Holiday post. Way overdue!
The great thing about holidaying in Japan with my family is that my dad does all the planning, since he brandishes Jap like a native. Heâd rattle off a few place names, ask if weâre ok with it, and off weâll go. I usually have just one key criteria: it must be somewhere that I havenât gone to before. They love going to Tokyo, whereas Iâm a little bored of big cities â itâs shopping plus more shopping.
It was a miserable first few days with the drizzles unwilling to cease at the rather curious theme parkish Huis Ten Bosch, an imitation of a small Dutch town thatâs engineered on eco-friendliness.
Japanese White-eye, Zosterops japonicus. Hmm⊠ZosâŠ
Ok⊠Iâm not really sure of what else to say since I donât feel like rambling these days. Suffice to say that the weatherâs gone cuckoo â weâre on the southernmost main Japanese island and it feels almost like Hokkaido. Brrr. Oh, and snow! A very rare occurrence in those parts.
Nagasaki was a meaningful visit. Iâve always felt like I should drop by either this city or Hiroshima; like a tribute in remembrance of the victims of the atomic bombings and war. The museum was thoroughly educational, disturbing, and touching.
The peace statue: the right hand symbolises vigilance against danger from above, the left hand appeals to eternal peace; the folded leg signifies meditation, and the other a readiness to action
Then we spent a few days in the Mt Aso region, before heading towards Fukuoka for the final leg of the holiday. Mt Aso is the largest active volcano in Japan, and we drove as close as we could to the peak where there was a volcano museum, and hiking tracks and boardwalks that would bring you right to the edge of the caldera and you could look down into the bubbling pot. If only I could⊠!
Onsen, snow, tatami beds, horse meat, and a very hoarse me (I sounded like Marge Simpson for a few days) are all else I could remember.
Sulphuric steam coming from the largest crater
Slopery hills
Break OâRays
Sunset in the land of the rising sun. Ok. Lame.