Japan is a wonderful country full of great people and amazing culture. One thing it’s not, however, is a land of unspoiled nature, something I was reminded of when I took my vacation to the Hakone area. Several times I found fabulous views of Mt. Fuji and pulled over to take some pictures, only to find ugly power lines finding their way into my photos. This is not entirely the fault of the Japanese, of course: Japan is a highly industrialized country which manages to fit a little less than half the population of the U.S. into an area the size of Nebraska, so of course it needs to make use of its land in a way that serves the most people. Still, Japan’s ruling (and ironically named) Liberal Democratic Party sometimes goes overboard, over-funding the constructions of roads in part to help Japan’s construction-based economy move forward, but also to reward political supporters with contracts. Often I’m driving through the mountains and I see they’ve literally covered the side of a mountain in concrete, ostensibly to keep landslides from happening in the event of an earthquake…but I can’t shake the idea that someone here just likes concrete more than mountains.
The beauty of Fuji-san calls to us with the heart of a samurai and GOD DAMN IT NOT AGAIN.
