This is JUS.
We’re already nearly halfway through May.
Knowing that the Tokai region will enter the rainy season come June and there will be many rainy days makes me feel a bit gloomy, but at the same time, it gives me the perfect excuse to skip the mountain descents I love so dearly on my days off. (A contradiction, I know.)
On days like that, I spend my morning watching movies I’ve been wanting to see and reading books I’ve been meaning to get to. So, I don’t hate the rainy season.
I introduced a bit of the Circles bookshelf in a previous blog, and I’d like to share one of the books I recently read from it.
【Kenji Miyazawa, Mountain Life】
Editor: Shuji Sawamura
Illustrator: Keiko Yokote
Price : ¥2,400 (tax excluded)
This book features quotes and commentaries on "mountains" found in the poems and fairy tales of Kenji Miyazawa, who was a master of mountain hiking and a deep lover of nature. It’s so interesting that I ended up reading it all in one sitting. It’s also beautifully bound using Japanese washi paper—a rarity these days—and I think it serves as a great reference book for anyone re-exploring the works of Kenji Miyazawa.
It even includes a commentary on "Acorn and the Wildcat," one of my favorite stories from Miyazawa’s only published collection, *The Restaurant of Many Orders*. It helped me properly clarify interpretations that had remained vague in my mind since I first read it back in the day.
You know, back in elementary school, did you ever read his fairy tale "Yamanashi" and think, "What on earth is this about?" The commentary for that is in here, too. It’s highly recommended, not just for fans of Kenji Miyazawa, but for those who know nothing about him at all, so please check it out.