nature– tag –

【Asahikawa is a paradise of rivers】 The bike path along the river is one of the most comfortable road to run in Asahikawa. Most of pedestrian and bike paths laid out on the top of embankments. You can pedal along the river to your hear...

I rarely buy flowers. It's only on Mother's Day, though I forget even that sometimes. In addition, there's a mental wall in us, I guess. In fact, I've never seen anyone who is waiting for his/her date with a flower bouquet, and so I believe it only happens in the movies.

In 2021, due to the epidemic, foreign tourists can't come to Japan. Otherwise, this period of the year (I'm writing this in July) is usually the peak period of tourism in Hokkaido in early summer, though flowers bloom brilliantly as usua...

Japanese giant hornets sit at the top of the insect food chain and are feared even by humans as giant killer hornets. In fact, about 20 people are stung and killed every year in Japan. Are they just a useless nuisance? I personally don't like giant hornets, but I'm trying to re-evaluate their role from the viewpoint of the environment.

Do you know what we used as a point of reference to find stag beetles gather? It's acorns. Yes, it's oak trees where stag beetles are gathered. In Hokkaido, there are many oak trees, and they grow not only stag beetles but also the industry of whisky and furniture.

Godzilla is a super movie content known to everyone in Japan and many people even outside Japan. Many people, not only film critics but also marketing professionals and even university professors have published study on it. The explanation about Godzilla that sounds most feasible to me is "Godzilla is the metaphor of nature."

【Snowy mountains are really harsh】 Last week a logging company invited us to a mountain tour to see how trees are logged. While we were going up the mountain plowing through snow, a staff member talked a lot about the troubles they hav...

Snow has already been used as a renewable energy source here. Hokkaido, the northernmost part of Japan, is the largest producer of potato, onion, and rice in Japan, and snow is used to refrigerate those crops during storage.

【What is done cannot be undone】 More than 30 years ago, Japanese main railway operations were run by the government. Since the full privatization, many rail lines have been abandoned especially in rural areas like here in Hokkaido. If ...

【Real estate bubble in Niseko】 Ginza is the area in Tokyo well known as a luxury area. The above image (the thumbnail image) is Ginza 4th block's intersection. The area holds the highest land price record in Japan: about 500,000 USD/sq...