北海道内のサクラ、例年ならGWに間に合うかどうかというところがことしはたいへん開花が早く、わが家周辺でも先週にはかなり開花していました。
毎年、クルマで土曜日早朝出発で約250km走り抜けて、谷地頭温泉の早朝銭湯から函館・道南の観桜が夫婦での定番ツアーになっております。大沼駒ヶ岳周辺で宿泊して、道南をクルマで散策する旅程。
わたしはクルマ社会の全面展開時代の少年期を過ごしたことから、やはり行動の自由への憧憬が強く、多少の長距離運転でも、旅はクルマで行きたい。行き帰りには多少、疲労感があるけれど着いてからの行動の自由さには換えられない。ただ高齢化もあってどこまで継続できるのか。でもそういうモチベーションを持っていると、健康長寿について努力目標にもなる。
函館は伯父がいたこともあり、母親に連れられて子どもの時から何回も往復している。街並みにも親近感が強く感じられる街。きっと，札幌以外の道内都市ではいちばん縁が深い街だと思っています。そんなことから、年に一度こうやって来ると「かえってきた」感がある。
そしてなぜか、函館に来たら谷地頭温泉に「参詣」するのがお決まり（笑）。あの独特のドロ湯の香りが早朝の250kmドライブの疲労を吹き飛ばしてくれる。地元のみなさんの日常感と触れあえるのも「かえってきた」感には欠かせない通過儀礼なのでしょうか。どうしても、ここに挨拶しないと函館の旅は始まらない気がするのです。公設の日帰り温泉で写真は同HPから。露天風呂も函館らしく「五稜」のカタチになっている。
一方のサクラ。開花はしたけれど気温はその後下がり気味で、ダウンジャケットも用意しての弾丸ツアー。案の定、いちばんの観桜スポット五稜郭公園散策では、すべて着込んでおりました。風はつよく吹いていたのですが、満開のサクラ花は我慢強く、枝を離れることなく凜と咲き誇ってくれていた。さすがに北海道の厳しい冬を越してきたサクラたちは芯が強い。土曜日の朝一番だったので、大変多くのみなさんが楽しまれていました。
五稜郭公園は星形のカタチそのままの土塁に沿って、サクラの海が広がっている。道南あちこちのサクラ名所を歩きまわって、１日目の総歩行数は10,000歩を軽く突破しておりました（笑）。
English version⬇
I was able to get a good look at the cherry blossoms. Hakodate-Donan Cherry Blossom Bullet Trip
This is my annual cherry blossom viewing custom, which also serves to keep me motivated to pray for good health and longevity. Early in the morning, we departed under a starlit sky, and Komagatake (Mt. Komagatake) greeted us with an interesting and divine presence. The cherry blossom viewing trip is a yearly tradition to maintain motivation to pray for good health and longevity.
This year, the cherry blossoms in Hokkaido are blooming very early, just in time for GW in most years, and they were in full bloom last week around our house.
Every year, we make an early Saturday morning departure by car and drive about 250 km, starting from an early morning public bath in Yajigashira Onsen (hot spring) to Hakodate and the southern part of Hokkaido to see the cherry blossoms, which has become our regular tour. We stay overnight in the Onuma-Komagatake area and explore southern Hokkaido by car.
Since I spent my youth in the era of the full development of the car society, I have a strong yearning for freedom of movement, and I prefer to travel by car, even if I have to drive some long distances. Although I may feel a little fatigued on the way to and from the destination, I would not trade it for the freedom of movement I enjoy once I get there. However, with the aging of the population, I wonder how long I can continue to do so. But having that kind of motivation will help me to make efforts to achieve my goal of a long and healthy life.
I have an uncle in Hakodate, and my mother has taken me back and forth to Hakodate many times since I was a child. Hakodate is a city with which I feel a strong sense of familiarity. I am sure that Hakodate is the city with which I have the closest relationship among the cities in Hokkaido other than Sapporo. For this reason, I feel a sense of "coming home" when I visit Hakodate once a year.
For some reason, when I come to Hakodate, I make it a rule to pay a visit to Yajigashira Onsen (hot springs) (laugh). The unique smell of the hot spring water and its unique aroma will help you overcome the fatigue of an early morning 250-km drive. Being in touch with the daily lives of the local people is also an essential rite of passage for a sense of "return. I feel that a trip to Hakodate would not be complete without a visit to this place. The photo is from the same website. The open-air bath is in the shape of a "Goryo" (five ridges), just like Hakodate.
Cherry blossoms on the other hand. The cherry blossoms had bloomed, but the temperature had been dropping since then, so I prepared a down jacket for the bullet tour. Sure enough, we were all dressed when we strolled through Goryokaku Park, the best place to view the cherry blossoms. The wind was blowing hard, but the cherry blossoms were patiently in full bloom and kept their interesting appearance without leaving their branches. As expected of cherry trees that have survived the long winter in Hokkaido, they have a strong core. It was the first morning of Saturday, so many people were enjoying the flowers.
In Goryokaku Park, a sea of sakura spread out along the earth mounds in the shape of a star. The total number of steps taken by the visitors to walk around the famous cherry blossom viewing spots in southern Hokkaido easily exceeded 10,000 steps (laugh).
