In ancient times,it is said that farmers used to prepare to cultivate a rice field or 
paddy when they found the shape of a horse on the white mountains in Hakuba.
This custom was handed down in this district. 
The name Hakuba means white horse.

This shows that the shape of snow on mountains gave farmers information concedrning
farming, because they had no calender like modern farmers do.

On this home page, you can find some YUKIGATA : shapes on white mountains such as
a horse, a seeding farmer, a long crane-neck ,a parent and child snow grouse, a chiken 
and even a old traditional Japanese marriage row that a bride uses to go to the bride-
groom's house.

Ancient people connected snow shapes withe thier lives.

There are two kinds of YUKIGATA snow shapes; positive shape and negative shape.
The positive shape is the unmelted part showing white snow and the negative shape is 
the melted part showing a black material.

Recently we have entered the age of global warming. Accordingly, we may have the time
when we follow and use the ancient customs that have almost been forgotten ?

I hear the cause of the global warming is partly CO2's exhaust as a result of using
modern technology.

Should we allow nothing to be done about the envirionmetal problem ?


                                           S. Miyashita (reviced by Mn.) ...1998-99