I have been suffering from headaches for over 2 weeks. We had to cancel our trip to Shikoku. So Hiroo took me for a drive to cheer me up.
We drove through Yuki Onsen ( hot springs) and turned off onto a narrow road to Tsutsuga Mura. There is a Icho-no-Ki tree there that is over 1,100 years. The trunk is 7 meters in circumference. It is located in front of Oo-Otoshi Shrine.
As always, we had packed a lunch and we drove up towards Ryuzu no Taki Falls to eat. The road was closed below the falls, so we ate our lunch near there.
After that, I wanted to go a little further and visit a place I haven’t been before.
We entered the country town of Kakei-cho, and found the old shopping district. I took a few pictures of older shops, but what caught my eye was a somewhat newer stationery store. I went inside.
There I met the owner, Kazuko Kono. She is the third generation to run the shop which was rebuilt 30 some years ago. She enjoys writing haiku poems, and growing medicinal herbs.
She showed us her field and served us very specially-blended coffee!
The shop is unique in that it is half bookstore and half stationery store. Some of the books have been on the shelves for so many years that they are collectible or out-of-print.
The memorable thing she said was explaining with irony that the first generation who opens a business works hard to build it up. The son who grew up watching that also works hard. The 3rd generation however, grows up in an affluent home, squanders the assets and goes out of business.
She wrote these words down for me.
Kono-san likes organic foods so we sent her some homemade miso. She sent us a whole box of goodies in return!
I hope we meet again. There are lots of other shops there I’d like to see!
Baba's Kitchen 