On the way back to Tokyo, I met up with some colleagues and shopped for some souvenirs. The shops in Morioka are trying to promote local crafts and keep the area's artisan skills alive, one of which is the traditional iron teapot maker's craft. "I'm a little teapot...not!"


These are チャグチャグ馬コ (Chagu Chagu Uma-Ko) - souvenirs of the famous Tohoku summer festival where the local farmers bless their horses by adorning them with tonnes and tonnes of little bells that make the Chagu Chagu sound as they walk along. I love them, and if I had more room in my flat for decoration would absolutely by one of the really big ones (...to go for imaginary rides on...)


You can't really see it in my photos but the snow had a little bit of a yellow tinge this year. This was not because of dirt, as such, but rather it's due to the 黄砂（kousa）- the yellow sand carried on the winds all the way from the deserts of China and central Asia. We sometimes see the effects of this natural phenomenon in Tokyo - usually on laundry day - but it's quite rare for it to reach Iwate in the winter. Another harbinger of the messed up global weather system.

And speaking of yellow tinges, I will finish with the great gift of a really unnatural-looking photo that was taken of me on Saturday.


Seriously, I have not had surgery to make me look more Asian (though some friends will not believe me): it seems to be happening all by itself.

Yikes! I think I'm turning Japanese, I think I'm turning Japanese, I really think so.