On Jul 11, 1:09 pm, mtfes...@netMAPSONscape.net wrote:
> Just got done wathing another episode of Sawaya Shizen Hyakkei, and was
> reminded of how truly beautiful Japan is. For a land with so many people
> in such a small area to have so many essentially unspoiled areas is
> absolutely remarkable, and unappreciated by roughly 99% of the Japanese,
> much less tourists. It seems half the episodes deal with Hokkaido, but
> some of the shows dealing with areas just outside of Tokyo (well, Izu),
> not to mention Kochi really drive home to me some of the things I miss
> about the country (though my wife and the child units are solidly in the
> "If it's not a city, it doesn't exist" school of thought.)

Even a highly urban area such as Aichi, has extensive areas of
mountainous terrain that is mostly devoid of people. Its one of the
best things about living here. The "unappreciated by roughly 99%..."
comment though, is pretty much spot on. I take students to a senmaida
not far from Toyokawa on a regular basis, beautiful place, but apart
from a handful of local farmers (average age 90?), never anybody
around.