EXCITING YAMANASHI AND MORE

The 9th “Jazz At The Mountain Temple In Mukawa” was held featuring Kimiko Ito with Mayuko Katakura piano quartet at Kaikoma Center Seseragi in the city of Hokuto in Yamanashi Prefecture on May 22. This year the site was a town hall instead of the regular place, Koryuji (Koryu Temple). I attended the 4th event and it was fabulous (Refer to the blog note on 5/19/2017). The opening part was presented by a band from the Waseda University New Orleans Jazz Club. The second part was presented by a piano quartet, Mayuko Katakura (piano), Takumi Awaya (bass) and Gene Jackson (drums) with Kazuhiko Kondo (alto and soprano saxophone). In the third part, a singer Kimiko Ito joined the quartet.

FYI: (https://dukesoftware.appspot.com/pianist/Mayuko_Katakura/) (http://www.kazuhikokondo.com/)

An egret was resting in a paddy field in a sunny day.

After a cold, rainy day, it was a hot, summery day. Plants and animals have been very active on the riverbanks of the Arakawa River in the city of Kofu in Yamanashi Prefecture.

Lance-leaved tickseed is a designated special alien organism by the Invasive Alien Species Act as a plant that may have a significant impact on the Japanese ecosystem, and cultivation, transportation and sales are prohibited; yet, it has been spreading all over Japan.

Here in the Nagasawa area in the town of Takane, the city of Hokuto, in Yamanashi Prefecture about 500 carp streamers have been floating in the wind hung on the wires over the basin (until May 7). According to a Chinese myth from the late Han Dynasty, there was a golden carp that swam up a waterfall at the end of the Yellow River and became a dragon (Li Ying, Fan Ye et al., Book of Later Han, Chapter 67). So, the carp represents a powerful symbol of perseverance and achieving one’s ambitions in China. There could be about 500 dragons floating in the dirk sky tonight.

Cornus florida, the flowering dogwood, is a species of flowering trees native to eastern North America and northern Mexico. Flowering dogwood is a popular tree species chosen for gardens, landscapes and roadsides. There are a lot of roadsides planted with flowering dogwood trees in Japan. Asahi Street in the city of Kofu in Yamanashi Prefecture is also known for its flowering dogwood trees. Even the Flowering Dogwood Festival is held in the street every year. The trees were planted earlier than the ones in other streets in Yamanashi Prefecture, so they are tall.

It has been known that the mayor of Tokyo, Yukio Ozaki, gave the United States 3,000 cherry blossom trees to the city of Washington D.C. in 1912, and then the US government reciprocated with a gift of flowering dogwood trees to Japan in 1915. Since then, the species has been spread throughout Japan.

It is important to eat locally grown produce and foods as much as you can, except those you cannot obtain locally. Locally grown food is usually fresher, tastier and more nutritious than non-local food. It is a key element of sustainable agriculture and may eventually be good for the environment.

FYI: Local food (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_food); SQUARE MILE FARMS_ Food for Thought: What are the benefits of eating locally grown food?; Michigan State University: 7 benefits of eating local foods; McGill University: The benefits of eating local foods.

Cooked using locally produced vegetables, Healthy Restaurant Parsley, Kofu-city, Yamanashi, 03/31/2022

Cooked using locally produced vegetables, Sakura Chaya, Nirasaki-city, Yamanashi, 03/23/2022

Baked using domestically produced mulberry and crops, Sakura Chaya and Healthy Restaurant Parsley, Yamanashi, 03/31/2022

Sakura Chaya, Nirasaki (http://www.sakurachaya-lapassion.com) and Healthy Restaurant Parsley, Kofu-city (https://inavi.heteml.net/paseri/), Yamanashi, 04/06/2022

Oshino Hakkai (eight seas) is located in the village of Oshino in the Fuji Five Lake region between Lake Kawaguchi and Lake Yamanaka in Yamanashi Prefecture. The eight spring ponds are Deguchi-ike (exit pond), Okama-ike (pot pond), Sokonashi-ike (bottomless pond), Choshi-ike (Choshi pond), Waku-ike (gushing pond), Nigori-ike (muddy pond), Kagami-ike (mirror pond) and Shobu-ike (iris pond). They are fed by infiltration of snow-melt water, filtered down the mountain through porous layers of lava, and it is said that they are connected through the underflow conduit. Naturally, the water is very clear. Oshino Hakkai is included in UNESCO’s Mount Fuji Cultural World Heritage site (Fujisan, sacred place and source of artistic inspiration), and the eight ponds are 8 of the 25 constituent assets.

Oshino Hakkai: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oshino_Hakkai; (In Japanese) https://yamanakako.info/8lakes_top.php

Being known for its snow monkeys, a lot of people have visited Jigokudani (Hell’s Valley) Yaen Koen (Wild Monkey Park) in a sunny winter day. The park is located in the town of Yamanouchi in Nagano Prefecture. The monkeys were busy playing and searching for food, and some were bathing in the hot spring (https://en.jigokudani-yaenkoen.co.jp/). The Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata) is also known as the snow monkey (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_macaque).

Snowy Jigokudani Wild Monkey Park; The Monkeys are at work, Yamanouchi-town, Nagano, 02/26/202

Sunbathing & Grooming, Jigokudani Wild Monkey Park, Yamanouchi-town, Nagano, 02/26/2022

Am I dreaming or what? ; Jigokudani Wild Monkey Park, Yamanouchi-town, Nagano, 02/26/2022

It’s a steamy hot bath! ; Jigokudani Wild Monkey Park, Yamanouchi-town, Nagano, 02/26/2022

FYI: (Snow Monkeys Soak in Hot Springs, Nature on PBS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FzrsIOnIpo); (Japanese macaques in Jigokudani Yaen-Koen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icDS-tttL1Q)

RUSSIA INVADES UKRAINE

NATO SECRETARY GENERAL:

WE CALL RUSSIA TO STOP THIS “SENSELESS” WAR

THIS IS A FULL-FLEDGED INVASION OF UKRAINE FROM MULTIPLE DIRECTIONS

RUSSIA HAS SHUTTERED PEACE IN EUROPE

NATO ALLIES ACTIVATED OUR DEFENSE PLAN YESTERDAY

WE WILL DO WHAT IT TAKES TO PROTECT AND DEFEND EVERY NATO ALLY

NATO ACTIVATES ITS DEFENSE FORCE

In Kofu, there are two large restored tumuli (burial mounds). They are located in Sone-Kyuryo Park. Maruyamazuka-kofun tumulus is a circular tomb mound: (diameter) 72m, (height) 11m, and Kai Choshizuka-kofun tumulus is a large keyhole-shaped tomb mound: (total length) 169m; [front part] (width) 68m, (height) 8.5m, [back circular part] (diameter) 92m, (height) 15m.