Our summer vacation by Michiko

Kenji Miyazawa

I had a plan for the final week of August. My husband and I planned a trip to "Iihatoubu". Kenji Miyazawa (he is a writer of fairy tales) named Iwate prefecture "Iihatoubu". That means "dream land". He was born in Hanamaki City, Iwate, and he was looking for a Utopia all his life. He was 37 years old when he passed away. He composed many fantastic fairy tales. For example, "Yamanashi (The Wild Pear)", "Yodaka-no-hashi (The Star of Yodaka)" and "Gingatetsudo-no-Yoru (The Night of Milky Way Train)". These tales have beautiful nature and innocent spirit. So,I hoped to visit his hometown and experience "Iihatoubu". We were planning to go to Morioka by Touhoku Shinkansen and to rent a car there. It would be two night and three days. I am a bad driver but my husband is a good driver. I couldn't wait for our summer vacation. HOWEVER! Suddenly my father went to the hospital because he became seriously ill. So I cancelled our trip to Iwate this summer.