Written by Keisuke Kimura

The mountain behind my house. That was my original landscape.

It was the spring of my 18th year when I left Hokkaido, where I was born and raised, and moved to Miyagi Prefecture. I moved to Miyagi Prefecture in the spring of my 18th year because the university where I was going to study to become a teacher was located in Sendai City. At the time, I was confused by the unfamiliar lifestyle and spent my days busy with my studies. After a year, he was able to settle down. It was around that time that he decided to try fly-fishing, which he had longed to do in elementary school, and visited a fly-fishing store. Without understanding what I was doing, I gathered up a set of equipment, including a used UFM Weda rod and an unnamed reel, straddled my motorized bicycle, and headed for a mountain stream near Sendai City. I can still recall the scene when I arrived at my destination. The sound of the wind rustling the leaves, the vivid greenery, and the smell of fresh water.

It was at that moment that I realized the magnitude of what nature had to offer.

The area around my parents' house, where I spent my childhood, was full of nature. A short walk up the mountain behind the house led to an abandoned asparagus field, and further on to a forest. There were trees standing just enough to make walking easy, and two large rocks were lying side by side in the middle of the trees. They had been made into a secret base by passing branches that had been picked up. Sculpin lived in the river that ran beside it, and we would play with the traps we had bought for wildling fishing. We spent day after day doing such things.

Children are geniuses at play. They know how to make the most of the charm of whatever is around them and enjoy it. This is something I have strongly felt since becoming a teacher. They have a great sensitivity and are not shy about expressing the fun they sense. They have a boldness that allows them to do things that adults would hesitate to do. This power is equally demonstrated whether the object is natural or man-made. I am sure that I was one of such beings.

After all, I believe that it is only those who have felt the allure of nature in their childhood who seek to be in the midst of nature even as adults. For us, nature is not an environment that must not be destroyed, but a precious friend.

The original landscape that made me feel the attraction of nature is gone. It has been reclaimed one after another, and houses are standing in rows. I don't think this is a bad thing. However, there is something that concerns me.

I can't help but hope that they will be good friends to the children who will live in the future, just as our friends have been to us.