Snow scenery at Minamiaizu Town, Feb. 22, 2017 （南会津の雪景色 ２０１７年２月２２日）
Today I visited Minamiaizu Town which is located in the southern area of Aizu Region. Aizu Railway runs through the area and the railroad track extends all the way to Asakusa Tokyo. Photo above shows snow scenery at Okuaizu History Museum which is about 20-minute walk from Sansondojo Station. An old tea house and traditional farmers' houses are preserved in this complex, all of which are from Edo Period more than 200 years ago. All the houses were covered with deep snow today due to heavy snowfall over the past few days. The old tea house in the picture is called Sannojaya which was originally located at Sanno Pass on the border between Tochigi Pref. and Fukushima during Edo Period. It was once burnt down by Boshin Civil War but was rebuilt soon afterward on the site and then moved to here for preservation. This house is being used today as soba restaurant and cafe during all season. In fact I had a delicious soba noodle and Shingoro or rice ball with miso paste for lunch at here today.
本日は、会津鉄道で南会津町を訪ねました。写真は、山村道場駅から徒歩２０分程の、奥会津博物館の敷地内に集められている江戸時代からの茶屋や農家の雪景色です。正面の茶屋は、江戸時代、山王峠（栃木との県境）にあったものですが、戊辰戦争で焼け、その後すぐに再建されて、最後はここに保存されているものです。現在は、通年、蕎麦レストランとカフェに使われています。この写真でも営業していて、私も昼に蕎麦としんごろうをいただきました。
Photo above shows today's Aizu Railway train running powerful through a snow field. From April 21 of this year, a brand new super express train "Revaty" is scheduled to connect Asakusa, Tokyo and Aizutajima, Minamiaizu Town directly without changing trains. This may greatly push tourism in this region.
写真は、雪原をたくましく走る会津鉄道の電車です。今年の４月２１日より、新型の特急電車Revatyが、浅草と会津田島（南会津町）を乗り換えなし直接結ぶ予定になっています。この地域の観光を後押しします。（実は、写真はありませんが、本日この新型電車が試運転で走っていました。）
The exact route and locations are shown in the map below. The map can be scaled up and down with a click and scroll.
ルートと場所は、下の地図を参照ください。地図は、クリックとスクロールで、拡大・縮小が可能です。
