Photo/Illutration Iizuna Kogen Ski Resort in Nagano Prefecture is closed due to a lack of snow on Jan. 20. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

The moment I get off a chairlift at a ski resort, I feel as if I am in a painting.

On a clear day, the mountains beyond the ski slopes are picture-perfect under the blue sky.

To borrow poet Shiro Murano's (1901-1975) expression, "The world is a two-color flag of blue and white."

This is actually the first line of his delightfully jaunty poem titled "Ski."

It goes on, "I am inside a running cloud/ I hurtle ahead, fleeing from the pursuing cloud/ Suddenly I am afloat ... I've leapt into the two-color flag."

Of these two vivid colors that keep pace with the skier, the white has yet to materialize this year.

I have become inured to media reports blaming the unseasonably mild winter for the absence of snow on ski slopes, but I must say the situation this year is definitely extreme.

Ski lodge reservations are being canceled right and left, and there are even talks of extending emergency loans to the operators.

Toyama Prefecture, where the ski events of this year's National Sports Festival (Kokutai) will be held next month, normally registers a cumulative snowfall of 100 to 300 centimeters around this time of year.

This year, however, the maximum accumulation is a pathetic 1 cm.

It appears as if winter has been skipped over.

There are reports of ume (Japanese apricot) flowers blooming in various parts of Japan, and birds starting to sing their spring melodies.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, "uguisu" (Japanese bush warblers) have been heard in Oita Prefecture, and "hibari" (larks) in Matsuyama City--both more than three weeks earlier than usual.

"A canary in a coal mine" is a metaphor for an advance warning of danger. It derives from an old custom, practiced by coal miners, to take caged canaries into the mines to detect noxious gases.

The uguisu and hibari songs, being heard already, may be a warning about the state of the global environment.

An Asahi Shimbun article showed an aerial photo of ski slopes with paltry streaks of snow.

The image struck me as an SOS signal.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Jan. 23

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.