cal 6 Posted February 19, 2002 Share Posted February 19, 2002 I heard when I was in Yuzawa that the 3 towns in the area are going to join up and become an official city called Yukiguni-shi (Snow Country City??). Does anyone know if that is true or if it was just a joke? Link to post Share on other sites
Ski Japan Guide 0 Posted February 19, 2002 Share Posted February 19, 2002 Hi Cal What you heard was partly right. The towns of Shiozawa, Muikamachi and Yamato are in discussions to become a "city" and moving ahead, while Yuzawa is seem to be dragging it's feet a bit on the issue. Why? Well the first three are nowhere near as wealthy as Yuzawa and they will benefit more from the alliance. If they become a city, there will be much more financial support from the government than at present. The "city" it seems would actually be called "Yukiguni-shi" (!), and the current Minamiuonuma-gun would disappear. Quite how it would work out without Yuzawa remains to be seen, but rumor has it that Yuzawa would also eventually join.... Jon Link to post Share on other sites
rach 1 Posted February 19, 2002 Share Posted February 19, 2002 Yukiguni-shi. You have got to be joking!! ?? Link to post Share on other sites
rach 1 Posted February 19, 2002 Share Posted February 19, 2002 Oops, thanks for that Jon. Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted February 19, 2002 Share Posted February 19, 2002 Until about forty (?) years ago, there was no such place as Hakuba-mura. The "village" came about through the merger of Kamishiro (the area near Goryu) and, err, the more northerly bit whose name escapes me. One place near the south-west border of Nagano where all the kids go to school in Gifu is currently trying to secede from Nagano ken, so they've been on the news of late. Is that the part of Niigata where Kawabata's book is based, or is it just an even more blatant ploy to get tourists in ? Link to post Share on other sites
Ski Japan Guide 0 Posted February 19, 2002 Share Posted February 19, 2002 Actually NoFakie, Yuzawa can claim to be "Yukiguni" as it was the setting for the novel. "And the train comes out of the tunnel" (or whatever that opening line was) refers to Yuzawa. Jon Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted February 19, 2002 Share Posted February 19, 2002 Thanks Jon ! Interesting to hear. My cynicism was unwarranted in this case. Given that there are some wild place names in Japan (and in other countries too, of course), it doesn't sound that bad to me. It also avoids the problem of all three villages fighting to have their kanji in there somewhere. Most Japanese place names sound terrible in English, especially when you adopt the Japanese bureaucratic custom of sticking a City, Town or Village on every name. It's not "Los Angeles-City" or "Sydney-City" is it? Link to post Share on other sites
Ski Japan Guide 0 Posted February 19, 2002 Share Posted February 19, 2002 No problem NoFakie. Although of course they do intend to play up the Snow Country deal - more funds from the govt and the publicity that will follow etc etc. The Yuzawa in or out situation is an interesting one, and the town is currently agonising over it by all accounts. Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted February 19, 2002 Share Posted February 19, 2002 NoFakie, that was the bane of my life when I was teaching English to civil servants - trying to get them not to say 'Hi, I'm Hiko from Oimo Town'. Yukiguni City is going to be even worse as it has two geographical items, 'country' and 'city'. Maybe it'll be just like Ho Chi Minh City, still known to most people as Saigon. Link to post Share on other sites
Ski Japan Guide 0 Posted February 19, 2002 Share Posted February 19, 2002 Yeah, I don't like the name either. Thought it was a joke when I first heard it. But no - no joke! Jon Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted February 20, 2002 Share Posted February 20, 2002 Jon, the book actually goes like this; "The train came out of the tunnel into the snow country and immediately bogged down in minutely observed trivia. Nobody went snowboarding. Everybody was bored and vaguely unhappy. The lid of the kettle rattled as it boiled on the station stove." And that's as far as I got before I started reading something better. I preferred the other Nobel Prize winning book where they broke the fat boy's glasses and carried a pig's head around on a stick. Link to post Share on other sites
airmad 0 Posted February 24, 2002 Share Posted February 24, 2002 Great name Link to post Share on other sites
big-will 7 Posted March 1, 2002 Share Posted March 1, 2002 I don't suppose Yuzawa are as rich as they used to be. The times I have been there the last few years, all those condo rooms look EMPTY even on a Saturday. Must be hurting. Link to post Share on other sites
brit-gob 9 Posted March 6, 2002 Share Posted March 6, 2002 That is an absurd name. But then again, it probably doesn't sound as crap in japanese to a native. Link to post Share on other sites
kobet 0 Posted March 8, 2002 Share Posted March 8, 2002 I've never been to that area, any good? Just not convenient from down here in Kansai. Nagano is much better for us. Just kind of wondering if it was worth taking a trip, maybe next season. Link to post Share on other sites
OzOzOz 2 Posted March 9, 2002 Share Posted March 9, 2002 I've never been impressed with that region of Niigata the 4 or 5 times I have been there. For me Myoko/Arai wins out easily compared with Yuzawa. Yuzawa wins over so many people mainly because of how easy it is to get to from Tokyo. Link to post Share on other sites
cal 6 Posted September 3, 2002 Author Share Posted September 3, 2002 It seems Yuzawa is not going to take part in this anymore, but the others will. Link to post Share on other sites
big-will 7 Posted September 3, 2002 Share Posted September 3, 2002 I wonder why - maybe too rich for the others Link to post Share on other sites
scouser 4 Posted September 4, 2002 Share Posted September 4, 2002 Bit snobby then are they, yuzawa? Link to post Share on other sites
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