During the height of the Obon holiday, on the 14th of August, Mount Aso had just been placed under Alert Level 3 due to increased volcanic activity. Yet only two days later, on the 16th, I—despite my aging body—took two energetic young cousins under my care: my eldest daughter’s son, a third-grader who came all the way from Yokohama, and my second daughter’s son, a fifth-grader from Urawa. Together with my wife, our grandmotherly selves, and our 20-year-old second son, we set out on an adventure.
On the first day, the 15th, as is our family tradition during Obon and New Year’s, we took the boys to Amakusa to visit the family graves and pay our respects to our ancestors.
The following day, the 16th, my son and my wife and I took them to Aso, where we work. We wanted our two city-bred grandsons to witness one of Aso’s most iconic sights: the active crater of Mount Nakadake, which was spectacularly erupting at the time. Aso is truly unique, being the only place in the world to hold both the title of a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS) and that of a Global Geopark.
But then, while we were driving, I noticed that the two boys were sitting in the back seat, heads down, completely absorbed in some kind of Nintendo Switch game. When I excitedly pointed out, “Look! That’s the crater of Nakadake!” and encouraged them to look outside, neither boy even glanced out the window. All I got was a casual, “Wow, that’s amazing.”
And that was the moment I realized it. 😠
These two mischievous little cousins had absolutely no interest in witnessing the magnificent forces of nature unfolding before their eyes. As far as they were concerned, the only thing that mattered was competing against each other on their game consoles, each striving to reach the next high score and climb to greater heights.
All I could do was shake my head and sigh… 😩
“Oh, well… what can you do?”
Apparently, that was the answer to the disappointing title given by Grandpa and Grandma to this story: “Visiting Kusasenri Under Volcanic Alert Level 3—What We Learned.”
And with that, all’s well that ends well! 😊
Well then, thank you very much for staying with me until the very end of today’s Blog!! ❢❢
That being said, with the sweltering heat continuing across Japan, we have also been seeing far too many natural disasters—earthquakes, typhoons, floods, and other extreme events—as if they were piling on top of the heat.
So, let’s all take good care of ourselves and stay safe! @^^)/~~~
Finally, all three photos featured in this blog post were taken with a smartphone from inside my car.(*_*;
