The Asahi Shimbun’s company helicopter took off from Iwate Hanamaki Airport in Iwate Prefecture and headed due east to the skies over Otsuchi, the site of lingering wildfires.

When the sun set, twilight rapidly descended on the mountains, blanking out everything except the snow-capped peak of Mount Hayachine far away.

Just then, the pilot called out, “That’s it, isn’t it?” A band of fire emerged on the front left.

The wildfire site I visited this past weekend made me imagine a raging dragon. It undulated on the mountainside and split into many streaks, incinerating itself in scorching heat and belching smoke........

© The Asahi Shimbun