100 Views of a Town in Japan: Garden Valley
Spring garden in middle of town in Aomori, Japan. April 2021.
As I scoured a map of Aomori, Japan, looking for places I haven’t visited yet, I found a walking trail that had the label 歴史の道百選, which can be translated as “Top 100 historic roads.” I smile when I see these kinds of lists. Japan has a lot of them, putting historical and scenic sites into groupings such as “Three most scenic places,” “Top 100 famous pine trees,” “Top 100 famous mountains” and “Top 100 historic Japanese parks.” There were a number of places on this map with those kinds of labels. Incidentally, when I looked up online about these historic roads, there were actually 114 on the list. It seems 100 is just an estimate. There’s no reason to limit yourself when making lists of cool places to visit.
In the style of this Japanese tradition, I want to offer 100 views of my town here in Japan. There will be no specific order or method. Just a collection of scenes from my town and thoughts about life here. Will there be 100? Maybe. Will there be 114? Check back later to find out how far I go.
To start off this list, the picture at the top of this post is from my morning walk this past week. In my first week in town nearly four years ago, I noticed this spot, and I found it very charming. It is like a hidden valley in the middle of town. I do not know whose garden or which house the property belongs to. It's just this lovely patch of green in between two major streets in town. This time of year, the daffodils are just starting to bloom. Soon more flowers will come. Spring is my favorite time of year.
On this walk, I was reminded of a large difference between my own hometown in the USA and Japanese towns. Even in countryside towns such as this one, where there is a lot more land than in the cities, the houses are jumbled together with very small yards.
Unlike Utah’s Wasatch Front, where the houses and large yards sprawl on for miles, getting bigger the farther up the mountains you go, my town in Japan has a crowded central area of houses surrounded by vast rice fields, apple orchards, and forests. A few houses are found hidden away in the fields and forests, but it seems most people live clustered around town and along the roads going out of town. The farmers around here all drive the same kind of small white truck to get to their fields and orchards rather than living by them. This difference, the close houses and almost non-existent yards, often stands out to me when I walk around town. I think noticing differences such as these is one of the best parts of living in a different country. It makes me reconsider the way I lived before and what things I want to try doing in the future. It helps me be aware that there are many options out there. Just as learning Japanese taught me more about my own language, learning about Japanese towns teaches me to notice new things about my hometown.
Please look forward to more scenes and observations from a small town in northern Japan.