Japan Diary 10: Miyama — Houses with Big Hats

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Miyama

On our Japan journey, we discover a beautiful little place: Miyama, more precisely Kayabuki no Sato. Dark timber walls, flowers and enormous thatched roofs beneath wooded hills. The houses seem to have decided to put most of their personality into their hats. A thoroughly convincing appearance.

Thatched houses beneath wooded hills in Miyama
Thatched houses beneath wooded hills in Miyama

After all the roads and sweeping landscapes, I enjoy these small lanes. Here, a roof is as worth looking at as the entire village. My BMW is impressively equipped. Next to a thatched roof like this, however, its windscreen looks distinctly modest.

We also photograph Café & Gallery Saika. Its sign sits beneath a roof that makes a persuasive case for the meaning of cosy. Above all, I take one thing away: a photograph of this house.

Outside one house, a woman is tending to leaves on a blue tarpaulin. Everyday life among all those impressive roofs. I like pictures like these: they give a beautiful place something human. Houses appear on postcards. People make their lives in them.

The large thatched roofs seen up close
The large thatched roofs seen up close
A house framed by grasses and orange flowers
A house framed by grasses and orange flowers
A lane between timber houses and thatched roofs
A lane between timber houses and thatched roofs
Café & Gallery Saika, photographed in Miyama
Café & Gallery Saika, photographed in Miyama
A woman works with leaves on a blue tarpaulin outside a house
A woman works with leaves on a blue tarpaulin outside a house
A red postbox in front of the thatched houses
A red postbox in front of the thatched houses

Small things along the way

Our other pictures from the journey have small leading characters of their own: a red postbox, a woman with her loaded cart, a drinks machine with a remarkable selection — and a pug in pink. At least this travelling companion has settled the wardrobe question. Japan provides plenty of material even when the BMW is not centre stage.

A woman pushes a cart along a narrow street
A woman pushes a cart along a narrow street
A woman on her way with a loaded cart
A woman on her way with a loaded cart
The large selection in a drinks machine
The large selection in a drinks machine
A pug in pink in one of our photographs from the journey
A pug in pink in one of our photographs from the journey

About the location: Café & Gallery Saika · Miyama

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