26/12/2014
Graceful Natural Beauty Of Miyazaki
Miyazaki is a prefectural capital city on the south east coast of Kyushu. It is a pleasant seaside town popular with people on vacation and many beauteous attractions. It is one of the most sunshine hours of any city in Japan and visitors come to here for the relaxed atmosphere. It is also famous for its beautiful wide blue sky which ranks one of the top ten all over the world. It takes about 1 hour and 45 minutes from Haneda, Tokyo International Airport to Miyazaki by flight. There are many tourist attractive sites in Miyazaki. Among them, I would like to introduce the three places I like best.
Udo Shrine, a lucky place for visitor
It is located on the Nichinan Coast, is about 40 kilometers in the south of the Miyazaki city. It takes about 1 hour and 25 minutes from Miyazaki station by bus to there. Interestingly, there is no closing dates and entrance fee is free. Walking from the car parking to the shrine takes around 15 minutes but worth the effort. It is dedicated to Yamasachihiko, the father of Emperor Jimmu, the mythical first emperor of Japan.
26/12/2014
The Smell of Kyushu is August
When some people think of Kyushu they think “Nagasaki Peace Park,” “Hakata Ramen,” “Kurokawa Onsen,” or “Mt. Aso and Sakurajima.” Of course, those are all wonderful experiences, but when I think of Kyushu, I think “nature.” I think long country roads, gushing waterfalls, rice-fields among forested mountains, and power spots.
I took a solo-road trip once through Kagoshima and Kumamoto. I had nothing by time, a car with a broken air-conditioner in the middle of a hot summer, and list of places I wanted to go, mostly a variety of waterfalls with a few other spots thrown in. I've been all over the world, but this trip holds a special place in my heart. Never in my life have I felt so at peace and happy. Nature brings happiness. Kyushu brings happiness.
I started out my tour with the beautiful Ryumontaki, a waterfall only about an hour drive away, hidden under the expressway and around a few tight corners. I reached it eventually and was so glad I did. It was summer vacation, but early enough in the day that the local kids hadn’t come out to play, or maybe they actually heeded the signs warning against swimming. I followed a gentle river to the bottom of the biggest waterfall I’d seen in Japan yet, and I love waterfalls, so I’ve seen a lot. The water gushed out from an alcove of giant rocks, forming a deep and enticing pool. Did I mention it was hot? I mean, really hot. It was easily 100F (38C) and more humid than any human should have to withstand and the air-conditioner in my little car didn’t work. With sweat dripping down my face just sitting in my car, relaxing next to a raging waterfall felt like heaven on Earth. Being alone, I heeded the warning signs and only went so far as to climb barefoot around the rocks and dip my feet into the cool, clear water; I wouldn’t want to be pulled into the depths with no one around to call to for help. After my refreshing half-dip, I followed a map to a path that I assumed would take me to the top of the waterfall, so I could gain a new perspective of the height and grandeur of the scene. Instead it led me through a forest filled with mosquitoes that sucked more of my blood than when I donated to the Red Cross a few years back. Spider webs crossed the path to the extent that if I was in any other country, I would think the path had been abandoned for months, but summer on Kyushu just has so many spiders that the webs are endless. The top of the path was confusing and overgrown. I could hear the waterfall clearly, but it remained hidden and out of reach. It was too hot for this, so I headed back down, hopped rocks back over the river and took my car up the mountain where other signs promised more waterfalls.
26/12/2014
Fukuoka- First Impressions
I had a chance to visit Japan in Dec 2015 for the first time. Having heard of many wonderful stories my friends had in Japan, I could only imagine Japan from their experiences, and other travelers' articles, photos and blogs.
I chose Fukuoka, as I had a friend doing her PhD with Kyushu University. Stepping out at Hakata Station, I was greeted by beautiful Christmas Lights. The atmosphere was jovial and light-hearted, with many people taking photos with the beautiful lighting. The Christmas spirit is very much alive in the evening!
26/12/2014
Childhood Dreams:
When I was a child and being later, I always had a passion for looking views full of greenery, forest, trees, river, waterfall, birds, nature and so on. However, these dreams just came true by my first oversea travel to Japan. The first place where I had a stay almost for 4 days and really enjoyed was Fukuoka. One day we went out for sightseeing along with my colleague. In order to join cable and slope cars we took tickets and guide pamphlet from JICA Center and after 10 minutes walking we reached to Yahata station. It was on weekend and shuttle bus free services were also available for everyone, carried through to the foot mountain station from where we have started a short journey to the top of the mountain. A beautiful green mountain covered by dense trees called Sarakura. We had slope car straight toward the top and after that cable car was used for looking around. Both cars were full glass and very helpful to see each point easily. On the way to the top we felt like flying gradually to the sky whereas cable car presented the beautiful view of the city and green edge of the Sarakura heap. Roads and stairs across the whole mountain provide comfort for people walk or drive. In spite of seeing incredible spectacles, we met a Japanese astrologist and two other personalities from Turkey and Algeria to whom we exchanged ideas about own culture and social behaviors. Anyhow, we captured different photos along the way and near about to leave we relished amazing sunset.
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.
20/12/2014
First Time in Kyushu
For koyo (red leaves) hunters, it’s impossible for them to miss Japan as there are so many beautiful places that we can see Koyo. I’m one of these hunters so I’ve visited Japan every year. However, this is my first time in Kyushu.
I was a solo traveler who explored some parts of North Kyushu during 30 November to 5 December 2014. Although it was autumn, Fukuoka welcomed me with shower. Dazaifu Shrine was my first destination. The rain could not stop me from looking for red leaves.