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.”

Above picutre: Me, my mom and my sister

My mom is very interested in Japanese gardens, so I take her to “Suizenji Park” one of the most beautiful Japanese gardens and she loves it right away.

Very beautiful indeed. Also, we found many fish and birds too.

We finished our first dinner at the famous Katsuretsu Tei restaurant. The only word that I can say is “The best tonkatsu in my life”. Sukoi Oishi!

Day 2 – Nagasaki. Our plan is to go to Nagasaki but since the route passes Saga so we visit the “Yutoku Jinja” first.


Yutoku Jinja is quite famous in Thailand. Many Thai dramas use this place as their settings. We didn’t expect to meet any Japanese who knows about Thailand here but we found one! He is Japanese who had been to Bangkok. He used to help Japan Travel Association to promote Kyushu in Bangkok so he knew that we come from Thailand.

He’s our private guide, explained many things about this place and took us inside the jinja! (What an exclusive tour)

Next station is Nagasaki Peace Park and Hypocenter Cenotaph. Today we also found many students but most of them look sad. I have read the history about the bomb in Nagasaki and it make me feel sad too.

After that we go to Glover Garden, I must say I really envy Mr.Thomas Glover that he has such a beautiful house with an awesome view.

Last stop for today was “Inasa Mountain”. We didn’t prepare that the place would be very windy and cold so my mom feel very cold and could not stay out for long. But just seeing the million-dollar view of Nagasaki city was worth it!

Day 3 – Yufuin. I’m interested in Kyushu train because it’s very cool and unique so one of the missions in this trip is going to Yufuin by “Yufuin no mori”.

What a classic and elegant train.

The countryside of Kyushu makes me think of one of my favorite anime “Totoro”.

Yufuin, one of the favorite places for many people and, of course we are one of them. Very cute and delicious desserts and foods to eat, so we eat all the way from Yufuin station to Kirin lake. The scenery of Kirin Lake is very relax and nature.

Day 4 – Aso. Our first plan is that go to the top of Aso Mountain largest active volcano in Japan. Unfortunately, we cannot go up because it’s just erupted a month before :( But it’s ok. I take my mom to Kusasenri instead.


Sunny day at Kusasenri, “It’s like we come to New Zealand” – my mom said

Another mission of train otaku (person who really likes train) is riding “Aso Boy!”. The famous kawaii (cute) train. Oh this made me feel like I’m a boy again!

Day 5 – Fukuoka. This is our last day for this trip. We begin at go to Dazaifu temple. This is a very famous temple so it’s quite crowed today. When we arrived many people head to the Dazaifu temple first but I think it would be better if we go to Komoyozen ji temple so at least we can have a little private moment here.


As I told earlier, my mom loves Japanese gardens, so this zen garden really impressed her, as she kept telling me “Very very beautiful”

As I expect, many people come to the temple more and more, so we leave to Dazaifu temple.

At dinner time, we go to restaurant call “Ineya”. We order many famous menu like raw saba, raw squid, beef’s tongue, nabe etc.

The highlight is raw squid (it still can move when they’re served). Personally I like it! It tastes sweet and a bit crispy so I want my mom to try raw squid but 50-50 chance that she will try so I keep asking and finally she try it and like it. The food in Kyushu show us very fresh and good quality!

In my opinion, travelling in Kyushu by yourself required your physical strength. Because there are many interesting place to visit So, if you want to visit as many places as you want, you need to be quite fit and firm.

Each day you have to walk quite a lots as I used my fitness tracking device, I found that we walk at least 10km per day. The amazing thing is my mom can do it too! She can travel with us and didn’t complain one bit! This is very good to know that her health is in good shape and maybe I can take her to Kyushu again :)


Thanks for reading my story. Unforgettable Kyushu with my mom