16/12/2015
Kyushu round island trip
清水竹灯り aka Bamboo light festival is an annual event in Ogi , Saga. Every year from 15Nov to 23rd Nov it will be held. This is my first time seeing Bamboo light up and was very amazed by how it's done. Not because they did the carving on the bamboos , but to light up so many candles every night for this event is a huge task, Yes it's not electric light bulbs but candles like those use in aromatherapy , there must be at least 1000s of it. and the grand finale is the light up at the waterfall. The other thing about visiting events like this in Japan is that , transport is well taken care of to prevent traffic jams. They provided free shuttle bus services at 2 different carparks to the event place.
27/11/2015
Unforgettable Kyushu with my mom
Konnichiwa, everybody. I’m Tan from Bangkok. This is the first time in my life to travel with my mom in a foreign country. My mom has visited Japan a couple of times before. Specifically, she has been to Tokyo and Osaka with tour agents. I, myself, have traveled with friends to several cities in Japan during the past few years. But, for both of us, this is our first visit to Kyushu.
My mom was very impressed with Kyushu because of her last experienced in Japan mostly with tour agents and travelling in the big city but actually she really like country-side more than city-side.
Thanks to the nature of Kyushu that make her very happy. She said to me, “This is like the first time that I can feel really Japan.”
26/10/2015
Hana no Mori Koen
Are you are looking for a relaxing place in the Sasebo city area to celebrate the Japanese tradition of Hanami? Then take a little venture outside the city to visit Hana no Mori Koen (花の森公園) in Nozaki-cho. It’s a quiet little park with ample free parking, overhead shelter, nice walking paths and lots of clean ground space to spread out your “blue tarp”. In the spring time Hana no Mori koen not only has plenty of beautiful cherry blossom trees to enjoy a bento under, but additionally right across the street is an observation deck to view the nationally famous 99 Islands (九十九島). On a lucky day, you might be able to enjoy the Hanami experience to the sounds of a local chorus groups practicing their songs in the park.
Access to Hana no Mori park in Sasebo city, Nagasaki prefecture is an easy 25 minute drive by car on route 149 along the Tawara ga-Ura honto. But if you are opting for public transportation there are 7 daily Sasebo city busses, costing 810円Yen One-Way, the first running at around 9:00am. From stop #2 at Sasebo main terminal, take a bus heading for Nishi Kojima (西小島) & Tawara ga Ura (俵ヶ浦). After about a 50 minute ride get off at Nozaki (野崎), turn left and walk up the country road following the signs for Nozaki Junior High school. Pass the school on your right and continue walking 5 more minutes and you will see the sign for Hana no Mori park on the right hand side of the road.
Hana no Mori Koen is a great place to have a Hanami-kai, but as a humble suggestion- please prepare/bring all your food and drinks with you that you’ll need for the day. This area is a bit rural and there are no markets or convenience stores close by. And don’t forget the carry in, carry out trash policy.
花見楽しんでください!!!
25/12/2014
Nakagawa Seiryu Onsen, Fukuoka
Before going to Kyushu, Japan, there were friends telling me the scenery of Kyushu is unique, it’s different to Hokkaido and Tokyo (Japan Mainland). I have been to Hokkaido before, I love it, and hence I was very much looking forward to visit Kyushu, just to experience the different scenery of Japan.
23/12/2014
Ceramics, Hikes, and Local Stories
KAMI-ARITA
Arita is a picturesque old town, surrounded by mountains, known for its ceramic kilns and pottery shops. The Kami-Arita train station is in the midst of the historic old section of Arita, where you can see tombei walls, made of bits of pottery and bricks from abandoned kilns. The main road between the Kami-Arita train station and the Arita train station is lined with pottery shops in historic buildings.
22/12/2014
Kyushu, What led me live here: Friends,…
First of all, I want to introduce myself. I am “typicaltomato”. Now I am an exchange student at Kumamoto University. Turn back to a year before I am here, I had to make many decisions for example where I would spend my time of exchange student, How the weather is, What are fascinating places around place I would go. Finally, I decided to come to Kumamoto, a prefecture in Kyushu.
Why did I choose here? There are three factors that led me here. First, my Japanese friends in Fukuoka we’ve met in other previous exchange program. That time I knew a lot about Japan and Japanese culture from them. Second is Kumamon, my bear friend who always tells me about Kumamoto and other prefectures in Kyushu and Third is JR Kyushu train, especially limited train designed by Mitooka Eji.
19/12/2014
Iojima Adventure - olive oil ice cream …
I visited Iojima island in August, a few weeks after moving to Nagasaki from the UK. Another new teacher and I had been given a surprise day off school, so we decided to explore the wilder parts of our new city. The island lies just out of the bay of Nagasaki, only about 20 minutes by ferry from the terminal near Dejima – which, luckily for me, is very close to my new apartment. There is also a bus which goes from central Nagasaki to Iojima, but I think the ferry is much more romantic! It is only small, and so you are quite low down in the water when you sail through the mountainous mouth of the bay and underneath the enormous bridge, with the pretty Dejima wharf on one side and the colossal Mitsubishi factory on the other. As we sailed away from the city, it felt like the first big adventure of my time in Japan – the island is just far enough away that the city is eclipsed by mountains, and the little Tori shrine we passed underneath the bridge made it even more magical.
18/12/2014
Sweet Memories of Kyushu
Me and my sister are no strangers to Japan. Both of us have been to Japan many times visiting Tokyo, Osaka, Hiroshima etc But this is our first time travelling to Kyushu in November 2014. Hence, we planned for a 2 weeks trip to give us enough time to take in all the sights and attractions that we have researched on. In this article, we will give some highlights and insights on those that left a deep impression on us as we travelled through Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Kagoshima, Kumamoto, and Oita, Miyazaki.
First up is an idyllic getaway on Nokonoshima Island (Fukuoka).
Nokonoshima Island is about 10-15 minutes by ferry from Meinohama. It's a very small, tranquil and scenic island to explore. You can rent a bicycle to cycle around the island, like what we did. There's hourly rental and full day rental. We rented 2 bikes for 2 hours. It's very cheap and convenient to rent a bike. The bike rental kiosk is right in front of the Noko Ferry Passenger Terminal.