December 16th – December 20th is Winter – TAISETSU (Greater snow) – 63rd KOU “Salmon gather and swim upstream”
The 63rd KOU depicts salmon that are born in a river, leave down to the sea, and then return to the river to spawn.
The CHIKUMA River and SAI River basins were once some of the leading salmon-producing areas in Japan.
The salmon traveled from NAGANO Prefecture through NIIGATA Prefecture down to the Sea of Japan, and then returned their home river at this time of year.
There have been no reports of salmon migrating upstream to the rivers recently, but in IIYAMA City, near the border between NIIGATA and NAGABO prefectures, citizens have released salmon fry into the CHIKUMA River.
I look forward to seeing you in the near future. Until then, bon voyage!
