"Place of My Origin -- Kiso" Kiso-sammyaku by Mia_Jade

Kiso, Nagano Prefecture -- that's where I was born and where I grew up until I was 18 years old.

Kiso is in the midst of mountains; you could say the entire Kiso-gun is in between the mountains. And this is exactly why some people refer Kiso as Kiso Dani. (Dani or Tani means valley in Japanese).
Kiso is also a part of Nakasendou (old path in Edo period) and still many parts of Kiso you could see the remnant of the good old days.

Food wise, Kiso is very famous for Soba (buckwheat noodles). It is only natural for Kiso to have good Soba having to have crystal clear water from the surrounding mountains on top of the perfect weather for growing good backwheat.

This was taken when I went back to my hometown during the New Year holiday of 02. On New Year eve in my hometown people gather at the shrine (in the picture) and receive a holy prayer. Around the shrine there are bonfires welcoming and warming people who come to the shrine. After the prayer, people are giving fortune charms for the coming year.

This is how it looked next morning. It still looks very pretty.