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Lonely town
House in Meto 99.09.30/ Temperature: 12C/ Weather: Cloudy/ Wind Direction: SW
Start: Meto, Ashioro /Latitude: 43 16 17 N/Longitude: 143 15 33 E
Destination: IKuroishi Daira, Kamishihoro
Latitude: 43 20 24 N/Longitude: 143 15 53 E
Distance Traveled: 20 kmFrom the edge of downtown Meto one can almost see the end of the 400 meter mains trip. A karaoke hall, small with corrugated steel walls, greets the newcomer turning in to town off of highway 241. Not a single sole was to be found. The early morning hour may have kept townspeople in their warm houses.
Walking through the center of town it was hard to distinguish houses from stores. What appeared to be a house had a small banner designating it as a ramen shop. Several other houses had small store signs. A passerby would have a hard time determining which establishments are in business.
Small gardens and newly stacked piles of wood hinted that several of the houses are occupied. Abandoned houses with warped wooden shingles, miss-matching windowpanes and weakened frames can be seen along both sides of the road.
Taking a left at the end of the main strip leads one past a serious of abandoned houses, hidden behind overgrown grasses. At the edge of town, I spotted an elderly man entering his house through its entrance way. Realizing that this may be a last chance to fill up on water, I grabbed my water bottle and made my way to the door. Tall grasses covered the front lawn, firewood was covered under a small tin roof, and an old bamboo basket sat on a shelf.
Marsh in Meto "Our water comes fresh from the mountain," said the elderly gentlemen, taking my water bottle from me and filling it up. "Here you go." His jinbei (a Japanese style coat) was faded and well warn. Slouching, he looking up through the open window at me.
"We used to farm. Now we have sold off all of our land except for the house," the man told me. "There used to be three times as many people living in this village. Now, there are only about five families. Family after family have left or passed on. We will soon be next to pass on," he said calmly.
He continued, almost as if sighing, "My children have all gone off to Obihiro and the likes." "But me, I don't want to leave here; I was born here. I'll be here until I die.
For someone who has lived his entire life as a farmer in Hokkaido, there is no doubt that he knows clever tricks of living that farmer's have passed on. Asking him about this, he responded, "Since there are so many products, people stopped doing such things," he said plainly. There is no doubt that a lot of wisdom has been replaced with products, but this doesn't mean that his life experience isn't important.
Having grown up a farmer in Hokkaido, his accumulation of valuable experiences and knowledge are assets to pass on. Though many elders will deny it, similar to him, there is much wisdom to be learned from them.
Creating communities in which this wisdom can be passed on and in which young people can contribute to learning may be key to making this happen.
My water bottle full and he looking tired of being questioned, I trod back to the road.
Greg
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