The town in which my office is located lies at the outlet of Hijikawa River, which runs out of the deep forest through the Oozu basin, then along the basin-shaped valley to the Seto Inland Sea. It is unquestionably amongst the big rivers in Japan.
In the early morning on freezing winter days Oozu basin is blanketed with dense fog. The fog is produced in the basin and flows inside the valley and over the surface of Hijikawa River to the sea. The road by the river and folk houses is covered with the fog. This phenomenon is called Hijikawa-Arashi, which literally means the storm of Hijikawa River.
The Hijikawa-Arashi observation deck stands on top of the hill behind my office and I climbed up today before business hours. The condition was far from that which generates Hijikawa-Arashi, but I wanted to see the deck in advance before the season of the Hijikawa-Arashi.
The first picture is the mouth of the river. You can see the Seto Inland Sea over there. The red bridge is a drawbridge and is also the icon of the historic town. The second one was shot moving my camera to the left, the direction of Oozu basin. You will figure out the shape of the valley. The last one shows the fishery and industrial port which is under construction at the moment.
(Vocabulary)
basin 盆地
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