The Hour the Town Wakes Up
From 5 to 6 a.m. In the fields, before the bakery oven, at the trailhead, in front of Michikusakan's shelves — we recorded the hour the town wakes in four places at once.
On September 1, sunrise in Higashikawa is at 5:11. But the town is moving an hour before that. Walk counting the lit windows, and you see this town's morning is made of many posts.
5:00 — The field
Mr. Sato's kei truck is already in the field. "People say 'morning-picked,' but it's really 'dawn-picked.' Harvest before it warms up and the vegetables are still holding their water." Dew sits on the tomato stems. By noon these will line the shelves at Michikusakan.
5:20 — The bakery oven
The oven is already lit. The first batch is campagne. "The neighbors say they wake up to the smell of our first batch. It's like an alarm clock." The mixing water, of course, is that water.
5:40 — The trailhead
Before the first Asahidake Ropeway car, there's already a line of backpacks in the parking lot. People who greeted the sunrise on the ridge come down and pass those about to climb. Morning in the mountains is two hours earlier than in town.
6:00 — Michikusakan
Those tomatoes arrive on the shelves before opening. The growers write the price tags themselves. "The first hour of the morning decides the whole day's arrangements for this town," she says, hands never stopping as she tidies the shelves.
People say "morning-picked," but it's really "dawn-picked."
6:11, an hour after sunrise. The town is already fully awake. If you greet a morning in this town, try getting up at five, just once. The most beautiful part of the town's work is packed into this hour.
