The town may have changed, but my memories from childhood
still remain. Streets of various "inaka" countryside towns.
Even now, the most popular spot for tourists in Tottori Prefecture! "Mizuki Shigeru Road"
My home is on the Yumigahama Peninsula. In front of the Peninsula is the Sea of Japan. At the edge of that is the small port town of Sakaiminato. When I was a child, I went there to play. But, there weren't many people in the town and there was nothing there. There was only the smell of fish.
But now, that area has become the most popular place for tourists in the prefecture. Actually, it was the birth place for the creator of the "yookai (monster)" comic "Gegege-no-Kitaroo", Shigeru Mizuki. From that, yookai made the famous. The town made a new area, the "Mizuki Shigeru Road". Because I like yookai, I would like to thank and applaud this idea.
I've been there too!
I went there two years ago! It was fun!
I haven't been there yet, but I want to go.
It was a regular shopping arcade, but now every store is a souvenir shop.
Before the "Mizuki Shigeru Road" opened, this area was like any other area, with many stores closed, and even the stores that were open had no customers, so it was like they were closed. It became a shuttered shopping arcade.
Once the "Mizuki Shigeru Road" was opened, many tourists came and because of this, all of the stores became souvenir shops. I also bought many Kitaro goods here. I was surprised that the town went from quiet to lively. But, because the town was revived and people became happy, I think it's a good thing.
When the children of today grow up, I wonder if they will look back at the "Mizuki Shigeru Road" as a nostalgic town.
"Rokumushi" in the alleys
When I was a child, I often played a game called "Rokumushi". After dividing in to two teams, we threw a ball around and went back and forth from our base. Every day, we would say "Rokumushi shoiya! (Let's play Rokumushi!)" and gather in the alley and play.
I wonder how we played in such a narrow alley with a ball, but because the alley was narrow, no cars would come, so it was safe. Games other than "Rokumushi" that we played in the alley were "Pettai (Menko)", "Biidama (Marbles)" and more. The alley is still there today. But, I couldn't find any children playing "Rokumushi".
Crayfish fishing in the river
In the Shin-Kamo River near my elementary school, I went with my friends after school to try and catch crayfish. When I got home from school, someone would say "Zarigani Toraiya (Let's catch some crayfish!)" and we'd rush to gather and go down to the river to look for crayfish. Crucian carp and snakehead fish were also swimming in the river, so we caught them with fishing line or fishing poles.
The other day, I visited the river and I saw that a "Chookoku Road (Sculpture Road)" was made along the river. Many sculptures from artists around Japan and the world were lined up around the river. When I think of the old days of crayfish fishing and the new cultural atmosphere in harmony, I felt a little strange.
The place I used to catch crayfish now has a fence around it and you can't get in…
Are crayfish still around these days?
Suspicious?! This is an onsen town.
On the ocean side of the town I grew up in, there was an onsen (hot spring) town. For the little child me, my image of the onsen was that it was in the same town, but it was a far place where I couldn't go, a place where I shouldn't get too close. I think the children imagined it was a place for the adults.
It's liveliest time was in the 1990's bubble economy. Now, the number places that aren't used has grown, so it feels a little lonely. In this way, the town feels more suspicious than lonely...
Master
My hometown is Yonago, in Tottori Prefecture. Tottori Prefecture has the smallest population in Japan. It doesn't have any large cities and has been a collection of small places since the old days. Even so, when I talk around the area for the first time in a long time, if I look closely, it's much different from what I remember as a child. When I saw that, I was sad and surprised...