It was sunny again from the morning today. However, now that it is January, the cold feels much stronger, and the lowest temperature this morning was minus one degree. Even so, the weather is very nice, so tourist spots seem to be lively with many visitors. Yesterday, when I was out, I also went to the station shopping area in Odawara, and there were a lot of people. Inside the station, there were more people than usual. Odawara is a place that travelers from Tokyo pass through on their way to Hakone, so many of them are probably heading to Hakone, Atami, or the Izu area. From what I could see, it felt like nearly one third of the people were visitors from overseas.
Another reason for the large crowds may be the Hakone Ekiden, which is held every year on January 2 and 3. This university relay race starts in Tokyo, turns around in Hakone, and then returns to Tokyo. It has been held every year since 1920 and has now been run more than one hundred times (suspended during the war). Twenty-one universities that passed the qualifying races take part, and each team has ten runners. They run different sections of the course and pass the tasuki relay sash to the next runner. The total distance is 217.1 kilometers, so the race is held over two days, with the outward run to Hakone on one day and the return run to Tokyo on the next day. Because this relay race passes through Odawara on the way to Hakone, many spectators come every year to cheer along the course. Also, most of the universities that take part are located in nearby areas, so many graduates live around here. Because of that, the cheering becomes even more passionate and lively. Because of this, many of the people who came to watch the race may have been walking around the city of Odawara yesterday. A restaurant owner I know also said, “On the day of the relay race, there are many customers, so I don’t close the restaurant. I only open for lunch on that day.” I have cheered for the race many times along the roadside before, but this year I watched it on television 🎽
I came to my workshop again this afternoon and took care of some workshop matters and a little bit of work. At the moment, there is a large construction project along the riverbank in front of the workshop, which will continue until February this year. On weekdays, large construction machines come and go, and there is a lot of noise. However, the construction is on break until the 4th, so the area around the workshop is very quiet now. Mount Fuji looks calmer than usual 🤣 I can only hope that there will be no disasters this year and that we can spend the year in peace 🗻
