Wednesday, May 13, 2009

雪国 Snow Country


国境の長いトンネルを抜けると雪国であった。夜の底が白くなった
"The train came out of the long tunnel into the snow country, the garden of night turned white."

This is the first line of Nobel Prize winning author Kawabata Yasunari's novel Snow Country. 雪国。

The description is a vivid reminder for us that traveled to Echigo Yuzawa by rail. The Shinkansen traveled through the plains slowly elevating. There was no snow on the ground and we could see the rice paddies as we past through the countryside.

The rail line has many tunnels. The last long tunnel was the most memorable as the train darted out of the tunnel into the winter snow scape that seemed brighter than light. The train soon stopped at Echigo Yuzawa station.

Kawabata's depiction of the moment that the train came out of the tunnel brings back memories.

The shinkansen line does not pass through the same tunnel as the rail line that served during the time of the novel.

Our trip on the Shinkansen got to our destination in about 2 hours. My mother related to me that before the Shinkansen, the same trip took about half a day or more. There were no bathrooms on the train and very few stops.

The era and technology has changed travel but the experience is still breathtaking.

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