Don’t fight over snow. When spring comes, only resentment will remain.” Spring in the snow country is still far away… Amazing “There is a trouble of shoveling snow”.

The “Seven Articles of Ikeda Living,” a proposal for immigrants in Ikeda Town, Fukui Prefecture, that became a hot topic on the Internet.

While the cherry blossoms are expected to bloom in March, some people are battling with snow. Although it is said that there are three cold and four warm days, people in snowy areas still have to worry about snow for a while longer.

The topic of snow reminds me of the “Seven Articles of Ikeda Life,” a proposal for immigrants in the town of Ikeda, Fukui Prefecture, which became a hot topic on the Internet this past winter.

The article included advice such as “Don’t blow your city airs ” to the newcomers, and was met with such comments as, “Are you judging me? 　It is too scary,” “I don’t want to move to a town like this,” “It’s too dangerous,” “It sends chills down my spine,” and so on.

On the other hand, many people from the countryside who live in the city or, conversely, former city dwellers who live in the countryside tweeted, ” Honestly, yes,” or “Too honest, but rather kind. In fact, city-born and city-raised city dwellers with illusions that “the countryside is warm, simple, and friendly” may not understand, but in rural areas, such small troubles with neighbors are an everyday occurrence.

Among them, the one that some local people were excited to understand too well was, “Don’t fight over the snow. When spring comes, only resentment will remain” is the teaching. In fact, there are many troubles and worries over snow that are not understood by people living in the city or in warm areas where it rarely snows.

As a native of northern Nagano Prefecture, where the snow used to be so deep that I could make a kamakura (a large, snow-covered mound) in my garden when I was a child, I have seen and heard many of these problems and concerns. Even today, when the amount of snowfall is much less than it used to be, snow is still the only topic of conversation.

We would like to pick up some “snowy country experiences” from our own experiences and those of our family, friends, and acquaintances, as well as from tweets on social networking services and the like.

1_As long as there is snow there, shoveling will continue…

Many people, especially the middle-aged and the elderly, cannot stop shoveling snow even though they fully understand that there is no end to the amount of snow they can shovel while it is still falling. Many people, especially middle-aged and elderly people, lament, “I hear that I have to shovel until I can see the ground,” “Even if my family tells me that I should shovel after the snow stops falling, they don’t listen to me,” and “Shoveling when it’s still snowing only makes me have to do it twice.

However, if one leaves the snow unattended, thinking, “I’ll shovel after it stops snowing,” a tremendous amount of snow can accumulate at the front door and other places, making it impossible to go to school or work when one wakes up the next morning. In addition, while the snow is left unattended, it can freeze, making it even more difficult, so “shoveling snow before it freezes is a must.

2_”Shoveling snow” is both a suffering and a sport, hobby, and reason for living.

While lamenting that it is hard when snow piles up, that they wish they had never been born in such a snowy area, and that they hate winter because they have to shovel snow, on the other hand, there are many who say that it is boring without snow.

This is because shoveling snow can make them feel mindless and “on a snow shoveling high,” and they feel refreshed and a sense of accomplishment afterwards. It is similar to the feeling one gets after running a marathon in gym class or after running a long distance in an athletic club.

The following are some examples of the feeling one gets after shoveling snow: “It’s hard work, but it’s a good sweat and fun time,” “I got so absorbed in shoveling snow that I forgot to eat and found myself doing it for hours,” “Shoveling snow is fun when you are doing it, but the muscle aches afterward are hard,” “On holidays, I was too enthusiastic shoveling snow and just slept afterward,” and “My grip strength completely dies after shoveling snow and I can’t use it anymore. After shoveling snow, my grip strength completely dies and I can’t use it anymore.

On the other hand, since it is also a hobby and sport, there are also many comments on their particular tools and tips on how to do it.

Many respondents said, “I bought a big shovel for shoveling snow,” “I always have a snow shovel in my car for use in the parking lot at work,” “I always have my own gloves and snow boots (snow boots) for shoveling snow ready to use,” and “I have 3-4 different snow shoveling tools to use depending on the quality of snow, how much snow has accumulated, and where. Some people talk about snow shovels as if they were golf equipment . Because each person has his or her own special tools, there have unexpectedly been cases of theft, such as the theft of the easiest-to-use snow shovel that was left in front of the front door.

On the other hand, now that small household snowblowers have become more common, some say that while it is easier, it is also more boring, and that the most tedious part is when the snow piles up halfway to the point where the snowblower cannot be used.

There are also many of their own rules, such as, “It is easier in the end to go back and forth in small amounts without putting too much snow on the ground at one time,” and “I do it in as small a motion as possible, swinging it from side to side in a rhythmic manner.

3_Relationships and disputes that arise from “shoveling snow

For people in snow country, “whether or not to shovel snow” and “when, who, how much, and how to shovel snow” are serious issues for each individual, and at the same time, it is a major concern within the family and neighborhood.

This tends to be a cause of discord in the home, with parents yelling at each other in the morning to shovel snow every winter, parents and children fighting over shoveling snow every year, and parents fighting over how to shovel snow when they have gone to the trouble of shoveling it.

In addition, neighbors are always watching who is shoveling snow at each house and when and how they are doing it.

Therefore, neighbors are always watching who is shoveling snow and when and how they are doing it. When I warned him, he lost his temper. In some cases, there have been disputes over how to shovel snow, and in extreme cases, even police action has been taken.

On the other hand, there are also those who, pretending to be kind, say things like, “I get worried when I see a house where no one comes out to shovel snow,” “For some reason, only women shovel snow at that house, and I worry about what the men are doing,” or “Only old people shovel snow all the time. Why don’t their children and grandchildren do it?

Furthermore, people may “price” their family’s situation based on how well they shovel snow, saying, “A house where the snow is always carefully shoveled in front of the house and in the yard is a happy family,” or “A house where all the family members come out to shovel snow is a happy family.

Snow country mounts…

I have written about various “snow country experiences” so far, but there is one last thing I would like to mention.

What people who live in or are from snow country, including myself, tend to do is to ” mount the snow country” in a way that people in other regions do not understand.

For example, “It only takes 10 cm of snow to make a big snowfall,” “In Tokyo, trains stop immediately when it snows,” “People in Tokyo water when it snows and it’s not safe,” etc.……

Although we would like to avoid “snow country mount” as much as possible, there are many things that only people from snow country can understand. That is why Ikeda-cho’s advice at the beginning of this article, “Don’t fight over the snow. When spring comes, only resentment will remain.