Kyushu by car



Last Friday around 3 am, we woke up and headed down route 8 to the highway. J drove till nearly 4pm that evening, when we arrived in Shimonoseki, just north of Kyushu. We stopped, visited a few temples, had dinner, and did a bit of yoga in a nearby park with a view of the bridge we'd soon be going over to the last island we had to thoroughly investigate. The map on our wall is covered with pins marking where in Japan, J and I have visited over the past 7 (for him) and 5 (for me) years we've been here. Poor wall is going to look like Swiss cheese by the time we're out of here.

I won't go on an on, but will post pictures from the trip, with some short descriptions. Hope you enjoy!

so, they're a little fugu (blowfish) crazy in Shimonoseki

did I mention the fugu?

fugu fins posted to dry outside of a local store

Hōichi the Earless

inside the Akama Shrine


J's shot of the boat at Akama's gate


Miko sweeping at Tenman-gu


J captured a shot of a Miko training troupe


path to Tenman-gū shrine in Dazaifu


lest you think we take ourselves too seriously


shishi antics


raked rock garden


vampire dog (check out that cape!) at the shrine Saturday market


the one that J likes at Sofukuji in Nagasaki


"shattered glass" door design at Kokufuji in Nagasaki


J discovering Nagasaki in Ryoma Sakamoto's boots


me too!


don't mess with carpentry donkey/horse


Suwa Shrine from a distance


the approach to Suwa


wandering the hillside temples


my new friend and her mom next to the single tori in Nagasaki


the martyr's monument


yup... that's Kannon riding on the back of a massive turtle


he's yelling at you to remember about beef

learning about pork is also important


Nagasaki Peace Park (beefy statue in distance)


bask in his beefiness


J peeking out

tree after the blast


the tree's great comeback!


a fat pony at Yutoku


Yutoku Inari-jinja


sakura in full bloom


a very subtle love hotel advertisement we saw on the way to Aso


heading into the Aso-shi caldera


J playing kitchen wench at our cold-ass campsite on Aso-san


vegan sausage yum


J's moon shot


there was ice on the car and the tent in the morning

Alright, that's a little over 1/2 way. I'll save the rest for another post. It's off to study for now.