Kyushu Road Trip Photo Bomb

So, I've been pretty busy on my summer break. Busy sleeping, busy playing games, busy spending time with students about to return to their home countries. But most recently, I have been busy traveling. Mary's sister, and her sisters friend came to Japan for two weeks. The four of us rented a car and did a tour of Kyushu (The southern island of the main part of Japan). As expected, I took a lot of pictures. (Granted, not as many as normal because it's really hard to take pictures while driving.)

These first two pictures are actually in Saga Prefecture (where Mary lives) at the Inari Yutoku shrine. The third largest shrine dedicated to Inari (Fox spirit) in Japan/The Wolrd. I'd actually been here before and my back was not feeling great that day so I didn't go up into the temple complex (It's up a lot of mountain stairs) so I stayed down below and fed the Koi with Mary's friend Tatara-san, who was with us that day. (This was before we had rented the car.

(I sat on that rock for like an hour tossing fish food in one kibble at a time)

(Some impressive tree-scaping)

Our first stop after we did leave Saga was Kumamoto Castle. As with most Japanese castles, it has been restored and maintained magnificently. Unlike most Japanese castles it has a large number of people walking around in old armor and clothing.

(Kumamoto Castle)

(I rather enjoyed looking at the different types of armor that were around)

(It seems like dramatic poses is also part of their job)

(Being a guide is also part of their job)

(Also, ninjas. Gotta have ninjas.)

(I also got to dress up in armor.... sorta)

(It didn't fit me too well though)

The craftsmanship on the interior of the castle was quite excellent. There were some videos playing that showed the techniques they used for the restoration. Everything was hand made in as close to the original style as possible. Which apparently meant no nails. Instead they used a complex variety of interlocking wood joints and pegs. It was rather impressive. 

(This lattice work has no glue or staples. Just interlocking pieces of wood)

(Kumamoto. No nails. Just joints.)

(The view from the top of the castle)

After we'd had our fill of Kumamoto castle we continued our drive south and took a detour up into the Ebino Highlands. I'd actually never even heard of this place, and I'm still not sure exactly what was there. But my experience of it is some really nice mountain country with cool weather (Which was a fantastic change compared to the hot and humid weather I've been in for the past few months). It actually reminded me a lot of the California coast as far as climate was concerned. I didn't get many pictures of it since I was doing the driving. But we did take a break at a little resort area and walk around. We tried to eat there but they had apparently run out of ingredients. We wound up getting dinner at a 7-Eleven instead (actually that whole day was convince store food.)

(The very nice looking resort seemed to be closed down for the day. Perhaps its more of a winter place?)

After the Highlands we continued south to Kagoshima. It was night time when we got there, but after a bit of getting lost in the wrong part of the city we found the hostel we had booked. We unpacked our things and went down to hang out in the hostel lobby for a while. Mary and I went out and bought some blank CDs so that I could burn us some music to listen to while  we drove. We also ran into another JET (English teacher hired by the Japanese Government. Just like Mary) who was staying there. Turned out she was going to the same place we were the next day, so we made plans to go together. The next morning we all walked around the city in search of breakfast together. As it turns out, Japan really doesn't do breakfast restaurants. There is very little open before 9am, and restaurants don't normally open until like 11. We wound up at a bakery (They open up as early as 8:30!) and had delicious Japanese breads. Seeing a bit of Kagoshima city. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the ash. Kagoshima is really close to an active volcano that spews ash more then half the year. Our car had a decent covering when we woke up in the morning. 

(Ash on our windshield in the morning. Not too much, but still kinda strange.)

(The street cars get a lawn......)

(Sakurajima. The volcano responsible for the unique climate)

After breakfast we got into the car and took a ferry over to Sakurajima to explore a bit. I took pictures, but you couldn't really see much of the landscape due to ash clouds. The base of the mountain was nice though. They had some touristy stuff and we explored a temple and ate some tasty food.

(Sakurajima had public foot baths. I have no idea why. They were rather nice though)

After Sakurajima we dropped off the other JET that we had met at an onsen and we forged our way east towards Miazaki. The drive was primarily composed of costal and/or mountain roads. It was really nice. I had to drive a little slower at spots because Mary and her sister get motion sick pretty easy. Speaking of driving slowly, I learned something about Japanese roads on this trip. For starters, there aren't really any freeways in Japan. They have express roads, but they're all toll roads. On top of the tolls, the max speed on those roads is 80km/hour. That's just slightly less then 50mph. Keep in mind that's the express road. normal highways are 50km/hour, which is just over 30mph. Because of the lower speed limits, our estimates on how long it would take us to get places were practically worthless. Took a bit of getting used to. But it was good for sightseeing I suppose.

(Giant beetles are the best way to greet travelers to your town)

(I think I can take him...)

We arrived in Miyazaki in the evening without a hotel reservation. Well, we had a reservation. But do to bad information on the hotel's website, our reservation was at the Nagasaki branch of the hotel.... Basically the exact opposite side of Kyushu. Like 4.5 hours away on the Express roads. We wound up getting rooms in a business hotel for about $30 per person. Slept pretty well, and enjoyed the hotel breakfast the next morning. After breakfast we headed out to the Miyazaki shrine. Got to see a wedding couple getting their photos taken. They were also blessing children inside the main hall. I didn't take any pictures of that though because I felt kind of akward taking pictures of a ceremony in progress. I got some architecture pictures though. After taking a look at the temple we walked around the grounds to some 150 year old houses that have been moved to the area for preservation. Upon approaching the houses we were beckoned in by a group of elderly Japanese people who were apparently there to pull up weeds and greet visitors. In addition to just being generally friendly people, they also had the firepits in one of these 150 year old houses going and were making fresh Yaki Imo (Baked Japanese Sweet Potatoes) They gave each of us one, and told us about the house we were sitting in. We were there for almost 2 hours talking to these people. We told them where we were from and what we were doing in the area. They actually helped us by giving us recommendations on places to see along our way. As an added bonus they gave us hand crafted rubber band guns made out of bamboo. Apparently one of the old men makes them as a hobby.

(Interesting roof bits on the gate of Miyazaki Shrine)

(Fresh food cooked in a 150 year old house)

(Chilling with volunteers, eating Sweet Potatoes)

(Roof construction of the old house)

The shed skin of a Cicada in the doorway of one of the houses)

(Temple cats. Apparently quite common in Japan.)

(Less common then temple cats is the temple rooster. He seemed to get along just fine with the cats)

Once we were done at the temple we drove up the coast towards my apartment in Oita (Can't beat free accommodations). We took mainly coast roads, so we got to see a lot of beaches. We stopped at a few and looked around. It made for excellent leg stretching breaks. Once we got away from the beaches it turned into some rather intensely windy and narrow mountain roads. Despite the appearance of being sketchy back roads, this route was in fact an official highway in between the two destinations apparently. Fun to drive, and very pretty. But it was basically single lane for half the way. I'm glad it wasn't a busy road.

(waves crashing over a bank of tetrapods at a beach somewhere in northern Miyazaki)

(Rocky beach and more tetrapods)

(Ocean view from a windy mountain road)

(Our winding mountain "Highway")

(My proof that we were in fact going the right way)

(Nice view over a small bay somewhere between Oita and Miyazaki)

(One of the strange Cigarette ads that you can sometimes find in Japan)

(Bowser singing Karaoke, I was intrigued)

Once we finally arrived in Oita, we got some food, took advantage of my shower, and I Introduced Mary and company to Most Extreme Elimination Challenge. (It's kinda Japanese). At any rate, the next day the girls wanted to see Beppu, go to an Onsen, and check out Yufuin, which is a resort town up in the western mountains of Oita prefecture. Fortunately I was able to find my way back to a cool little onsen that I went to with some of my classmates and one of their Japanese friends who is a native of Beppu, and has made it a point to familiarize himself with all of the onsen in Beppu. I didn't take any pictures at the onsen due to naked people, but I did get some nice ones in Yufuin (Despite the rain).

(This is the view looking out from the Onsen we were at)

(Bridge in Yufuin)

(Cafe and shop complex in Yufuin.)

(Same complex, this place was so pretty)

(This is the entrance to a restaurant in Yufuin. I can only imagine what it looks like inside)

(This was the appetizer to our dinner. It was some of the most delicious sashimi I've ever had)

(We left Yufuin to a nice cloudy sunset)

After Yufuin we drove back to Oita for the night. In the morning we packed up and drove west across Kyushu towards our home base of Saga. We went to Mount Aso on the way, which is another volcano. Since we just drove around it, I didn't really get much in the way of pictures. It was also really rainy and windy. The rest of the drive back was pretty peaceful. I enjoyed my chance to drive in Japan. (I did all of the driving because I was the only one with an international licence)

All in all it was an excellent trip. I definitely feel like it was time well spent towards a fun summer vacation. Next week, Yamanashi!

~Daniel