11Feb
This was my fourth
visit to Japan. I had been there too many times and had trouble coming up with
a new region to go to, so I decided to go to the Kyushu region this time. The
tour guide we got was great: he’s very knowledgeable, very logically minded,
speaks in a very direct fashion, and doesn't spent lots of time promoting
souvenirs.
My stomach was exploding!
Woke 3am to get to airport had a simple breakfast, ate two lunches on the plane
coz grandma couldn't eat her own, had a third lunch in Japan which was DIY
ramen, then buffet dinner in the hotel. So the amount was equivalent to at
least 6 meals, because the ramen was refillable, and buffet dinner got great
things like sashimi and wagyu, so I feel bad if didn't get value for the money.
At noon, I saw a super
cute little monkey performing in the shopping centre.
In the afternoon, we
went to Yufuin. We looked at Lake Kinrinko (golden fish scale lake), and saw
that the waves of water look like fish scales. On the village streets, there
are many snacks and souvenirs. There is a supermarket with lots of sashimi boxes.
I bought a box of sweet shrimps and it was delicious. I also bought shochu,
because the tour guide said that shochu is famous in Kyushu. In the village
there are many Totoro themed decorations, and people were lining up to take photos.
It was snowing
beautifully on the way to the Aso Villa Park Hotel. After dinner, we soaked in
the hot spring. This was the only night where we got access to the hot spring,
so I felt I had to make the most out of it.
Monkey show Kyushu
Fish-scale like Lake Kinrinko
12Feb
Got up early in the
morning to go to Mt Daikanbo. Looking down from the highest peak of the Aso
mountain chain, I felt like I had an “eagle’s eye view” of the beautiful scenery.
Had a ride on a
beautiful Kumamon train (Kumamon is the popular black bear mascot of the Kumamoto
Prefecture). There are many cute pictures of the bear on the train. The tour
guide said that some people translated the Kumamon as “Kumamoto Bear” in
Chinese, but the Japanese opposed this translation because there are no bears
in Kumamoto. This region was called Kumamoto (kuma means bear) simply because
they wanted to have a fiercer sounding name corresponding to the spirit of the
samurai, and the original name of this region sounded too weak.
Next, we went to
Kumamon’s office in downtown Kumamoto. Some people think that Kumamon is very
cute, but other think that he is disgusting, because it is hard to tell whether
he’s smiling or not from the way his mouth opens up, so some people think he is
probably up to no good.
The tour guide thinks
"Kumamoto" should be called "Umamoto" (uma means horse).
Originally, Kumamoto was the main producer of horses. However, Hokkaido is now
the main place of production, because most of the horses in Japan are now bred
as race horses, and they find that horses bred in Hokkaido run faster. Most of
Kumamoto's horses are bred to be eaten. The Japan Tourism Bureau heavily
promotes horse sashimi in Kumamoto, so I tried to find horse meat during my free
time in downtown Kumamoto. However, most of the horse sashimi restaurants open
at night, so I did not get to eat it. Instead, I found an empty one Ichiran
ramen shop and tasted it for the first time. In Taipei, people have to line up
for three hours to eat Ichiran ramen, so I did not bother to try it in Taipei.
There was no wait here because the shop was empty!
Next, we went to the Sakuranobaba Johsaien and Kumamoto Castle. The
Kumamoto earthquake in 2016 caused the Kumamoto Castle to collapse, so we could
not enter it. After taking a few photos of the Tenshu (the highest tower in the
city), we realised grandma disappeared. My mom told me to go and find her, but
I couldn't find her. Later we found out that my grandma had already boarded the
tour bus without letting anyone know! The Sakuranobaba Johsaien sells horse
sashimi so I got to eat it in the end.
Kumamon micks people talking:
13Feb
The first thing in the
itinerary was the Yanagawa manpower cruise. There was a warm table on the boat.
The boatman sings and rows, and when he crosses the low bridge, he jumps from
the boat to the bridge and then from the bridge back to the boat.
Next, we went to the Dazaifu
Temmangu. This is a shrine dedicated to Michizane, the "god of
learning", in Japan. Michizane really loved plums, so plum trees, plum
cakes, and plum tea are all local famous produces. We bought mentaiko
(marinated pollock roe) on the street in front of the Dazaifu Temmangu, and
also saw a Starbucks designed by the famous architect Kengo Kuma.
We arrived in Hakata
in the evening. Three of Hakata’s most famous dishes are: ramen noodles,
motsunabe and chicken hot pot (mizutaki). These three dishes are only about 100
years old, because Japan was a closed nation before 1850. The birthplace of Japanese
ramen is Yokohama. The ramen was originally just a Chinese chicken noodle soup.
Later, the chicken bone soup was changed to pork bone soup because the pig
bones were cheaper. The noodle went from thick and soft to narrow and chewy. It
was a clear soup at first, but someone accidentally cooked a turbid soup on big
fire, and the effect was good, so it evolved into what it is today. However,
from the perspective of the Japanese, ramen is still Chinese food. In the
beginning, Hakata ramen was eaten by the fisherman. The noodles of Hakata ramen
swells up rapidly in the soup, so the tradition is to give 100g noodles and add
in refills later. The soup of Hakata Ramen is very oily, and some people get
diarrhea from it.
In the Canal City
Hakata, we ate motsunabe, watched a water show, and went to the hotel. The
hotel is conveniently located right next to the Hakata station.
Agile boatman of
Yanagawa:
Water show at Canal City Hakata:
14Feb
Most people tend to do something happy on their birthdays. I embarked
on a self-tour in Japan for the first time. All my previous trips to Japan were
100% tour guided group tours. This time, day four of this Kyushu tour is a
“free day,” and the hotel is located next to the Hakata station. So I bought my
own JR ticket and took the Kamome (express) train to Nagasaki (6180 yen
return)! Then I bought the one day Tram pass in Nagasaki (500 yen). The first
place I went to was the Nagasaki Bomb Museum. People may think I am nuts, in
choosing to go to a place which makes people cry, for my birthday. Well, there
are only two places in the world that had been bombed by the atomic bomb, so I
believe that a lot can be learnt from visiting this place. Furthermore, I am
not exactly going to make another plane trip to Japan especially to visit
Nagasaki, so might as well visit it today. This harbour was the site where
Christianity first entered into Japan (I only discovered the rich Christianity
history of this region during this trip and didn’t know anything before).
Then, I visited the Peace Park.
The Urakami Cathedral was the biggest cathedral in Asia in 1925, but it
was destroyed by the atomic bomb. The Ora Cathedral was not destroyed by the
bomb because it was further away from the hypocentre.
On my way to the Ora Cathedral, I had to change tram at China Town, so
I visited this place. I also visited the Dejima, which was a Dutch settlement.
I walked in the wrong direction at the Ora Cathedral station and walked
all the way to some Western houses and a Confuses temple before finally
arriving at the Oral Cathedral and the Glover Garden. However, it was quite
late by then so I didn’t by the entrance tickets to either of these sites.
Then I took the tram to the Spectacles Bridge, which really looked like
spectacles!
Then I took the tram at the Civic Hall back to the Nagasaki station to
visit the site of the Martyrdom of the 26 Saints (martyred 1597) before heading
off on the Kamome train back to Hakata.
More photos from the trip, please see:
