Pathway to Japanese Literature

Discover Japan's stories—across time, across language.

A Journey Through the Southern Alps in Attendance on Prince AsakaAuthor: Kogure Ritaro

See Author Details Here：Wiki (Kogure Ritaro)

Original Title	朝香宮殿下に侍して南アルプスの旅
Author	木暮理太郎
Genre	Modern Short Fiction
Author Type	Male Author
Summary	Amidst the thunderous roar of mountain streams and dawn’s pale light filtering through storm shutters, an imperial expedition awakens in Nishiyama Hot Springs—a gateway to Japan’s untamed Southern Alps. Led by a prince whose vigor for mountaineering rivals his reverence for nature, the journey unfolds with over fifty porters, carrier pigeons, and attendants traversing vertiginous snow valleys, crumbling rockfaces, and mist-shrouded forests. Days blur into nights under canvas tents, where laughter mingles with campfire smoke and alpine blooms dazzle like scattered jewels. The prince’s camaraderie with his retinue—photographers, aides, and scholars—reveals a leader as at ease scaling icy slopes as he is savoring wild berries or jesting with students on remote peaks. Yet beneath the camaraderie lies an unspoken tension: unpredictable storms, treacherous terrain, and the weight of royal duty. As the party ascends toward sacred summits, each step etches a fleeting harmony between human ambition and the Alps’ indomitable spirit—a fleeting moment where even pigeons bearing messages to distant palaces seem to bow to the mountains’ ancient sovereignty.