In 2015, my siblings and I went to Kyushu in Japan for Christmas. Japan has over 14 thousand islands, and Kyushu is the third largest on the south of the country. We flew into Fukuoka, the largest city in the north of Kyushu and we were welcomed by a dazzling display of Christmas lights outside the main train station. What a great way to start our holiday.
Travelling in a group, especially with family is always tricky, and a lot of adjustment is needed. Our first little episode happened on our first full day, Christmas eve. This is Kanmon Bridge and it links Kyushu island back to the biggest island Honshu. Honshu is the main island where the big cities like Tokyo, Osaka are. There's also a foot tunnel where pedestrians can walk underneath the sea to connect the two islands. It's only 780m long and my husband was very keen to do the walk. Even though you can't see or feel the sea, imagine how cool it is to experience the walk underneath the sea.
However, one group member didn't want to do the walk and insisted on returning to Fukuoka when we got to mid point. The others in the group didn't mind either way. I can't remember why hubs and I didn't go all the way to Honshu ourselves and ask the others wait for us back at Fukuoka. It wasn't that far. None of us ended walking over to Honshu in the end. Anyway needless to say hubs was not a happy bunny that he missed this experience, and all he could do was to take a photo at the mid point. Behind him is Yamaguchi from Honshu, and the name in front of him is Fukuoka.
On Christmas day we visited Diazifu Temangu, one of the most important shrines in Japan. The shrine dates back to over 1100 years and is dedicated to Sugawara Michizane, an esteemed scholar and poet, and a trusted advisor to the emperor. The grounds are very pleasant to walk around, and even though it was a holiday, it wasn't too busy or crowded.
Sugawara is worshipped as the deity of learning, culture, and the arts and many people come here to pray for success in their exams. You write your wish on these little boards called ema, and hopefully Sugawara will bless you with luck. Of course, one still has to study, you can't just rely on luck alone to pass an exam!!!
Many major towns or cities in Japan has a castle and are worth a visit if you have time. Kokura Castle dates back to 1608 but was burnt down in the 19th century and restored over 30 years ago. The castle has five floors with lots of surrounding grounds, apparently the largest of all castles in Japan. Unfortunately it was a little doom and gloom in December. I can imagine how beautiful it would be in spring when all the cherry blossoms bloom. There were quite a lot of exhibitions inside the castle, and I particularly remember walking around one floor with all the exquisite gold paintings on the walls and partition doors. My photos skills were very poor back then, but you can still see the reflection of the golden shine coming through even from a distance - we were not allowed to get too near to them. It was truly bling bling dazzling.
The next day we headed from the north of Kyushu, to Cape Nagasakibana, at the southern tip of the island. It was about a 400km drive. En route we stopped at the most southern railway station in Japan called Nishi Oyama. Of course, I had to take the mandatory photo on the station platform. It's a very iconic scene, standing by the pole (no prizes for guessing what it says) with the amazing Mount Kaimon in the background.
Next, we went further south to Cape Nagasakibana national park. The Mount Kaimon is in full view again. Mount Kaimon is an inactive volcano called Kaimondake, and you can hike to the summit. The ascend is around 800m and takes about 3 hours each way. Not time for hiking today, we just lingered around admiring the scenery.
After reaching the southern tip, we started to head back up north, this time going via the east side of the Kyushu island. Aoshima Island is a short walk across the bridge from the main island, and is famous for its rock formations. Years and years of erosion have created these unusual jagged edges, like a massive washboard, hence the name Devil's Washboard. You can walk on them, they're perfectly safe, just a little uneven, but that's why it's such a fun activity.
The remaining trip included more presents from mother nature. My favourite was the walk along Takachiho Gorge. This is designated as a National Place of Scenic Beauty in Japan and my photos doesn't really do it justice. The Gokase river runs through the gorge and visitors can rent a boat to admire the gorge from bottom up. We opted for the top down approach to walk along the gorge and see the river 100m below us. The view was so mesmerizing. At the end of the walk leads us to the Amanoiwato Shrine. It's located inside a cave that is 30m by 40m big. The photos taken from outside the cave, and inside out will give you an idea of how big it is. I was not expecting to see a place of worship deep in the gorge, but then, shrines and temples can be found all over Japan, why not inside a gorge?馃槉
There are more interesting places we visited during our Kyushu trip but this post is getting a bit long and I don't want to split it into two parts, plus I got a contest for you at the end. So I will share one last place with you, the Hells of Beppu. Beppu is a famous hot spring area the northeast of Kyyshu and many people go there for the hot spring baths. We went to hell instead. Just joking!!! The Hells of Beppu is a park where you can see hot springs and mud ponds. It's like Yellowstone in America and Wai O Tapu in New Zeland (both that I've been but haven't posted yet) but on a smaller scale. I came to Beppu before I went to the other two, I think if it was the other way round, I would be quite disappointed with Beppu. One thing that was quite nice at Beppu was the eggs cooked in the springs. It was a nice snack but I can't find a photo of it. I didn't realise in 2015 that I'd be blogging otherwise I would have taken a lot more photos of everything!
On our last night in Kyushu, we stayed at a hotel in Beppu that had its own spring baths. All guests were offered a yukata (a kimono like bathrobe) and jacket upon check-in. You wear that when you go to the hot springs and dinner inside the hotel. The men's one were all the same, and the ladies got to choose from different fabrics. Out of the four ladies in the front, which one do you think is me? The first person to guess correctly will get 10 Hive powered up to your account.
