Three Kilometers to the Moon: A precious collection of short stories I'm glad I found.

I love books by Arata Iyohara.
Since he originally studied Earth and planetary science, his stories are filled with scientific episodes, especially topics related to geology, which is fun.

As for me, when I was in elementary school, I was obsessed with space and kept borrowing encyclopedias from the library.
In high school, I learned how to draw weather maps from the radio in my earth science class, and I was the kind of high school girl who would have the teacher copy the original weather maps for me so I could diligently draw them at home while listening to the radio.
Since I wasn't in a science track in college, I went into geography and majored in climatology, and I spent all my time at the local meteorological observatory for my graduation thesis.

I'm quite a person who loves earth science.
Even now, I love things like weather forecasts. If I had a scientific mind, I would have wanted to become a weather forecaster.

I've digressed significantly.
The first book by Arata Iyohara I encountered was "Three Kilometers to the Moon." I was drawn to the title and the cover art, and when I read it, it was a real hit!

It's a collection of short stories, and besides the title story "Three Kilometers to the Moon," there are several other short stories included, each with themes like astronomy, meteorology, geology, elementary particles, volcanoes... a parade of earth sciences.
But what's amazing is that the content isn't difficult at all; it feels like the essence of science is naturally blended into gentle stories.

This time, for the first time in several years, I re-read "Three Kilometers to the Moon."
Among Arata Iyohara's works, this short story collection is exceptionally easy to read, and the atmosphere that flows through it is warm.
Even though I had read it before, I found myself absorbed in reading it just the same.

I'm glad that this was the book through which I discovered Arata Iyohara.
I'm sure I'll be reading it again in a few years.
It's that kind of precious book.

An aside.
Apparently, there really is a sign that says three kilometers to the moon.

Hamamatsu! If I try hard enough, I can definitely go.
I want to go while I'm still living in Nagoya.