山の端に、まあるい太陽がゆっくりと沈んでいきます。茜色に染まった空、ふちを金色に光らせる雲。筑北の夕焼けは、息をのむほど美しい。けれど、ふと思うのです。この同じ夕焼けが、いまこの瞬間、世界のどこかでも誰かの空を染めている、と。朝焼けも夕焼けも、世界中どこでも美しい。村の空は、いつも世界とつながっています。
English
A round sun eases down behind the low ridgeline. The sky deepens to madder red and orange, and the clouds catch fire along their gilded edges. Chikuhoku’s sunsets are the kind that stop your breath — and yet a quiet thought surfaces: at this very moment, this same sun is staining someone else’s sky, somewhere on the far side of the world. Sunrise or sunset, the burning sky is beautiful wherever you stand. The sky above this village is never really alone; it is always, quietly, joined to the rest of the world.