Shinya Ota

Flowers have begun to bloom in Hokkaido now. I wanted to enjoy this beautiful season before the high travel season comes. I do not like crowded places very much after the Covid-19 pandemic ended. We kept a social distance for over four years during the covid. That has changed my lifestyle. After the pandemic, I would tend to evade crowded places without conscience. The high season for summer travel is starting from July. I thought the last week of June is the last chance..

I went to Ochanomizu this Saturday. Ochanomizu is known as town of young people. Around the station, there are universities like Chuo University, Nihon University, Tokyo Medical & Dental University and Meiji University. I am an alumnus of Meiji University School of Political Science and Economics. I graduated the school way 40 years ago. This is my first visit in the last 30 years if I remember correctly. I had no chance to visit since then. This time, I went to see Tatsue Morishita speak about..

One of my favorite books Ayako Miura wrote is “Shiokari Toge” or Shiokari Pass. She wrote the story about Self sacrifice with Masao Nagano as a motif, who died in the railway accident near the station on September 5th, 1916. The last car of the train Nagano is riding is disconnected from the rest of the cars by accident and begin to run away. He tried to stop the car by the hand-brake in vain. He throw himself on the track in an attempt to save passengers..

There is no snow in downtown. It gets around 0 C degree in the morning. It is still winter. However, the sunshine is different from the winter’s one. I can feel spring is not far. It was early June when I visited last year. I remember windy and chilly weather welcomed me at that time. Like last time, weather is not good. It is raining occasionally. I’ve begun to love this town since the last visit. It is a port town like the place I was born and raised..

I started to walk from Kita Kamakura toward Kamakura along the road. Within 20 minutes, I arrived Ennoji Temple, which enshrines the statue of Emma, the great king Yama, who is believed to be the judge of afterlife. In Buddhism, it is believed everyone who died will stand trial on their behavior during their life. Yama will decide whether you can go to Heaven or hell after series of long and detailed interrogations. If you acknowledged your past misdeeds..

I don’t remember when I visited the island last time. But I’ve been here three times. I wanted to return the Itsukushima Shrine Omamori talismans which my mom had bought me from the shrine long time ago. You can return them to a shrine in your neighbor. But I thought I should return to the shrine. Plus, I wanted to see the islands on the Setonaikai inland sea from the Misen mountain. Those are my main reasons to visit the island this time..

Asahikawa is a landlocked city, facing the Taisetsuzan Mountains with 2,291 meters in elevation, in Hokkaido. It is a gate way to Furano area. Tourists go through the city to their destinations. I love Ayako Miura’s litarary works. She lived most of her life (1922- 1998) in the city and wrote many popular titles with Asahikawa and Hokkaido as a place of the stories. She started her carrer as a novel writer when her story ” Hyouten” or Freezing point won..

I like Chinatown in Honolulu. Smell of Chinese spices, meat, fresh produces, lively conversations… I like the atmosphere of the town. It is just a few blocks away from Hawaii state art museum and the statue of father Damien stood in front of the government building. It is my routine to go to Chinatown after seeing the statue and watching the latest exhibition at the museum.  My father, who passed away in 2022, would buy grilled belly pork for his snack at his room in the evening..

Hakodate is a compact city for tourists. Most of those you must see gather around the port area and Hakodate yama area. You could visit them by walk, tram or bus.  The city was chosen to be a treaty port with other four cities like Nagasaki, Kobe, Yokohama and Niigata in the 1860s after Japan was forced to open its door by super powers like the United States, U.K, France and Dutch . Hakodate is a strategically important port in the northern Japan..

I’ve fallen love with Hokkaido since my visit last October. I had visited this northern island many times. However, they are all in Summer, Autumn and Winter, not in Spring. I wanted to visit while lilac is in bloom someday. And I finally decided to visit the city in May with the itinerary of two nights and three days. On this tour, I wanted to see blossom of Lilac on the streets and visit ”Kaitaku no mura”, historical village of Hokkaido, the theme park showing their lives during the ..

I am now staying City of Sapporo, the seat of Hokkaido to enjoy beautiful Autumn season. I visited the city about 35 years ago around that time of year. As it was just overnight stay for business, I do not remember now. During the Covid-19 travel restrictions, I stayed my town for over two years except Hiruzen, Okayama this summer. (It was a travel I had to make. ) I was feeling almost suffocated. I wanted to get out far from the town and do something refreshing..

My young brother and I went to Hiruzen Kogen, north of Okayama area to see our relatives and pick up my dad. He went to see his sister in person and needed someone to take him back home. We got on a Nozomi super express bullet train from Shin-Yokohama bound for West Japan at 08:10 in the morning. We hit Okayama at 11:10. At the station, we were supposed to rend a car. I thought we could rent a car without reservation, which turned out completely wrong.,

I made a visit to Takahata, a town of some 22,000 bordering Yonezawa city to its west in Yamagata prefecture. They produce rice on the flat area and peaches, pears, apples, grapes, cherries, etc., on the hilly areas. Takahata town is the largest producer of ”Delaware grapes” in the nation. With its abundant gifts from nature, the town has been called as “Mahoroba” in ancient Japanese word, or a fertile land surrounded by hills and Mountains.

Yonezawa is the seat of Yonezawa clan which governed the south part of Yamagata in the Edo period. The land was not so fertile. With large servants to feed and frequent orders for supports in terms of labor and money from the Tokugawa shogunate, they had bee under financial difficulty all the time. Uesugi Yozan (September 9, 1751 – April 2, 1822), the 9th load of the domain, has been admired as a leader to turn around the situation through frugality and encouragement of business..

I visited Shanghai from May 20 until May 26 for business. I do not remember exactly how many times I had visited the city. It could be over 10 times.  Every time I visit there, I would always realize the city is changing at a rapid pace. It’s been almost 8 years since I visited last time.  I thought I might have landed at a completely different place when I saw the view of the city from the aircraft.  I stayed at Intercontinental Shanghai Expo in Pudong near the Nanpu bridge along the Huangpu river..