Almost 70 years ago, a man hiked up Mt.Kano and painted a picture. His name is Kaii Higashiyama. The title of the painting was "残照" which means "Afterglow". After that, this work brought him the special prize at the largest competition art exhibition in Japan. He became one of the most famous land-scape painters in Japan. You can see a magnificent view of "Kujuuku-tani" which means 99 valleys from here. If it's possible, early morning in winter may be the best view for taking a picture. You may see the sea of clouds. It was the second trip for me to visit here. I drove here before noon. Though it was still cold and a bit cloudy, I found the buds of the cherry trees were swelling. That eased me a lot. 東山魁夷の出世作「残照」ゆかりの地である鹿野山の九十九谷公園に再訪しました。同じ冬場とはいえ時間帯が昼前だったせいか、夕映えや朝靄といった視覚効果は得られませんでした。 絵に描かれた遥か遠方の山並みが無いなど、実際の景色との微妙な違いが気になったのですが、画家が過去に訪問した様々な山々のイメージを重ねたものであったと後に知りました。九十九谷をもとに、こころの中の風景を描いたのですね。 膨らみかけた桜のつぼみが、寒さを和らげてくれたようでした。