STORY 04A comfortable stay even in a wheelchair

• My mother loved to travel. She probably visited more than 30 countries around the world. She also loved trekking, hiking up various mountains with a backpack. The year before last, she broke her spin pretty severely and was forced to live in a wheelchair. It must have been very frustrating for her considering how freely she used to run around.

  I want to let my mother live with dignity.

  Ever since, I had been looking around for wheelchair-accessible inns and hotels. They had to have a view of mountains, which she loved, be surrounded by a rich natural environment, have wheelchair-accessible dining, have beds, and have handrails in the toilets and bathing areas. They must also have elevators.

  There are surprisingly few places that meet these requirements. Then, one day, I came across Tateshina Shinyu Onsen while searching online. The description said that its lobby contained 30,000 books. My mother, who also loves books, could not have wished for a better place.

  

• We were very surprised when we arrived. The shelves were packed with sturdily-bound Iwanami and Misuzu books. We were told that the founders of these publishing houses were from the local area, and that they are proud to have them on display here. There were also many old books that my mother, born in the Taisho period, read in her youth.

  The spaces between the bookshelves were decorated with poems written by literary figures who had closely ties with the hotel, and the walls were lined with photographs that offered a glimpse into the history of the hotel from the Taisho through the Showa periods, providing a wonderful opportunity to look back on those times.

  My mother immediately found some books that she liked. She pulled several from the shelves, placed them on her lap, and began to read enthusiastically. The spacious lobby here offers a multi-purpose restroom that is wheelchair-accessible, for which we were very grateful.

  

• “I once thought about writing a novel.” I was surprised by my mother’s confession. She had never told me that before. She happily told me about the many times she and her friends secretly read and talked about books that were banned when she was young, back when there was no freedom of expression or thought.

  For as long as she is alive, I want my mother to be able to travel, hone her intellect, and live with dignity.