Streets in Toyohara (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk)

　　I often got on our tour guide's case about his proficiency in Japanese. When he found something to point out from the bus, he started to talk about it. While he was choosing his words, it passed out of sight. I wasn't able to take pictures of them. Finally, I didn't know what almost all the pictures taken through the bus window were for. In the era of Japanese territory, Karafuto was inhabited by not only Japanese but also Korean people, because the Korean Peninsula, which was not what you call a colony, was a part of Japan at that time. Korean people were treated just like original Japanese in those days. Now, South Korea trades on the hostile relationship between Japan and Russia. There were national flags of Russia and South Korea on the construction site of something. There was also a monument for Korean people who wanted to go back to Korea in vain on the hill looking down on the town of Oodomari.
　　I was eager to see how Karafuto would be on this trip, but I had another purpose, which was to see what the motorcycle culture was like. When I visited South Korea in 2009, Korean people didn't have a mind to enjoy riding itself. Motorcycles for them were merely a means of transportation. Karafuto was just like South Korea in that way. I saw only one motorcycle on the street but there was no motorcycle shop as far as I saw. I might have to give up the thought of riding on Karafuto.

(Vocabulary)
北緯５０度以南の樺太は日本領、したがってこのブログでは日本名を使う
Karafuto (樺太)　Sakhalin サハリン
Toyohara (豊原)　Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk ユジノサハリンスク
Oodomari(大泊)　Korsakov　コルサコフ