March. When I think back to what I was doing as an elementary school student in Kamakura, I feel restless? Lightheaded? A memory of naturally going outside starts stirring deep inside me

In the 1950s and 60s, spinning tops were the quintessential winter pastime for children in Kamakura. These were the wooden Oyama tops, now apparently an expensive local specialty. Back then, they were sold everywhere, easily accessible to children, and they owned several. We'd clash these tops, each 10-20 centimeters in diameter, against each other. Playing them quickly warmed us up

Spinning tops were no longer played when spring arrived. This was probably because there were now many other games to play. The cloudy beaches in winter were so cold that you couldn't stay there for long. In spring, even without sunshine, it was warm enough for children. Playing indoors became almost nonexistent. The playgrounds for the children of Hase were the grounds of Kannon Temple, the parking lot and surrounding alleys of the Great Buddha, the grounds of Amanawa Shrine... as you would expect, there were many shrines and temples. There weren't as many monuments and such built on the grounds as there are now, so it was spacious, and at the same time, the hilly terrain made it perfect for playing games like "Doroken" and "Pokopen." Doroken is a group game of tag where players are divided into two teams, one for thieves and the other for police, and Pokopen is a variation of kick the can, a game of hide-and-seek that might be unique to Kamakura

We also played baseball on Sundays. When I was in third grade, there was a leader in the third year of junior high school named Wada, and we'd go to the beach with a group of more than ten people from different grades and play triangle base. As we played, neighborhood kids and older men who came for a walk to the beach would join in. I was treated like the odd one out after a while as a third grader, but I was happy just to be among the adults

By the way, the mountains of Kamakura are mainly covered with evergreen trees that don't shed their leaves. That's why the mountains hardly change color in autumn. The mountains are covered with dull leaves that haven't been very active throughout the winter. Even though they are evergreens, the leaves in early spring look mossy green. It's a different feeling from mountains covered with deciduous trees, a feeling of quiet slumber. Looking at the mountains of Kamakura on a warm, windless day in March evokes a rather melancholic feeling

I don't want you to misunderstand, but "mononashii" is not the same as "sad." It's a much deeper feeling, a sensation that lies at the very core of life. Under a milky white sky thinly covered with clouds, there is no wind, my body is relaxed, and I unconsciously feel the scent of flowers drifting in from somewhere. The mountains are there silently

 

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Kazushi Hosaka

Novelist. Born in Yamanashi Prefecture in 1956. Moved to Hase, Kamakura during childhood

Graduated from Hase Kindergarten, Daiichi Elementary School, Eiko Gakuen Junior and Senior High School, and Waseda University

He made his debut as a novelist in 1990 with "Play Song"

In 1995, he won the Akutagawa Prize for "Kono Hito no Iki" (This Person's Threshold)

In 1997, she won the Tanizaki Jun'ichiro Prize and the Hirabayashi Taiko Literary Prize for "Memories of the Seasons"

She won the Noma Literary Prize in 2013 for her novel "The Struggle at Dawn." She is known to be a cat lover

In 2018, she won the Kawabata Yasunari Prize for "Koko to Yoso" (Here and Other Places)