STORY 06Celebrate Mom’s 60th Birthday
A Mother-Daughter Trip

• "Kanreki（還暦）" in Japanese means the "60th birthday". To celebrate my mother's "Kanreki", I want to travel together as a gift.

  Besides the new year holiday, we seldom meet each other since I got married 2 years ago.　Therefore, I want to use " be as thick as thieves "as the theme of this trip. Then I chose the destination "Tateshina," located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. "Tateshina" is a summer resort, the average temperature is around 23 degrees, so there is no need for air-conditioning even in summer. It's an excellent place for my mom, who likes the nature breeze rather than the blow from an air conditioner.

  Hotel's free shuttle bus. For a while, the bus drove up the mountain. On the way, the birch tree forest began to come into view, which looked very refreshing, and not long after that, the hotel appeared in front of us. This hotel is a low-key, hidden, and mysterious atmosphere. There is no convenience store nearby, not to mention other stores. Such an environment with nothing makes me feel comfortable.

  

• As we entered the hotel, countless books come into our view. "This is good, this is good..." my mother began to pick up those books and became quite excited. She is a bookaholic, no doubt.

  

• There are many old black-and-white photos on the wall. I looked at it for a long time, and suddenly an old gentleman stepped forward to explain it. It turns out that the older man has been working in this hotel for 40 years, and he treasures everything in the hotel.

  

• That photo is of Kazuo Funaki and Masako Izumi. It was made public in 1965, and the film "Girl of the Plateau（高原のお嬢さん）," produced by Nikkatsu Films Co., Ltd., used Tateshina Plateau as the filming location. In the past, Tateshina was a holiday resort.

  Next, let's start today's theme! After confirming the surprise performance process with the hotel staff, I invited my mother to go out and take a walk with me.

  Before we went out, we turn back to our room for some preparation. We put on dresses and makeup in an exciting holiday mood. After a little be dressing up, we set off for Lake Tateshina. "Let's go eat ice cream!" Mom walked towards the ice cream shop actively.

  Fresh air, beautiful green, gleaming lake surface, etc., here gather all elements of resorts. Let us, a daughter and a mother, treat ourselves as a girl (and a woman) on the plateau!

  

  

• On our way back to the hotel, we stopped by the remains of the hot spring where it was said Shingen Takeda had ever bathed.

  While my mother was looking there, I was holding up a red sunshade and taking out the champagne secretly at the time. Hey~ This is a surprise for mom!

  

• I read the card with the words of my blessing for her 60th birthday and the feeling of thanking her. Then, we toast to celebrate together.

  

  

• From my mother's smile, I can feel she is happy and satisfied with the itinerary. On the way back to the room, she talked a lot about what happened in the past 60 years. There was happiness, difficulties, and many dreams in her mind.

  It's our booking time for the private hot spring. We went to the private bathroom and soaked in the hot spring together.

  The private bathroom is open-air, surrounded by nature, and with a view of the stream valley, we feel fresh and relax. Since I can remember, I never had a hot-spring bath with my mother alone together.

  How many times I'd planned to sit down and want to have an intimate talk about our life with my mother, but she is too busy to do that with me. When it mentions my mother, she is always full of energy, but now, how come the view of her back suddenly looks a little small than ever...

  

• It says that there are 100 years of life, but how many years remain that can we still travel together in healthy?

  I think it is time to cherish the time we can get along like this way. This time I invited my mother, and next time I plan to take my father to travel here.