lifestyle

tsumago

Breathe in. Breathe out.
And again. A little deeper...
Breathe in. Breathe out.
Fresh mountain air! 
It's so clean. Very clear. 

Tsumago. Here in Kiso Valley, breathing suddenly becomes much easier. Maybe it's also because the weight of what we've been carrying around is finally falling off. More with every breath... until it's gone.

Eyes closed, only the rain can be heard. The crackling on the tin roof of our Ryokan. The splashing on the water surface of the Koi pond. The trickling from leaf to leaf.

The shingles of the ancient wooden houses seem to be completely softened by the rain, they are coloured deep brown and still keep their density. Not a drop penetrates. So it is always dry inside. 

In the evening, when the rain slowly gives way to the setting sun, a thick fog envelops the slopes of the surrounding mountains. A few drops dare to run off leaves and twigs once more and fall glittering to the ground. The last rays of the day dip the remaining cloud fragments into pastel orange, delicate pink and girlish violet. And so time suddenly stands still. A never-ending sea of flames in the sky. A moment, an instant when we find it difficult to breathe again. 

Japan, October 2019. | All words and photos by The Sturgheons.