OBACHAN'S SCRIBBLES

Recently I often go to the cape and practice tour guiding. (I'm a volunteer tour guide of the local geopark.) See? I'm doing my best to stay active in my jobless days.

Honestly, it is nice to be close to the nature when you are a little tired of people and their lip services. The rocks are silent and they show us a totally different kind of time span, which often heals me a lot.
If you ever come to the eastern part of Kochi prefecture in the Shikoku Island, Japan, let me know. I'll be your tour guide and tell you all about (?) the nature in this laid-back countryside. Why don't you come to be my guinea pig enjoy the stories that rocks and plants on the coast tell you. ;)
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My mom's hometown is another small town which was once prosperous from the production of good quality charcoal. Now the place is a national preservation district of traditional houses. There they started a new event several years ago to attract tourists. It is doll festival celebration, but instead of each household celebrating the festival privately, almost all houses in a certain section of the town turn into galleries of hina-ningyo dolls where tourists can walk in and see the dolls freely for 5 days (Mar. 3rd to 7th).
* Click photos to enlarge.

In this traditional town, most houses seem to have expensive sets of hina-ningyo handed down for 2 to 3 generations.


Some recent creations like this also welcomed the tourists.



I heard that the two dolls on the top row were made 104 years ago. The white kimono hung in the back is bride's gown, worn by the great grandma, grandma and mother in this house.















It was such a gorgeous day and peach blossoms were in full bloom.
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This is my favorite place which is not too far from my parents' house... maybe 10 minutes by car? It is close to the tip of a cape and the climate there is almost subtropical. So spring flowers bloom much faster there than in neighboring towns. These field mustard or turnip mustard flowers are all over the place, and the whitish stone shrine gate stands out in the yellow and green carpet. This is the scenery that tells us the arrival of spring earlier than anything else. (This photo was taken at the end of Feb., but these flowers were in full bloom already in late January.)
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