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Day three was just as great. We drove to Mt. Aso, and enjoyed sunny skies and fields upon fields or yellow rape flowers (nanohana). Along the way, we saw a lot of traditional houses, and very big houses (when compared to my cramped Kanto plain local). There were also cow statues everywhere we went in Kyushu: at temples and shrines, along the road side, at various places in the cities. Mt. Aso was not an exception. This place is famed for it's cows. Mt. Aso is at a HUGE caldera, made by a large volcanic explosion. This created a lot of great grazing land. The Aso crater vents sulfur all the time, so people don't want to live too close to it. The area around Aso is all national park land. In fact, from one look-out point, I could see 5 mountains. Together these looked like a woman's body: face, bust, waist, knees, feet, and miscellaneous blob. Mt. Aso and the surrounding area isn't like the Japan I know. There are many hills, but no trees, just lots of tall grass. This grass is burnt every year, so there is not much hope of anything big growing out there. The elevation in high, and it was very windy the day we went, which I suspect is not that unusual. The closer to the crater, the stranger the colors got. Driving to the crater, the vegetation changed from the hay-colored grass, to this strange, yellow-green-brown color. I suppose it has something to do with the sulfur. Our next stop was Kumamoto city. Wow, what a town! It was Saturday, and the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. We went to Kumamoto castle, where about 1,000 people were enjoying o-hanami. It was like tailgating, without the cars. Definitely smelled like tailgating! Tons of drunk people sitting on plastic mats, eating, passed out, etc. Some of the more energetic people were playing games (children and foreigners). It was a sight to see. And Kumamoto castle was the place to see it. The grounds were enormous, and virtually every tree on the grounds was a cherry tree. I loved it. After exploring the castle, we went to a park, then went to a sushi restaurant. This was an adventure. As many of you know, I have no problem eating sushi or sashimi. I really love some of the fish. Well, Saturday night changed all that. Each of us ordered a dish, and Mr. Ito ordered a squid for us to share. I love squid, but I'd never eaten it in that form before. The waitress brought in an entire squid on a dish. I've eaten small squid (calamari-size) before, but never seen an entire one on a platter before. This wasn't so bad. So I began to eat the strips that had been cut for us. As I ate, I looked at the squid, and soon realized that it was still alive! I could see blood pumping in his body. When I picked up a tentacle that hadn't been cut, the squid moved its head. I was horrified! It's one this to eat fresh sushi, and quite another thing to eat an animal while it's watching you eat it. I felt so cruel, and had a hard time eating the rest of my sushi dinner, though I was sure the rest of my meal was quite dead. After dinner, we were taken to our ryokan to check in. The place, was a couple's house, and was a drab green. But the people were very nice, and even gave us a ¥500 discount. The place offered a shared bathroom and toilet, discount. The place offered a shared bathroom and toilet, yukata for PJ's, a TV, heater, and towels, all for ¥3,000. The best deal I've seen in a long time. They even brought us to the train station the next day. Sunday brought us to Nagasaki. I was surprised at how small it was, only 450,000 people. I was also surprised at how many restaurants and shops were closed on Sunday; Probably due to the Christian influence. Anyway, the city reminded me of San Francisco. It is on the bay, and is very hilly. Apparently, there is night life, but I didn't experience it. The buildings were a hodgepodge of Japanese, Western, Chinese, and modern. I saw a couple churches, Dutch houses, the A-bomb museum, and the Peace Park. A mixture you won't find in any other city. So that was my trip. If I could do it all again, I think that I would request to live in Kyushu. Valerie Straayer |