While the warm daytime makes it seem like spring is just around the corner, the mornings and evenings are still quite chilly.
On such winter mornings and evenings, Mount Fuji is often visible from the Kashima region.
One bone-chilling evening, I thought, "Mount Fuji might be visible!" and climbed to a high point on a hill in Namegata City.
My hunch was correct, and Mount Fuji appeared with a beautiful sunset.
The wide white area in the background is Lake Kasumigaura.
You can faintly see the grey outline of Mount Fuji in the center.
As the sun sets further, Mount Fuji becomes even clearer.
Once the sun had completely set, Mount Fuji emerged clearly like a silhouette.
It's truly不思議 to see Mount Fuji, which should be far away, appear so close.
Here is Mount Fuji in the morning.
Mount Fuji is covered in pure white snow.
Seeing Mount Fuji in the morning always clears my mind.
As I approached the lake, a flock of ducks flapped their wings and flew away.
It seems I startled the ducks while they were eating.
In the Edo period, Katsushika Hokusai depicted Mount Fuji in almost the same size and from almost the same position as this photo, in his work "Ushibori in Hitachi Province" from "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji."
Ushibori, as depicted by Hokusai, is the neighboring district.
In Hokusai's painting, two egrets are flying instead of ducks.
Please do a search for it.
The feelings people have for Mount Fuji seem to be unchanged, from ancient times to the present. For Japanese people, Mount Fuji must truly be a special mountain.
Text and photos: Hashimoto (Community Collaboration Team)