Live from Japan!

Aaron just mentioned that we visited Hida no Sato in his Engrish Tuesday post. Hida no Sato is, essentially, an old building graveyard. They have moved numerous historic old structures (homes and whatnot) to this site in order to preserve them and allow visitors to see what rural life in Japan was like.

We couldn’t have visited on a more picturesque day. The village was quiet and peaceful and the ground was rather untouched by footsteps. We were able to wander at our own pace and take a good look inside the buildings (most of which are completely open to the public). The only limiting factor was our stamina and the relative numbness of our toes.

There were a number of traditional thatched roof houses that are so famous in this part of the country. They were almost more amazing covered with snow than when we saw them in the summer at Shirakawa.

Aaron amused himself (and all of us) by making cow noises near the barn and saying, “Hey look, cow!” Then, upon turning the corner we would see Aaron and the fake cow. Such a joker!

I got to take some pictures of the snow covered lanterns. I have always found these lanterns to be beautiful, when I look through my photo library I have enough pictures of them to highlight my fascination. I thought they were just as stunning when they were covered with snow. Perhaps I am just fascinated by the snow because I don’t have to live with it day in and day out this winter. (Dodged a bullet by moving to Japan, Chicago is really getting hammered with the winter this year!)

And we got to enjoy the view of the Japanese alps and the city of Takayama in the distance. It was a great way to spend a snowy, winter day in Takayama with Aaron’s parents.