A new death, an old birth, and a walk through two historic Nakasendo post towns in Nagano prefecture, Japan.

The Nakasendo is one of the old official highways between Tokyo and Kyoto, the central mountain route, and some of the post towns have been preserved. Tsumago is first on the video, tourists can walk along the old trail to Magome. I've been there many times because my husband Sam was born on a snowy day in January in one of the first Western-style buildings constructed in the area, not far from Tsumago (was originally a government office, post office, prison, ended up owned by Sam's family until it was moved and is now the Mountain Historical Museum next to the Fukuzawa Momosuke Memorial Museum in the main town of Nagiso). I think it's fabulously historical to be born in what's now a museum. Family ancestors rest in the cemetery overlooking Tsumago and there's a monument for the war dead. Sam's father's older brother's name is on it, died in a Siberian prisoner of war camp in 1946.

Sam went to the funeral of his elderly aunt yesterday, who was also from those mountains. The old towns make it easy to imagine what life was like ninety years ago, thinking about the past. Sam just came home from his aunt's house to say goodbye to her children and grandchildren before they return to the cities and found out the New Year's lottery ticket auntie had him buy for her and promised to spit with him had won ¥3,000. Not much, but she would've been incredibly excited! So now that's Sam's birthday present on a snowy day in January.