In Japan, friends and coworkers would often ask me to describe Nebraska. I found that comparisons to Hokkaido worked best - minus the mountains, of course. In reality, however, only Eastern Nebraska resembles Hokkaido. The dry, barren ranchland of western Nebraska and the Sandhills of northern Nebraska, for example, have no Japanese equivalent whatsoever.

The scene in the photo looks like something out of a Hokkaido guidebook. But, alas, I discovered it a mere stone’s throw away from my house in Omaha. Can you believe over a million people call this tiny corner of Nebraska home?