{"id":15969,"date":"2026-06-25T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/okuhida.or.jp\/?post_type=column&p=15969"},"modified":"2026-06-26T03:14:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T03:14:17","slug":"%e5%88%9d%e3%82%81%e3%81%a6%e8%bf%8e%e3%81%88%e3%81%9f%e5%a4%8f","status":"publish","type":"column","link":"https:\/\/okuhida.or.jp\/en\/p\/column\/%e5%88%9d%e3%82%81%e3%81%a6%e8%bf%8e%e3%81%88%e3%81%9f%e5%a4%8f\/","title":{"rendered":"My first summer"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I lived in Saitama, summer just seemed to arrive on its own. Before you knew it, it would be hot, and before you knew it, summer would have begun.
For me, summer was that kind of season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But summer in Okuhida is a little different. Summer here is something you "reach."<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Living in a place where winter lasts for nearly half the year, the very feeling of waiting for the next season gradually changes.
Spring arrives a little later in the countryside than in urban areas. Autumn leaves a little earlier, and winter is long and deep.
In this place where temperatures can drop to minus 10 degrees Celsius on some days, every season that arrives after the long winter takes on a special meaning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After eagerly awaiting the cherry blossoms and the fresh green leaves, summer finally arrives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In winter, Okuhida is a world of pure white snow. The silence is so profound that it seems to absorb all sound, and the air is crystal clear.
That scenery slowly begins to change at a certain point in time.
Before you know it, the snow has melted, the ground is revealed, and the number of colors is gradually increasing.
And in just a short time, that world is suddenly covered in a deep green.
From silver to deep green.
The intensity and speed of that change were something I had never experienced when I lived in the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I've driven the road from Takayama towards Okuhida many times.
I didn't notice it at first, but then there was a moment when it became perfectly clear.
The moment I crossed the Hirayu Pass, the mountains that had been visible in the distance suddenly seemed to loom right beside me.
From the scenery you're looking at to a place where you feel enveloped, the sense of distance to the things you see changes instantly.
No matter how many times I pass by this place, it always moves me.
It's also a moment when I feel like I've truly returned to Okuhida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On a mountain pass just before the start of summer, you can look up and see mountains still covered in snow. In front of you, the green is beginning to deepen.
Along the way, you'll sense the presence of animals: serows, monkeys, and deer. If you're lucky, you might even encounter an ermine.
Wild vegetables are peeking out from underfoot, and the air is filled with the scents of earth and water.
The lingering traces of winter, the signs of life, and the bounty of the earth\u2014all of these coexist simultaneously in a single landscape.
In Okuhida, the seasons exist in a layered, overlapping fashion.
At that moment, I felt like I finally understood the magnificent scale of this land with my whole body.
Tochio Onsen is at an altitude of approximately 800 meters. Hirayu Onsen is at approximately 1,300 meters. If you go even higher, the summit of the Shinhotaka Ropeway is over 2,000 meters high.
Just driving a short distance gives you the feeling of rewinding the seasons.
Seasons don't exist as a single entity, but rather as a gradient of colors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And then, finally, summer arrives.
The locals say it's hot, but for me, having lived in the city, it felt like a different season.
The sun is strong, but the air is light. The wind is cool, and in the evening, the breeze coming down the valley caresses your skin with a refreshing coolness.
There are no tropical nights. There is no heat from concrete, and no glare from buildings.
Instead, there is the sound of the river. The sound of the wind. The sounds of birds. The sounds of insects.
I've come to know what a pleasant, comfortable summer is like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On my way back from a business trip to the city, I realized that Nagoya was already in full summer mode.
I walked in short sleeves, sweating, and could feel the heat rising from the asphalt.
However, the moment we crossed the Hirayu Pass, the atmosphere changed completely.
It's cool when you open the window. There's still snow on the mountains.
It was as if the seasons had been reversed by about a month.
It's full-blown summer in the cities, but spring still seems to be in the Okuhida region.
Such a strange time difference definitely exists in this land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When talking to locals, you sometimes hear them say, "The snow melts faster now than it used to."
For those who have lived there for a long time, there are certainly signs of change.
Even so, summer in Okuhida was still something special for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And now, in my second year, as I drove the same road and saw the same scenery, I started to think.
I had only recently moved there, so I thought Okuhida just seemed unusual to me.
But that wasn't the case.
The feeling of crossing Hirayu Pass. The feeling of being enveloped by the mountains. The scenery where lingering snow and fresh greenery overlap.
My heart was moved in the same way this year. I'm welcoming summer again this year with the same feelings I had when I first visited Okuhida.
The emotion I felt at that time wasn't a one-time thing.
As long as I live in this place, the scenery may be changing little by little each year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I didn't decide to write this column because I wanted to share tourist information.
I wanted to quietly share the feeling I experienced at that time with someone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you're thinking of traveling somewhere this summer,
Remember that there are places where summer is a little different from the summer you know.
Here you'll find a summer that's a little different from the summers you're familiar with.
The magnificent natural beauty of Okuhida will surely welcome you in serene silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 The Writer \u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hikaru Kono is from Saitama Prefecture. He is a member of the Regional Revitalization Cooperation Team at the Okuhida Onsenkyo Tourism Association. From an outsider's perspective, he has been searching for the charm and unique aspects of this land. And this year, once again, he is waiting for summer in the same way.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":15970,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"column_cat":[108],"class_list":["post-15969","column","type-column","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","column_cat-other"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/okuhida.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/column\/15969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/okuhida.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/column"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/okuhida.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/column"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/okuhida.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/okuhida.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"column_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/okuhida.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/column_cat?post=15969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}