This summer, we visited a prefecture called Niigata.
Niigata is a prefecture located along the Sea of Japan,
north of Toyama.
Prefectures along the Pacific side are much
more familiar to us, but since we live closer to
the Sea of Japan now, we decided to visit Niigata this time.
There are a lot to talk about Niigata, of course,
but out of all the things, I want to point out
their neat houses!!
Niigata has a harsh winter with lots of snow.
Just like here in Takayama.
It is ideal to have a garage so that they won't have
to dig out their cars on snowy days.
It is very common to have roofs over parking places in Takayama,
and here, garages stand on their own.
However, the houses in Niigata were different.
I wouldn't say majority of the houses were like the ones I found
but, I found many houses looking like the ones on the
photo below.
Houses were three stories high,
the sizes were quite huge,
and the bottom floor was their garages.
Can you tell from the photos?
I was wondering,
would that kind of houses work here in Takayama?
Perhaps, it would be harder to shovel snow off the
roofs since the height of the houses will become taller.
But wouldn't that be the same in Niigata?
Anyways,
I love watching and observing the houses in new places!!
It is interesting to find out how houses in different
places are adjusted to fit their very own environment!!
今のうちに、日本海側を攻めておかなくては！
ということで、この夏は新潟まで足をのばしてきました。
語ることは、たくさん！
しかし、おもしろい発見が新潟で見つけた家たち。
ご存知の通り、新潟は雪国！
高山よりずっと過酷な降雪地帯です。
もちろん、豪雪の中、毎朝車を掘り起こすのは大変なので
車庫が必要なわけです。
高山も車庫、もしくは最低でも駐車場の上には屋根を
つけたいものです。（うちにはありませんが、、、汗）
↓の写真でわかるでしょうか。
ほとんど、とは言いませんが、
こんな感じの家を、とにかくたくさんの発見！！
大きな三階建ての家です！
一階部分が車庫、そして二階、三階が居住スペースなのです。
なるほどなるほど。
でも、そこでふと思ったのが、
高山には、どうしてこういう家がないのかな？
雪おろしが大変になるからかな？
でも、それは新潟も同じよね。
今は、緑が美しいけど、
数か月後には真っ白になる新潟の過酷な冬を
想像しながら、ところ変われば、変化する住宅たちを
眺めながら、家族でわいわいと盛り上がりました。
