It was a miracle that I managed to see this blue sky on the very last day of my stay in Niigata because the weather forecast was saying that the weather would be terrible during the days around the new year's day.
My village is actually a bit different from what is normally expected in Niigata, one of the famous snowy prefectures of Japan, because it has little snow in December and January. Even if it snows, the snow is not piled up to tens of centimeters.
Instead, the severe wind blows over the open paddy fields, freezing our heads, hands and legs. I'm leaving Niigata tonight, missing this freeze.