Monday, March 13, 2006

ATTRACTIVE PLACES TO VISIT IN SPRING

1) ▼ The balmy weather in spring is tempting me to go on a trip somewhere.

2) ▼ What about visiting the southern Japan Alps in Yamanashi prefecture or budding greenery in Gunma prefecture or the area of Tsugaru plains in Aomori prefecture? Are cherry blossoms ready in Tochigi prefecture? If I go on a hike, I would enjoy walking around Mt. Myoko in Niigata prefecture, the Azumino basin in Nagano prefecture and Hachimantai highlands in Iwate prefecture.

3) ▼ It is also pleasant to go down a river in a boat. I want to enjoy sparkling water to the full at the Chikuma in Nagano prefecture, the Agano in Niigata prefecture, the Shimanto in Kochi prefecture, the Kino-kawa in Wakayama prefecture and the Yoshino-gawa in Tokushima prefecture. If I make a tour of islands, I may visit Awaji Island in Hyogo prefecture, Sado Island in Niigata prefecture, Eda-jima Island in Hiroshima prefecture. I might also like to go around Iki Island, Tsushima Island and Goto Islands in Nagasaki prefecture, and then as far as to Amakusa islands in Kumamoto prefecture, Amami islands in Kagaoshima prefecture and Miyako-jima island in Okinawa prefecture.

4) ▼ If I like to relax, hot springs are the best. Shall I go to Gero spa in Gifu prefecture, Awara spa in Fukui prefecture or Nasu-shiobara spa in Tochigi prefecture? Otherwise, shall I visit Unzen spa in Nagasaki prefecture in Kyushu or Ureshino spa in Saga prefecture? Looking up the dark sky in an outdoor bath, I may have a chance to see the Big Dipper twinkling in Hokkaido.

5) ▼ It may be delightful to spend time at the waterside of Seto-uchi inland sea in Okayama prefecture and join Awa dance festivalovernight in Tokushima prefecture. Children may like to join a Ninja-no-sato (Ninja village) tour at Iga in Mie prefecture and Koga in Shiga prefecture. If I like to eat something delicious, I will taste noodles cooked at Sanuki in Kagawa prefecture and Koshihikari rice produced at Uonuma in Niigata prefecture.

6) ▼Synoecizing cities, towns and villages in large-scale in the period of Heisei will be over this spring. It will be five years by the end of March since it started, during which merged cities have numbered about one hundred. Just by listing those newly born cities, I feel as if I am taking a leisure trip. But if I really go on a trip, I need to take a map with me, because the city of Date exists in Hokkaido and in Fukushima prefecture as well, the city of Yamagata is not in Yamagata prefecture but in Gifu prefecture, and furthermore there are many difficult names to read.