Sweet watermelon home, Hata

Water melon slice (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Hata is about 250㎞ north west of the capital,Tokyo. Hata is in a region called the Shinetsu and Japanese Alps. It is one of the most beautiful regions in the country. There are big Water Melon fields, bueatiful mountains ,transparent blue Azusa river.

The Watermelons from Hata are very very sweet and they are expensive.

Our winters are very cold and dry, and it snows less than Hakuba. Our Summers are quite hot and dry.

I'm sorry, there is not a photo of Hata.

Thanks

Aoi

After reading "Stranger Danger"...hiking memoirs

Write about a hiking trip you made when you were young.

In Mastumoto, it is very popular activity to go hiking during the junior high school years. The destination depends on school, but I went to Kamikouchi for hiking and camping when I was in the first year at my junior high school. We went to there by bus and arrived in the noon. In the afternoon, we walked around the field to see some ponds there. It was a summer activity, but it was very cold there.

We had to cook by ourselves, so we packed food in our backpack. Our group brought a watermelon as a dessert after dinner. We put the watermelon in the river as soon as we arrived there. Our teacher cut it for us and we could share it with everyone in our class. It tasted really good and the most delicious one in my life.

In the night, we watched the stars before we sent to sleep in the tent. The sky was full of stars which were brighter than what I had seen in my town. I felt it was even nearer to me. Watermelon and starts are my good memory of hiking.

The place where I live - Hata

I live in Hata, which is next to Matsumoto. It has a population of about 15,000 people. These days, many people come to Hata because it’s close to Matsumoto and Shiojiri, and land is cheaper than in the cities.

There are elementary, junior and high schools. There is also a hospital, a station, a library, a gymnastic hall and so on in Hata. I think that public services are satisfactory. “ACT HALL” is especially very good. A lot of concerts are held there every year.

There are a lot of fields around Hata, which is especially famous for watermelon.

They’re extremely sweet, more than other town’s, so many people come to buy them in the summer. My family buys at least ten then.

The weather is nice. Best of all, I like the summer so much. However, I don’t like the winter season because it’s very cold. Usually, temperatures are lower than Matsumoto by about 1-3 degrees. If you like the cold, you should choose Hata.

Hata is in the countryside, so there are not many shops. Nevertheless, it’s home, sweet home. Home is home, though it has never been too homely….