May 4th, 2009
各駅
Red and blue carp streamers rejoice for children’s day all across the land. Long life, health and prosperity. The universal desire of all living things to avoid suffering.
I chug through the mountains (literally) in a two car train of the Nowa Line, an amblign journey through the heart of Tochigi prefecture where every stop is named after one onsen or another. OVerthe Yunishikawa reminds me of the Potomac, then in an instant I am swallowed up again by the mountain. Start to finish, thirty kilometers or so, straight north for an hour, ears popping, to change trains again at the southern tip of Aizu. Break free for a moment, pass over a shallow stream, yellow with sulfur, you can almost smell the springs. Then in a flash back to inky darkness.
