Katsuyama, Fukui → Shiramine, Ishikawa

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📍 Katsuyama, Fukui

📍 Kitadani, Fukui

The clear skies over Katsuyama clouded over theatrically, and I watched the downpour hammer the azaleas from the windows of the bathhouse. When the rain petered out, I walked out into the misty gloom and up the pass which separated the prefectures of Fukui and Ishikawa. It may have been at the latitude of Gibraltar and Mosul, but monstrous snowplows lined the road, hinting at the mountains of snow which blanket the land in the winter. As night fell in the cedar forest, a bear jumped from the undergrowth and disappeared into the darkness.