Raining as Usual

     I'm sitting on a seat in the express train for Otaru. It's raining outside. I've visited Hokkaido 4, 5 times. As always, it's raining this time. I really prefer the clear sky to the rain, but the green of the plants around me is very beautiful just in the rain.
     I found a skywalk at Kita-hiroshima station. I've seen some passages like this in Minneapolis. When I visited a hospital in Rochester in Minnesota, I stayed in Minneapolis a night to watch a baseball game of the Minnesota Twins. I heard the temperature of Minnesota is extremely low in the winter and people can't walk outside. This skywalk reminds me of the days in Minnesota. The climate in the winter around here must be harsh for humans.
     The name of this station is "Kita-hiroshima". "Kita" means north and "Hiroshima" means Hiroshima City that is famous for being the victim city of the Atomic Bomb, so the meaning of "Kita-hiroshima" is "North Hiroshima".
     In the Meiji Era the government promoted emigration from the mainland to Hokkaido to protect our land from the northern enemy. At that time the immigrants newly named their land after their original place. The ancestors of the citizens of this city must have come here from Hiroshima City.
     My daughter is looking out of the window. She must be aware of the difference between our hometown and here in various ways. I think this land might be her second home town.

(KW:北広島)