straw stacks sunk in snow –-
rising above the small peaks
Fujisan, cloaked in white
I am not the only photographer charmed by this scene. The parking lot next to this little field bristles with as many tripods as straw stacks. I am the only foreigner taking photos and I have no tripod, but I feel right at home. The scene reminds me of Hokusai’s Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji, particularly Tea House at Koishikawa, the morning after a snowfall. I fell in love with ukiyo-e artist Katsushika Hokusai at an early age and my house is filled with his beautiful colored woodblock prints. During my stay in Oshino, at the foot of Fujisan, I understand how a person could spend every day admiring the beauty of this magical mountain from many different viewpoints and through all the changing seasons.
