I read 'Tomitaro Makino and the Mountains' | Reading Diary: Book Reviews for Adults

When I look at mountains, for some reason, my heart becomes calm.
I have always cherished that feeling.

However, when I read Tomitaro Makino's essays,
I realized that a completely different world spreads out behind that stillness.

For many people, mountains are a place of healing.
A place to gaze at beautiful scenery, take a deep breath, and compose one's heart.

But for Mr. Makino, the mountains
were not just a place of beauty.

It was a place overflowing with questions.
And I think it was also a place from which a person captivated by those questions
could never turn back.

'Why do flowers have a scent?'
Even a seemingly simple question like that, he would not leave unanswered.

He would enter the mountains, observe the plants, and continue searching for the answer.

The story of how he nearly died in a mountain accident in 'Mount Rishiri and Its Plants'
was almost frightening to read.

But at the same time, I also thought this:

A life where you can encounter something you want to 'know' this much
is, in a way, something to be envied.

We tend to choose
to be moderately satisfied in safe places.

But Mr. Makino was different.

With every single plant he encountered in the mountains,
he was captivated, and he faced them as if entrusting his life to them.

The phrase 'dream-like beautiful alpine plants' also
felt not just like a simple impression,
but like words that seeped out from his very life.

Mountains are not just quiet, healing places;
there are countless lives, reasons, and stories there.

And there was a person who tried to
give a name to each one and find meaning in them.

Mountains are not just scenery.
This was a book that made me realize that.

If your heart is feeling a little tired right now,
I would like you to try reading this book.

Beyond just being quietly healed,
the strength of 'loving something deeply'is something it should gently remind you of.

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