Another sentimental journey to Shinshu

As I used to dream of in my working days, I aimlessly left for a drive trip 3 days ago. Exactly speaking, it was not aimless but was headed to Shinshu area again. It is the district of JA0 in ham radio term and located in the center of the main island surrounded with high mountains. It would be another sentimental journey.

Staying at a poor hotel near Kakeyu hot spa, I convinced myself I should book a bit better one next time if I have any chance for another trip. I am not so young any more and may deserve staying at a bit more gorgeous hotel. I left there for a destination of Kakeyu hot spa, that is, a hospital I have been to in med school days.

As alrady told before, I used to have a short term training as a medical student at that big hospital in Kakeyu 40 plus years ago. Together with several colleague students, I went to the hospital where one of the graduates from our med school worked as the president. He has invited us, the students of the med school, for training every summer, possibly expecting some to come and work with them in the future. I might have written about this training at the hospital before.

It was like an excursion with friends, 4 or 5 classmates, as told above, joining that program in a hot summer. We stayed at the same room in the hospital and had looking around in the facility in the daytime. The outpatient, the inpatient ward or the lab test dept etc. We have taken the histories of some patients at the outpatient. It was not much fun since we just oberved what the staff did. But, since the memory is still vivid in my mind, it might be an impressive experience to me, whether it might be exciting or not. 

The road to the hot spat. It runs in a valley. Rather few traffic. We went to the hospital on an old country bus in a summer of 40 plus years ago. On the bus headed to the hot spa, what have I thought of and what have I expected to come in my career?  

The outlook of the hospital. It is located among hot spa hotels. The hot spa has been famous for years and has attracted many patients with chronic illnesses. They might have gathered the hot spa for rehab etc. The rehab dept. was one of the most famous departments at the hospital.

It was not what we stayed then. It has been rebuilt and reformed. It was almost half a century ago. 

The street has not been changed so much. We have enjoyed walking after supper along this street. Talking something trivial and funny as students always are. As told before, the town is in a valley. It was breezing coming from the mountains. It was pretty cool yesterday. In the summer we were there, it must have blown the same breeze before sunset.

Further south, there is a big tunnel leading to Matsumoto city and Azumino. 

We should pay a toll to get through the tunnel. But a news tells the toll will be off next year as the construction fund will be redeemed. While most other highways take much money as toll, this rarely happens. The prefectural government has done a good thing. Anyway, I love driving this route through woods in a valley. 

A dam was seen in the bottom of the valley. A very quiet place.

Getting through Azumino area, I have reached the memorable lake named Aoki-ko. As I have told in this blog, again 40 plus years ago, I and some colleagues of the university orchestra used to swim in the lake while the orchestra practice was off. Very cold and no one was swimming. After having landed on the beach, we have found a sign telling swimming was banned due to sudden drop of water in certain area of the lake which could be dangerous to the swimmers. We were young and brutally courageous as the other young people always are. Seven or eight were with me at that time. I have lost contact with any of them. I really hope everyone is still doing well. 

After that adventure, we have walked over a mountain to the camp place. At the height, the pass was through a tunnel. Lots of laughter and scream on the way back. There is a bypass route in pararell with this road constructed now, so that the traffic is very little. It was also quiet and very few cars or people on this road is that summer.

Near to the camp place, which I used to post some photos in the past, there is the famous skiing resort named Hakuba. The skiing and jumping competition were held in this area in Nagano Olympic games. The area has become too gaudy around that event. But for now, the quiet beauty of this area is regained, even though it might mean the people in this area won't earn so much from tourism business as before. A recent news has told the local government has finally finished refunding the debt for the Olympic games lately. Olympic games is of fun. But, in the world where disparity of rich and poor is going on, we should consider downsizing such an event and spend the budget to solve such a problem. They are spending 2 or 3 trillion JPY for the Olympic games in Tokyo next year.

This Azumino-Hakuba area is along a river named Himekawa. It is the southern end of Fossa Magna dividing the western and eastern Japan. There have been a lot of hot spas along this valley of Fossa Magna. In 1980s, taking a long vacation, I used to drive this area alone before starting working at a local hospital. There was an outdoor hot spa at a riverbank in this river. It was so big as a pool. I bathed there and was embarrassed to see young girls coming in it. I quickly got out of it. It was not a fun as it is imagined!  

There is a town named Itoigawa where the road meets Japan Sea. There used to be a restaurant at the corner where the road is connected to another truncal road. I used to enjoy fishhead soup at that restaurant some 30 years ago. That full bodied soup I took in that long drive was unforgettable to me. Disappointingly, that restaurant has disappeared at the place. It seemed to be on business for the truck drivers travelling along that main road. But there must be much less traffic there since a high way has been constructed running pararrell to it and many drivers are going on that way now.

On the way, I have remembered of old friends whom I travelled together or whom I met in this area in my young days. Most of them have passed away or have been away from me. Away from daily routine, such a trip reminds me of those people. In old age, we should shift from the pre-last things to the last things in life. We could be free from all the desires and cravings for something in life, even though that shift is not perfect so far as we live in this world. I still believe the value to live in the last chapter of life is  to become free from them and to get ready to transit to the last thing related world. I know it is difficult for me to accomplish that transition. Such a trip to somewhere I spent young days sure helps me to know where I came from and where I should go forward to.