Chinese Herald The Eastern Ying Years
Author: Ye Xiaoguang
Furano Lavender Flower Sea (Image from the Internet)
Dokō, Very "Dao" - Hokkaido Fieldwork Series No. 2: Dohoku Asahikawa, Biei, furano chapter
During his college years, in preparation for N1, he often listened to Japanese songs before going to bed and copied lyrics. On the one hand, it improves listening and vocabulary, and also relaxes the brain and ends the tight day with peaceful sleep. Two of the melodies reverberate frequently: "Snow Flower" and "Flower Mizuki". Beautiful lyrics accompanied by melodious rhythms, increasing the expectations of studying abroad at that time. At this moment, when I am surrounded by the sea of flowers at Tomita Farm, I feel the dream of that year shining into reality.
Snow is the most prominent feature of Hokkaido, and the story of the movie "Flowers and Water Trees" also takes place here. Snow, flowers, water, and wood are common images in nature, but if you choose one in Japan and highlight these characteristics at the same time, it is probably the Dokbei area centered on Asahikawa, the second largest city in Hokkaido. The most well-known Japanese writer, Haruki Murakami, first picked up a style after becoming a professional writer, that is, he went to Mikasa Town in The North of the Province, and used this as a background to create the last part of the "Youth Trilogy", "Adventure of Finding Sheep".
With a love of Murakami's literature and yearning for natural beauty, he took advantage of the northern climate to visit Asahikawa and the nearby Furano and Biei on the weekend before the Mid-Autumn Festival. Since the subject matter is naturally carved and decorated, this article does not use the conventional chronological order of writing, please be patient with me to change the scenery and start the adventure.
Snow - Mount Asahi 20 days later
The season of pink and jade has not yet arrived, and it is still impossible to deny that in Asahikawa, the city with the most snowfall days in Japan, everything can be seen as the grace of snow. Overlooking the highest peak of Hokkaido, known to the aborigines as the "Garden of the Games of the Gods", the Asahidake Daisetsuzan Mountains stand majestically under the blue sky and are guarded by the islanders of this pure land. Perhaps the pronunciation of "Asahi" and "Snow" is close, which is also a match made in heaven.
The superior geographical location and suitable climate, high-quality flowing water in the Snowy Mountains system, have become the raw materials for brewing good wine. Gradually approaching the Oyama Sake Museum, Onayama is a famous Japanese sake brand, just by this name, I don't often drink alcohol, driven by curiosity to find out. Not satisfied with the sweetness of the "water of longevity" in front of the gate, enter the museum to try three kinds of sake with different degrees and tastes, and carefully taste the jelly that melts in the mouth.
The snow of Mount Asahidake is a source of water made by Oyama Sake
The Happiness of Walking snow city 19th twilight and 20th morning
The word "zigzag" is pronounced "yuki" in Japanese, and is pronounced the same as "walking", "snow", and "lucky". The main task of the 19th is fieldwork and learning while walking. After checking in in the evening, I had the opportunity to participate in the networking party between our school and Hitotsubashi University and Keio University, and make friends to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival online.
On the morning of the 20th, I arrived at the Asahiyama Zoo in the northernmost part of Japan by bus, found that the park was not open under emergency conditions, and there was still plenty of time, and walked two kilometers to Asahikawa Ramen Village. There are only 8 storefronts in the village, which can't resist the Japanese obsession with ramen, and even built a mini ramen shrine inside. A bowl of Asahikawa soy sauce ramen, offset the regret of a trip to the zoo, walking in the ice and snow city to feel the small luck of the lost East Corner harvest of mulberry elm.
The author visited Tomita Farm, a tourist agricultural mecca
Hana-Furano 19th
When I first used WeChat, I used a well-known photo as the background of the circle of friends. Purple lavender surrounds the signboard in the photo, and if the violin song "Purple Passion" rings in the ears at this time, it will make people feel like they are immersed in Provence. If you look closely, this is Furano. On the morning of the 19th, we arrived in Furano from Sapporo and began our journey to the north. The most suitable place to visit is the Tomita Farm, which originated in 1903.
Lavender blooms from June to August, when the crowds have not arrived, the purple flowers have passed, and the charm of the tourist agricultural mecca will not diminish a little. Looking at the sea of flowers in front of me, I remembered a farmer named Kuroki who had hoped to travel the world with his wife after retirement, but her wife was blind due to illness and had to stop traveling. In order to appease his increasingly isolated wife, the old man transformed the farmland and planted a piece of shiba cherry blossom in two years, so that his wife could smell the fragrance and fragrance, realizing the dream of "not taking you to see the world, just plant a sea of flowers for you, let the world come to see you". If there are no traces of lavender-related, there is always some unfinished business. Holding up a cup of lavender tea, with sage, begonias, and cosmos competing behind you as a background, all the flowers bloomed at a standstill at this moment, and the time was frozen in the colors of Tomita Farm.
A sea of flowers in Furano
Water-Ishikari River 20th
Asahikawa is known as the city of sculpture, and there are more than 100 sculptures in the city, which are engraved with the love of artists. The most classic is the "Fountain of Hands" erected in 1972 in Pinghetong Shopping Park. Its meaning is "grasp the hand of the future citizen", with each rain and snow baptism and spring water washed away, flowing for nearly 50 years, still like a new look.
After passing through Tokiwa Park, arrive at Asahibashi at the end of the day as the sun is about to set. Hokkaido's Mother River, the 268-kilometer-long Ishikari River flows slowly under the bridge. As the sky darkened, I counted the results of the two days in my mind and completed this expedition to the northern part of Daobei. Ishikari river nourishes the people of Hokkaido like a mother, and at this moment I want to fold a paper boat and put it into the sea, looking forward to the route of warm and popular progress, and returning home with longing.
The Ishikari River flows under the Asahi Bridge
Mu-Biei 19th Day
Between Furano and Asahikawa, there is a place as beautiful as its name, and that is Biei, which is called the most beautiful village in Japan along with Shirakawa-go. After viewing the flowers, Furano continues to take the limited train to Biei. After renting a bike at the station shop, ride in this idyllic european town.
There are many cycling routes, the most famous of which is the patchwork road, which is closely combined with various wheat fields and potato fields. The neatly stitched softness and the magnificent hilly terrain should be vividly expressed in Biei. The turning point for the ride is the Seven Star Tree, a few kilometers away. This cypress tree appeared in a seven-star cigarette advertisement more than forty years ago, hence the name. Also through the Tree of Parents, Ken and Mary, it took an hour and a half to ride the core road, and weave a vision for the future on the patchwork road.
Ride past the Biei Seven Star Tree
The song ends at dusk on the 20th
After two days of investigation, after learning about the main production areas of rice and vegetables in Hokkaido, and the current situation and scenery of agriculture in the Asahikawa area, on the evening of the 20th, the sudden rain flowers floated in my reluctance, and I still needed to return to Sapporo temporarily. Wait for the car to be idle, open the music software to play "Snow Flower" and "Flower Water Tree" in a loop. On the night before the Mid-Autumn Festival, the relatives and friends who wish for the thoughts and gratitude are not only happy during the festive season, but also rise in the east like the name of the city, and wait for the full moon to be spent.
On the return bus, I didn't count the number of turns, but remembered that "The Adventure of Finding Sheep" wrote: "I turned." So someone in front of me was turning the next corner. Who could not see the figure, only the white skirt flashed. And the white of this skirt is burned under the eyes and never leaves. "This brand is under the eyes, imprinted in the heart will not leave, the adventure of the snow flower Mizuki, can accompany you to hear who whispers in the rain, drunkenly lying in the flower town?
(The author is a member of the Quanzhou Chamber of Commerce in Japan and a master's degree in cultural anthropology at Saitama University, Japan)