On the West side of
Lake Biwa, right at the top of the lake, there's a small town called Makino. I've been there several times in various seasons of the year. It really is small - a JR station, a main street lined with old wooden houses, a few lodges and restaurants for visitors who probably only come in cherry blossom season, and that's about it.
But it draws me back again and again. It's the kind of place I like. Glimpses of lovely lake views between old wooden buildings. Orange persimmons against a blue sky. Daffodils by stone walls. Crumbling mud-plaster walls. Dark mysterious little stores. The proximity of Kaizu Osaki, a stunning beauty spot in the spring.
Sometimes I meet Japanese people who tell me they have a holiday house there, which might account for the sleepy, shut-up look of the place. Perhaps a lot of the houses are empty most of the time. If I owned a house in a place like Makino I'd spend most of my time there.
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