After we left Fukidashi Park, we ran around Mt.Youtei and Niseko Highland in a counterclockwise direction. The road was wide, except in the forest of Niseko Highland, and not busy. I enjoyed riding to my heart's content. This area is famous for many ski places in winter. Australians more than Japanese come to this area in winter these days. It seems that people feel like being in Australia. I have never been here in winter. I'd like to be back here in winter, of course, with my ski gear. We rode slowly, enjoying the clear scenery. In about two hours after starting we got to the place on the 1st photo. This photo shows the statue of Mr. Takashi Hosokawa, one of the representative singers of Japan. He was born and raised in Makkari village where we are now and the epitaph on this monument says he introduced Makkari village and its products across Japan. Consequently the number of tourists who visit Makkari village increased and sales of local products grew rapidly. He is an honorary villager of Makkari village. His skill as a singer is there for all to see. The handprints that the 2nd photo shows are on the base of the monument. Each handprint is a switch for playing each representative song. If you touch one of these handprints, you can hear one of his masterpieces. We restarted after a coffee break over his voice. It began to rain after a short time. We ran on route 276 along the lakeside of Shikotsuko Lake and entered Chitose city.
There are deep forests in the west of Chitose city. The paths in the forest are one of the best places for off-road bike freaks. I'd like to have run on the forest road, but it was closed for some repairs or construction or something. What a pity! We ran through the heavy rain and reached a riders' house "Chitose". I'll write about this riders' house in the next entry.
(Vocabulary)
epitaph 墓碑銘 (人などに対する）最終的評価
honorary 〈肩書・地位・学位などが〉 名誉として与えられる
out for all to see 《be ～》みんなの目にさらけ出されている
The results are there for all to see. その結果は誰もが認めるところだ。
(KW: 細川たかし 真狩村 羊蹄山 ニセコ)
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