隔たる: separated villages and closeness across an age gap
Distinguish villages separated by a mountain from two people's age difference and the personal closeness their shared hobby brought.
Physical separation and an age difference
隔たる (へだたる) means to be separated or differ. It describes spatial separation between the villages and a large difference in age between the two people.
The shared hobby brought the people closer in their relationship. Keep that increased personal closeness separate from the age difference rather than treating both as a single shrinking gap.
A high mountain and a shared hobby
「二つの村は高い山を挟んで隔たっている。」 (The two villages are separated by a high mountain.) A high mountain separates the two villages. 隔たっている describes their spatial state; no change in the distance between them is reported.
「二人の年齢が大きく隔たっていても、共通の趣味が距離を縮めた。」 (Although the two were far apart in age, a shared hobby brought them closer.) Although the two were far apart in age, their shared hobby brought them closer personally. Distinguish 年齢, the age difference, from the closeness expressed by 距離を縮めた.
Identify the difference and the kind of closeness
For the villages, 隔たる concerns separation across a high mountain. For the people, it concerns age. Attach each separation or difference to the subject that bears it.
The second sentence preserves both the large age gap and the closer relationship brought by a hobby. It does not describe a reduction in the age gap or a change in physical distance.
Did the shared hobby reduce the two people's age difference?
Show the answer and why
It brought them closer in their relationship. Their age difference and their increased personal closeness are separate; the sentence does not say that the age gap decreased.