Day 9: Hakuba
This is the 22nd of 25 posts in the series Japan 2009.
We stayed at K's House Hakuba, run by Toshi and Megumi.
Hakuba is busier in the winter when the slopes around the small mountain town are transformed into ski resorts. But surprisingly, there were quite a few people staying in the hostel that night.
We met a couple from Israel, a couple from somewhere in Europe that I've since forgotten, a girl who was teaching English in Japan for a year and on a short vacation. One of our new friends had bought a large box of fireworks, and everyone went to a nearby empty lot.
- 30mm
- 1/60
- ƒ/1.6
- ISO 1600
Fireworks are illegal in most of California, save for the big shows run by licensed technicians. In Japan, however, summertime fireworks are more common.
Every box of fireworks comes with the tiniest, stubbiest, stupidest candle you've ever seen. You melt the bottom a bit and stick it on a flat surface. The candle somehow manages to keep a tiny flame burning for a while, and you use it to light your other fireworks.
- 30mm
- 1/80
- ƒ/1.6
- ISO 1600
I'll admit, there was a small amount of Harry Potter spell casting until we ran out of sparklers.
Harry Potter, like Scooby Doo, transcends nationalities and cultures.
- 30mm
- 1/100
- ƒ/1.6
- ISO 1600
But there we were, about ten people from all over the world, lighting things on fire in a small mountain town in the Japanese Alps.
- 30mm
- 1/80
- ƒ/1.6
- ISO 1600
- 30mm
- 1/100
- ƒ/1.6
- ISO 1600
- 30mm
- 1/640
- ƒ/1.6
- ISO 1600
- 30mm
- 1/320
- ƒ/1.6
- ISO 1600
- 30mm
- 1/320
- ƒ/1.6
- ISO 1600
- 30mm
- 1/125
- ƒ/1.6
- ISO 1600
Our fireworks finally spent, we returned to the hostel and sat out in the muggy evening, drinking vending machine beer and sharing tales of our travels. Some of the people we met had been to dozens of countries, and they told amazing stories about the places they'd seen.
I think one day I'd like to have traveled the world.
- 30mm
- 1/30
- ƒ/1.4
- ISO 1600