This is a familiar scene from my neighborhood that I've seen since I was a child, but people say that the sight of trees standing in a snowy field is typical of Hokkaido.
The snow has stopped falling and the sunshine has returned, so I took some photos with a macro lens while the crystals were still clearly visible.
Kurumi IMAI competed in the women's halfpipe snowboarding event at the 2017 Asian Winter Games. She placed third in the final run and won a medal.
In fact, out of all the figure skating competitions, my favorite is ice dancing. In recent years, same-sex pairs have been allowed to compete, and it will likely be possible for them to compete in international competitions in the future.
There are many kites flying around Enoshima. If you were walking around with food in your hand, you would probably get snatched away. This kite's tail feathers are still short at the tips, so it must be a young bird. Kites' tail feathers get longer at the tips, but the tail feathers of eagles and hawks are fan-shaped, so it's easy to tell the difference. Kites are everywhere, but if you look closely, they have the fearlessness of a bird of prey, which makes them very cool.
The first time I saw her was at the Grand Prix Final when she was a junior. I thought she might have potential, but it seems like her peak was the 2013-14 season when she competed in the Sochi Olympics...and she also had injuries.
Dee Dee LENG and Simon SHNAPIR were an American pair with an age difference of more than six years. They disbanded in June 2015 when Schnapier retired, so they were effectively a pair for just one season.
They competed in the Sochi Olympics and thought they would continue, but they ended up breaking up after finishing last at the World Championships in March 2015.
