Talking about Azumino

Nishina San-ko ( The Nishina three lakes )

 

There are three lakes, the so called "Nishina San-ko", at the northen end of Azumino. From south to north, they are Lake Kizaki, Lake Nakatsuna, and Lake Aoki. The rural scenery of Azumino as an extension of the most lush and fertile rice fields ends at the north of Omachi City which neighbors the lakes. And the narrow mountainous path continues to the Sea of Japan from here.

The three lakes were formed on the Fossa Magna ( a masked border region separating southwest and northeast Japan ) which hints at the mystery of the formation process of the Japanese Islands. In the case of Lake Aoki, the deepest part of the lake measures 58m.

The reason why Lake Aoki continues to maintain a rich quantity of water, in spite of having no inflow river, is that it probably has a large quantity of springs at the bottom of the lake. The Nougu River flowing out of Lake Aoki leads south Lake Nakatsuna and Lake Kizaki. 

The sightseeing association of Omachi City describes the Nishina three lakes in a very poetic way. First, Lake Kizaki, having prosperious leisure sites, is "Lake Kizaki of the play"; Lake Nakatsuna, evincing snug atmosphere, is "Lake Nakatsuna of the relaxed pose"; and Lake Aoki, evincing mysterious atmosphere, is "Lake Aoki of the comtemplative pose". I believe these are very appropriate expressions.

I visited Lake Aoki for the first time in almost thirty years. The water springing out of the deep bottom of the lake changes the color of the Lake Aoki's center into fresh water blue or bright light blue. I was moved by the scenery of Hakuba Sanzan with snow on its top and mountains with leaves that have beautifully been transformed into an array of tints of yellow, red, or orange and auburn. Backed by these exquisite natural scenaries, a shopkeeper pretended to be a philosopher for a few brief moment.

The first snowfall came to the Japan Alps mountain range

 

In these days, we are really felling the cold. In the early morning of last Saturday, I discovered as if by chance, the top of western mountains had turned white. Oh! It was the first snowfall in the mountains in this season. In this summer, we had suffered from extreme hot weather. And yet even until the end of September, we had experienced the severe heat of late summer.

Actually, I felt little bit relieved since the snow had fallen about same time as the average year. The recent controversy over global warming and climate change is so serious that we had become a little restless. Recent news that the climate change campaigner Al Gore and the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize makes us stand up and notice the severity of this issue. The Norwegian Nobel Committee pointed out it wanted to bring into sharper focus the increased danger of violent conflicts and wars over water or food, within and between states affected by climate change.

During my delivery stops, I dropped in at Tohari-bashi（登波離橋）, a place of scenic beauty here in Ikeda Machi. Although it was little bit early for the autumn color of leaves to appeare, I enjoyed the beautiful scenery of Japan Alps mountains covered with snow on top from a distance. They were called Hida（飛騨）mountains before, and from old days the people of Azumino have been living at the foot of these mountains. I doubt whether the climate change will also inflict some damage on the nature of Azumino. Anyway, I hope our descendants will also enjoy the beautiful scenery of mountains covered with snow on top.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki, then our own sin

In every August, we Japanese remember harsh horror of the atomic bombings at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. All of us know very well the reason for the attacks was the result of the devastating war that the Japanese war leaders had started. And we Japanese should not forget the historical facts that the Japanese military had committed massacres of civilians in China and other Asian countries.

However, we are hardly able to understand why the American military had attacked these almost military disabled cities including civilians. At Hiroshima, the bombing killed 140,000 people instantly or within a few months after the bombing. Three days later, a plutonium bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, ultimately killing about 80,000 people. At that time, nobody, not even the American military staff, knew how destructive those atomic bombs actually were. Unprecedented tragic numbers of victims with the sacrificed of citizens' lives were the result of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

During the 62nd anniversary of the world's first atomic bombing site, Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba said “Hiroshima was a hell where those who somehow survived envied the dead ”, he continued, “to ensure that no one else ever suffers as we did, the Hibakusha have continuously spoken of experiences they would rather forget, and we must never forget their accomplishment in preventing a third use of nuclear weapons ”.

HIbakusha, sacrificed survivors of aomic bombs, have suffered from not only atomic disease, but also from social discrimination among their own fellow countrymen and women. Because of our prejudice, we committed to inflict further pains on them. We must not disregard the fact that this is our own sin.

In other countries as well, children are our ultimate hope here in Japan. A “commitment to peace” was read by two Hiroshima sixth-graders, Hiroki Mori and Nao Yamasaki, at the ceremony. “It is our mission to convey the terrifying reality and sadness of the atomic bombing and war to as many people as possible. In order to build world peace, we must cut the chain of hatered and sadness at our very position with strong braveness and broad tolerrance. ”