First port of call as we arrived back on the main island of Honshu was the city of Hiroshima. Known the world over for that fateful day on August 6, 1945 when the first atomic bomb was dropped, it has since grown into a thriving and vibrant city ( if you have a Mazda car, they are made here ).
A Bomb Dome, Hiroshima.Street life in Hiroshima prior to August 6, 1945.The day after….Peace Park, Hiroshima.
Despite the attractions of nearby Miyajima and other area sites it’s the very well done Peace Museum that brings visitors in droves – it was absolutely packed the day we were there but it’s extremely well organized and they can handle the crowds easily. We noticed it’s been updated and expanded over the years and there are a few displays we noticed this time that we’ve never seen before. It really is an eye-opening experience to visit this site. We always leave with a little prayer, in the hope that the world never sees another city hit with an atomic bomb.
Nearby Miyajima Island is known for the beautiful orange/red Tori gate that sits just offshore and is possibly the most photographed subject in Japan – well, right up there with Kinkaku-ji anyway ! The island is very pretty with quaint stores and has a very interesting history.
Tori gate, Miyajima.Ditto.Shrine, Miyajima.A particularly nice camping spot, in the trees, right by the marina, near Miyajima.
From Hiroshima, our travels took us back in an easterly direction along the very congested, southern shore of Western Honshu, basically following Route 2 all the way to Japan’s most famous, and indisputably most beautiful, castle in the city of Himeji. It’s the kind of castle that just captivates you at first glance and is immaculately well-maintained throughout. Predictably it was a very busy day there, and once again, we were astounded by the number of ( obviously ) foreign tourists we saw – literally as many foreigners as there were Japanese. Added to the appeal of Himeji was the fact that it was an absolutely perfect day to enjoy it and photograph it.
Kurashiki, a small city just east of Himeji, is renowned for its well kept village area, so we made time to explore it – embarrassing to say it’s less than an hour from Kobe and we’d never visited during our time living here. Well worth a stop…!
Kurashiki’s fame and wealth was built by cotton merchants whose large homes are nicely restored.Delightful willow-lined canals of Kurashiki.Lois, backstreets of Kurashiki.En route to Kurashiki we connected with Min, a young Korean traveller who was motorcycling around Japan – we had first met on the Korea to Japan ferry.
Fortunately, since our last ( flying ) visit we’d sorted out some longer term parking in Kobe ( so we could stay a while this time ! ). In so doing, we sort of “killed two birds with one stone”, as it were. During the last blog, I mentioned that our inquiries about a Japanese visa extension got us nowhere while we were in Shikoku, so it was time to look at a “plan B”. A short return trip outside the country would restart our 90 day visa. While we feel three months will be an adequate amount of time to explore all that we want to see in Japan, we cannot count on a ship being available for our vehicle exactly when our travels finish. That could take some weeks, so we definitely needed a little more time in the country. Parked up at Kobe airport ( which allowed us time to revisit the city), it was an easy and quick 90 minute flight to Seoul – and very nice to have a wonderful night there in a nice hotel. Back in Japan the next day.
Kobe’s trendy Kitanocho district.One of the historic foreign residences at Kobe’s Ijinkan. As one of Japan’s earliest cities to open to foreign trade in the mid 1800’s, Kobe has a foreign ambience that attracts many Japanese tourists.Downtown Kobe.Seoul’s enormous and modern airport. Everything super fast and easy here.
On the road again, our final destination for this week was Kanazawa. Located on the Sea of Japan side of Honshu, and right at the base of the Noto Peninsula, Kanazawa is home to what is widely considered Japan’s most beautiful Japanese garden – KenRokuen. Indeed, the garden is spectacular and we’d have to agree with the Lonely Planet author’s assessment, placing it just above Ritsurin Park in Shikoku. Splitting hairs, though, I suppose – both are pretty awesome !
The historic fishing village of Obama, just south of Kanazawa.Exploring Kanazawa’s backstreets ( old town ) and stumbled across this most awkwardly named cafe.Ok, we give up. In Japan our van is just always going to be classified as a “bus” ( certainly, based on size at least ) 😔. One benefit is you sometimes get preferred parking ( undercover, no less ! ) right near the attraction ( here in Kanazawa ).Kenrokuen, Kanazawa.Ditto.Ditto.
Hopefully the route that ultimately leads us to Hokkaido will provide an opportunity for us to revisit Kobe given our short time there this go around, but for now the smallest of Japan’s four main islands lays ahead – Shikoku. Probably the most overlooked ( and hence least travelled ) of Japan’s big four islands, Shikoku certainly lacks the more recognizable attractions of the other three. It’s predominantly rural (making it a bit easier to navigate), but still boasts one of Japan’s top three gardens, a highly regarded castle, and some of the wildest coastline in the country – we decided it was worth the detour.
Route through Shikoku.
Leaving Kobe to the west one does not drive very far until the amazing new Akashi bridge comes into view – it connects the Honshu mainland to the island of Awaji, which in turn forms a land bridge between Honshu and the island of Shikoku. The bridge itself is a world-renowned feat of engineering and is truly stunning just to look at. It was a particularly windy day as we crossed, and the combination of being so high up, the gusting winds, and the high profile of our van design made for a bit of a wobbly crossing. At the south end of Awaji island, where tidal waters rush in and out of the Inland Sea, one can observe the whirlpools of Naruto. These become very intense at high and low tide and attract many tourists. Unfortunately they were not at their most intense as we passed by , although we did venture up to the lookout just to take in what is a pretty impressive view of the surrounding landscape and the immense bridge itself. Memorably, we spent one night camping on the island of Awaji at a beautiful beach-side spot along with a dozen other local campers, and experienced one of the best sunsets we’ve seen so far in Japan – a little bonus we had not expected.
Bridge over the Straits of Naruto, unfortunately we did not cross near high/low tide so the whirlpools were not strong.Perhaps this is why our van is considered so large in Japan. A “small” camper here is really small -this one seen near NarutoSunset, Gungeko seaside park, Awaji Island.
A couple of other smaller bridges connect Naruto to mainland Shikoku. One normally arrives in the Takamatsu area next but we detoured southwest to Awa to the “Earth Pillars”an attraction supposedly similar to the hoodoos of Bryce Canyon in the US. Well, if there was a resemblance, it was only passing- they are simply not on the same scale. Fortunately, it was not a significant detour that we made.
Awa earth pillars. These were somewhat over-rated we felt. We were more impressed by the nearby Bando POW camp that we stumbled upon while driving to Awa.
En route to the earth pillars, and quite by chance, we stumbled upon an unusual (and I suspect little known) historical WW1 memorial. History buffs will know that Japan actually fought on the side of the allies in World War1, so when 3,900 German soldiers ( who were protecting German settlements in China ) were taken prisoner during the Siege of Tsingtao in 1914, it was left to the Japanese to find a place to house them somewhere in Japan. The Bando Prisoner of War camp, near Takamatsu, was the largest of such camps, holding over 1,000 soldiers. It’s a little known quirk of World War I history that I didn’t know about and found it fascinating to walk around the ruins of the camp and talk to a couple of local Japanese who appear to be maintaining it. Click on the link here for more details on this rather interesting story. Two things stood out for me; firstly, how well they were treated ( in stark contrast to prisoners in the next war ) and secondly, the fact that over 170 of them chose to settle permanently in Japan after WW1 where their descendants live to this day.
Arguably Shikoku’s primary attraction, stunning Ritsurin Koen( Park ) more than compensated for the disappointment of the earth pillars. We’d both seen it before, long ago, but enjoyed it just as much this time and it is still as beautiful as ever. Of all the tourists we saw in the week we spent on Shikoku, 90% of them were probably at this location – it’s that well known here.
A pilgrim we met travelling ( on foot ) to Shikoku’s 88 revered Buddhist temples. One sees many of them walking by the road all over Shikoku, dressed in a white coat, familiar conical hat and a walking stick. Over 150,000 people a year are thought to do the 1200 km circuit that rings the island. It’s known as the Shikoku Henro.Shikoku Henro Route.Ritsurin Koen, Takamatsu.Ditto.While parked at a Michi no Eki in Takamatsu a fellow traveller, camping nearby for the night, approached us, introduced himself, and INSISTED we accept this giant bottle of sake as a gift. He just liked our van and was impressed that we had shipped it to Japan. We’d never met before and likely never will again – this has now happened three times. Moderately embarrassing but very typical of spontaneous Japanese hospitality and generosity.Vine Bridge, Central Shikoku.Selfie, Vine Bridge.Vine Bridge.
South west of Takamatsu Route 32 takes travelers through the Yoshino River valley, a particularly scenic stretch of road with white water rapids tumbling through the bottom of the valley, 50 or 60m below the narrow road which clings to the mountain side in most places. Didn’t challenge the rapids, but we did detour east to the historic Vine Bridge that is a pitstop on most travellers’ journey through the centre of Shikoku. Another narrow, hilly, and very windy detour, but well worth it to see the area and walk on the bridge.
A calm section of the river along Route 32. It was a most intense green.
Over the next few days, we travelled south to Kochi, and then on down to Cape Ashizuri, famed for some of Shikoku’s best coastal scenery. Alas, photography moments were fleeting here as rain and drizzle interrupted quite a bit of this part of our journey. The good bits were great, but no matter where you are when it’s raining it’s hard to get excited about the scenery, pretty though it was.
Coastal view near Cape Ashizuri.Ashizuri lighthouse.
That all cleared up by the time we reached the west side of the island. Staying predominantly coastal, our route north took us via the cities of Uwajima ( where I was delighted to catch the Shidenkai Museum ). and Matsuyama where ( in a moment of sheer panic ) we could not locate our parked vehicle – it ended well, but it was frantic for a couple of hours ! Matsuyama, a pretty city and known for an impressive castle, was for us, one of those disaster travel days that come along every once in a while; the drama of not being able to find our vehicle, hours wasted at the immigration office ( only to be told a visa extension was not possible ) and finally missing a visit to the aforementioned Matsuyama castle as we found it closed having arrived late after wasting so much time on the other stuff ! Fortunately, so far anyway, such days have been rare.
The “Shidenkai” fighter plane, raised from the bay nearby in 1979 where it had rested since 1945 after ditching in the final months of WW2. Considered a better fighter than the more well-known “Zero”, which had become obsolete by that stage of the war.Shidenkai fighter.It was dusk by the time we located our van in Matsuyama. Never been so happy to see it !Lois, filling in paperwork for a visa extension. All for nought. No extensions unless we were sick in hospital, they said.As close as we would get to Matsuyama castle, sadly. Not a huge stress, since Japan’s most impressive castle ( Himeji ) was on our itinerary next week.
Part of the attraction of Shikoku is getting there ( and leaving ) via the interconnecting small islands that dot the Inland Sea so we chose that route out – in at the eastern end, out at the western end. Some impressively engineered bridges, a few scenic rural islands, and a short final ferry ride later we were back on the main Island of Honshu at the port of Mihara. Much more of Honshu to come !
Rest stop at a Roadside Station on Ikuchi island as we made our way across the island/bridge chain connecting Shikoku to Honshu at the western end of Shikoku.A rarity in Japan ! While one can dispose of recycling “garbage” ( plastic bottle, cans etc ) without much difficulty in Japan, it is unbelievably rare to see a simple garbage can ( for food waste, wrappers, fruit skins etc ). Here, the two on the end are for regular garbage. Hard to believe, but true. Absolutely EVERY camper we know of struggles with it. One traveller we know used to burn his garbage ! Yes, that hard to dispose of sometimes 😔.
And finally, a short video clip of our week, condensed into just over a minute. Enjoy…..
Most countries have the odd attraction or two that get somewhat over-hyped. In Japan, Amanohashidate would fit that description. A place with an almost mystical/spiritual appeal to the Japanese, and which draws tourists in the thousands, we dropped by on our way from Ine to Kyoto. Glad we did not make a special trip as we’d have been sorely disappointed – literally a non-spectacular sand bar across a bay near Miyazu. Perhaps though, that brief disappointment was all meant to be since the rest of the week brought us all the splendour of Kyoto and Nara, a wonderful reconnection in Osaka with my old boss of 35 years ago, a full service of our vehicle (after an initial struggle) and a nostalgic visit to our old stomping ground in nearby Kobe.
Light and dark blue lines show our route taken this past week. Distance -short. Sights – many !
Unlike Amanohashidate, Kyoto, (Japan’s cultural heart and former capital) very much lives up to the hype – most visitors justifiably spend days visiting its historic shrines and temples, quaint backstreets and excellent shopping options. We limited our re-visit to a few of our old favourites, Kinka Kuji still topping that list – both of us consider it our favourite Japanese shrine/temple. It was just astounding to see the number of foreigners there ( and at other Kyoto sights ) during this visit – at first we thought it was simply because we had been previously travelling in parts of Japan where foreigners are less visible ( was it perhaps that we just noticed them more here ?) but in asking several Japanese merchants, they all confirmed that they have never seen so many foreign visitors in the city as there are at present. They pegged the cheap yen ( “en yasu” in Japanese ) as the driving force. How the world changes – during our time here in the mid 80’s the Japanese business people were all complaining about “en daka” ( the strong yen ). For the first time in many decades, travel in Japan now represents very good value and foreigners are flocking here. More on that in next week’s blog.
Our favourite Japanese shrine, Kinka-Kuji in Kyoto.Possibly Japan’s most photographed sight..Yasaka Shrine, Kyoto.Famous Toji temple, Kyoto.Kyoto backstreet near Kiyomizu-dera DeraKiyomizu Dera, Kyoto.Kiyomizu Dera.Japanese garden, Kiyomizu Dera.Sannenzaka shopping street, Kyoto.Japanese fans, Kyoto store, Sannenzaka.Kimono clad women walking through backstreet in Pontocho, Kyoto.Historic Pontocho street, Kyoto.Street scene, Kawaramachi, Kyoto.Kyoto backstreet scene. Many pretty canals branch off the river.Our van is really NOT that big. Some in Canada could not believe we would travel so far, for so long, in something “so small”. In Japan they always want to put us with buses – sometimes we feel like we are driving a road train here!
The “service soon” indicator had stated to flash on our van ( we knew it was coming ) and had expected that to be solved with a fairly routine visit to any one of the many Mercedes dealers that can be easily found in all major Japanese cities. We figured Kyoto, one of Japan’s most international cities, would provide good dealer options and some English-speaking staff. Turns out we got two of those three things right – there were indeed several dealers, and the one we approached had a very helpful English speaking staff member (Mr. Isobe), but getting our vehicle serviced would turn out to be far more of an adventure than we had ever anticipated. While the Sprinter van is not a common Mercedes product in Japan ( we’ve not yet seen one on the road ) the V6 diesel engine and transmission it uses are very standard across the Mercedes range and hence the requisite oils and filters would/should be widely available. Indeed they were – but a service bay high enough to accomodate it was not !!! Not, it turned out, only in Kyoto, but nor was one apparently available anywhere in Kobe or Osaka, or, if there was, no dealer was willing to tackle servicing our particular vehicle ! Of course what needed to be done could easily have been done outside the service bay and an exception could easily have been made – but making exceptions to rules are not things that Japanese people tend to like to do. The long and short of it all was that our friendly Mercedes service representative, embarrassed at being unable to assist us “in house”, put us in touch with a local workshop that ( we were told ) specialized in “exotic cars and camper vans” ( a truly odd market combination we thought ). Fortunately, they were close by, able to assist us at short notice, and ( unlike all the Mercedes dealers ) were very happy to take on the challenge. Service completed the very next day ! Phew !
Isobe-san checking the van dimensions to see if there was a Mercedes dealer anywhere in Honshu that had a Service Bay high enough to accommodate us – yes, really ! And they all said no !Ultimately, Mercedes Kyoto referred us to Tanimoto-san at NAC Auto who specialized in “exotic” vehicles and “campervans”. Despite that being a seemingly odd market segment, Tanimoto-san took great care of us and got the job done !While our van was ( in our mind anyway ) far from exotic, some of his other clients’ vehicles certainly qualified ! A classic Porsche.When we left NAC Auto, the van was cleaned to showroom condition! Vacuumed inside, too !In true Japanese style ( where service is EVERYTHING), we were driven to, and picked up from, the nearby railway station so we could sightsee while the service was done.
Through a mutual friend I had been able to reach out to and connect with my old boss from our time living in Japan over 35 years ago and it was with much enthusiasm that both Lois and I were looking forward to reconnecting with him while in the area. Maenaka san and his wife, Hideko, had agreed to meet us in historic Nara for a coffee and lunch so we made Nara our next port of call. Now, 35 years is a long time between catch ups so needless to say we had lots to talk about and thoroughly enjoyed both the coffees and the lunch, the experience definitely enhanced by Maenaka san’s choice of venue, the historic Nara Hotel. Nara is very congested and I was concerned where we would park our van but he had that all taken care of and the valet had us parked up right in front of the lobby! Needless to say, our arrival created quite a bit of commotion with the usual, “oki” and “takai” banter ensuing ( “It’s big, it’s high” ). A spectacular lunch, awesome views across Nara Park and great conversations filled the mid-day with subsequent hours spent exploring Nara’s attractions. So wonderful to reconnect after so long.
My old boss in Japan, Maenaka-san and his wife, Hideko. We’d not seen each other in over 35 years ! We enjoyed an amazing lunch at the historic Nara Hotel.Coffee followed, but I had tea. I was given a timer to tell when the tea had steeped sufficiently. Yes, that kind of detail at this hotel !One can’t walk through Nara Park without being accosted by the deer. Hundreds of them !Entrance to Todai-ji, Nara.Today-ji, known for its Great Buddha.Great Buddha, Nara.
While I had worked mostly in Osaka, we lived ( and Lois worked ) in nearby Kobe. Of course no visit to Japan would be complete without a good walk down memory lane and after navigating some pretty crazy traffic between Osaka and Kobe, we managed to find a great place to park up for the night, high up on Rokko Mountain with a spectacular view over Osaka Bay and the surrounding cities. Probably one of the best camping spots in Japan so far.
Confusing traffic lights in Osaka. Rather than a solid green with a red right-turn arrow, we often see this. Hmm.Caught rush hour, it was slow going.Camping spot on Mt Rokko, Kobe. The iOverlander app just continues to deliver great spots to stay.View by day, and…….…even more stunning at night.
Sadly, the next day in Kobe was a little more problematic. We did manage to stop by and walk around our old neighbourhood and check out our old place (which remains largely unchanged). Given that the great Kobe earthquake occurred in 1995 and damaged much of the city, there was no guarantee our old neighbourhood would look as it did. The difficulty of finding a place to park our vehicle in Kobe meant that we didn’t get to spend as much time as we would’ve liked in the city. Some Japanese cities are just like that. What parking that did exist in the city ( at least that we could find ) was all designed for these new micro cars that everybody seems to be driving in Japan ! No room for us 😔.
Our home for over 3 years in Japan, top floor unit in “Atelier G” (at the time the Japanese had a thing for French names).
Leaving Kobe to the west one does not drive very far until the amazing new Akashi bridge comes into view. It was built just as we were leaving Japan, and now connects the Honshu mainland to the island of Awaji, which in turn forms a land bridge between Honshu and the island of Shikoku, the fourth of Japan’s four major islands. More on our travels in Awaji and Shikoku next blog.
Till next week….
Another “montage” of video clips from the week that was. Enjoy…….
The incredibly lush, green scenery of Kyushu continued all the way north and east as we left Cape Sata in the far south. Reaching the east coast an unexpected surprise was passing the Japan Space Agency’s rocket centre at Uchinoura. It’s certainly no Cape Canaveral but since we were here (and visits were permitted) we decided to go in and take a peek. Unfortunately, just as we did, a huge waft of fog enveloped the mountain bringing visibility almost to zero. Rather a non-event ! What was not a non-event was the beauty of the east coast and specifically an area known as the Nichinan Kaigan coast which extends almost to Miyazaki. While perhaps somewhat generously compared to Italy’s Amalfi coast, it does share some of the same steep cliff drop offs, rocky outcrops and pristine sea views as its more famous Italian cousin. The rutted, horizontal rock formations near Aoshima are quite unique.
Uchinoura Space Centre – we got “fogged out” !Nichinan Kaigan coast.Rock formation known as the “Ogres Washboard”, near Aoshima.Ditto
Miyazaki is one of the nicer small Japanese cities and while not holding a lot of interest for the foreign visitor it’s well known in Japan as being pretty much the centre of early Japanese civilization and Miyazaki jingu shrine is the very place where Japan’s first emperor ( Jimmu ), dating back to 600BC, is enshrined. While famous Beppu ( known for its hot springs and thermal pools ) was the main attraction for us before leaving Kyushu, a slight detour west to unique Tackachiho Gorge made for a very worthwhile diversion – not just for the unique gorge itself but for the drive in which included some of Kyushu’s finest scenery ( and narrowest roads ! ). Hardy surprising I suppose, as it criss-crossed parts of Kyushu’s legendary Yamanami Highway.
Heiwa ( Peace ) Park, Miyazaki.Miyazaki Jingu shrine.Tackachiho GorgeTackachiho Gorge
Beppu never disappoints and on this occasion, in addition to visits to a number of its well known red and blue colored thermal springs we managed to find a little, out of the way, quiet outdoor onsen, of the type that can be harder to find. Not only were there pools of differing temperatures and supposed therapeutic qualities but this one included a soothing mud bath. Highly recommended should you get to Beppu !
West of Beppu and across Kyushu’s north lies much heavy industry and generally unappealing urban sprawl ( including Kokura, the city which was supposed to have been the 2nd A Bomb target – how lucky were they ? ) – good for a long “drive day” which got us across the huge Kanmon Bridge connecting Kyushu with Shimonoseki on Japan’s main island of Honshu.
Kanmon Bridge, Shimonoseki.
Here there was a decision to be made since our travels would now take us east across western Honshu. On the advice of the “Lonely Planet: Japan” author we opted for the more rural and scenic northern route across what is known as the Sanin Coast versus the more industrial and congested Inland Sea route ( parts of which we would explore later anyway ). An easy choice, really, since we had not explored this part of Japan at all previously. It turned out to be a great call since the route across the north over the next four or five days brought us ( mostly ) good weather, great coastal scenery, two historic towns ( Hagi and Tsuwono ), one of Japan’s best preserved castles in Matsue, a sand dune surprise in Tottori, and finally a look at one of Honshu’s most historic and unique fishing villages at Ine. A week overflowing with sights.
Toll booths and toll roads always seem to cause us an issue. Got on this one by accident !I lost the bet in Korea but won it in Japan. We met Mr and Mrs Kim from Korea who shipped their Jeep over to Japan for a month of travel. So we’ve now met one other foreign vehicle !At the Michi No Eki where we met the Kim’s, a car club was having a meet up – some nice machinery !I got to check out a Lamborghini Countach. Very low.Scene in Hagi.Noble’s house from 1850’s, Hagi.Ikebana display, Hagi.Sanin coast, near Matsue.Stunning coastal rock formation, near Matsue.Beautiful Inari shrine, Tsuwano.A street scene, Tsuwano. The canals each side are full of koi.Traditional sake store, Tsuwano.First glimpse, Matsue Castle.Full reveal. One of the few original castles surviving in Japan and dating back to 1611.Samurai house, Matsue.Sahara desert, or ? Tottori sand dunes, Tottori. Not something I EVER thought I‘d see in Japan !Traditional boathouses, Ine village.Boathouses, closer view.
From the Sanin coast we head inland to Japan’s cultural capital, Kyoto and explore Kyoto, Osaka, historic Nara and our old stomping ground of Kobe. Till next week……
Note: This week I decided to roll all the video clips into one 4 minute “reel”. Gives a bit more continuity and the clips pretty much follow the order of the pictures above. Enjoy….
One can’t leave Nagasaki without being profoundly impacted by what you’ve seen at its most famous museum. We certainly were. This week, though, we’d see an amazing museum which detailed another tragic chapter in the closing days of Japan’s WW2 experience – in our continuing trip around the beautiful southern Japanese island of Kyushu we would discover the beauty of Unzen ( a spa town on the Shimabara peninsula ), the castle city of Kumamoto, the volcanic craters of Mt. Aso, and a few truly unexpected gems in the Kagoshima region ( one, as mentioned above, that had a similar impact on us as the A Bomb museum in Nagasaki did – albeit from a completely different perspective). Despite a generally dismal week weather-wise it was one that we packed a lot into.
Recent route ( in blue).Unzen onsen…..the town is a mecca for them.
Directly north of Nagasaki lies a fertile volcanic area known as the Shimabara peninsula. Almost (but not quite) an island, this area presents a number of attractions but key for us was the spa/onsen town of Unzen. Unzen is generously endowed with some of Japan’s best spa’s – the scenery on the way up its tortuously windy access road is pretty impressive as well. Tested one of the local onsens and found it very soothing – no shortage of hot baths in this town. The ever friendly local tourist office referred us to a great little “hole in the wall” Japanese restaurant and again ( as in Fukuoka ) we were not disappointed – not a super busy night so ( as an added bonus ) the owners insisted on making us both a couple of traditional Japanese paper cuttings. Yet again, we’ve been dazzled by the incredible hospitality we’ve experienced on the road.
Hmmm. If the parking space is not too small there is another issue ( low branches )!Steaming hot “ofuro” bath.Personalized paper cuttings made for us by the restaurant owner.Thermal activity, Unzen.
After winding our way down to the coast, we took the 45 minute ferry from Tiara Port to Nagasu putting us on the Kumamoto side of the Kagoshima peninsula and an easy drive east to one of Japan’s more famous volcanoes, “Aso-San” ( Mt. Aso). Still active, and constantly spewing smoke, Aso attracts hikers from all over Japan and beyond. We were actually surprised at how many foreign visitors we saw while there. Sadly, dangerous recent thermal activity meant that Nakodate crater is no longer accessible to visitors 😔. While at Aso the sun shone brightly so we were keen to get in all the hiking and sights that we could – our first sunny day in a while.
Also has craters within craters. Incredibly green.Towns and farms exist inside what is the world’s largest caldera.Resting during a hike.
You know it’s getting hot and humid when you see palm trees line the roads – entering Kumamoto.
Pretty Kumamoto is only a stone’s throw from Aso and its historic castle is a major draw. Like many such castles in Japan it’s seen a lot of renovations but it is definitely one of the better ones. Kumamoto was also easy to navigate so we went right into the heart of the city with the van, taking in impressive Suizenji Koen ( Park ) as well. Parking was, thankfully, not an issue in Kumamoto !
Suizenji park, Kumamoto – the hill is meant to resemble Mt Fuji.Japanese garden, Kumamoto.Impressive Kumamoto castle.Ditto.
The Kagoshima area is not far south of Kumamoto and basically represents the southern extremity of “mainland”’ Japan. That, we knew. There were two major events in Japan’s ( relatively ) recent history in which Kagoshima played a pivotal role ( that we did not know about ), but both of which we would explore during our time there.
The first. I won’t get into the weeds here but Kagoshima ( and the local Satsuma clan ) was at the heart of many of the events surrounding the early and often tumultuous days of “Meiji” all of which is described in great detail at Kagoshima’s Museum of the Meiji Restoration . If you’ve seen Tom Cruise’s epic “The Last Samurai” it covers some of the political and military machinations during this tumultuous period in Japanese history, albeit with the usual Hollywood liberties taken. Fascinating stuff if you have any curiosity at all about Japan’s rapid rise into a powerful modern state once it opened up to the world in the mid 1800’s.
Saigo Takamori, samurai, nobleman, patriot, famous Kagoshima son.
As the Kagoshima area weather was not always cooperative we also loaded up on museum visits while there and based on a tip from another overlander we made the 1 hour trek out to the Chiran Peace Museum. Probably one of the most well presented and touching museums we’ve seen in a long time. Chiran, you see, tells the story of the “tokkotai” – a group better known outside Japan as “kamikaze” pilots. I’ll back it up a bit first. By March of 1945 the writing was on the wall for Japan in WW2. Okinawa was under Allied control and US ships were nearing the home islands ( Japan’s 4 main islands, of which Kyushu is the southernmost). Chiran is in the far south of Kyushu and, being the furthest forward operating base, was the airfield from which approximately half the young Kamikaze pilots departed to attack Allied ships, primarily around Okinawa. Over 1,000 in all.
Statue of a mother, looking up at her kamikaze son, flying off on what she knew was his final mission.
Hard, in today’s world, to understand why these young men were asked to make such a pointless sacrifice so late in a war which was, to all intents and purposes, already lost. While we never got the answer to that, we came away with immense respect for the courage of the young pilots, many of whom were not yet 20. The stories they wrote to their mothers on the night before their “final mission” had us both almost tearing up. I was left with this thought – it’s got to be unbelievably tough for any parent to send a son/daughter off to any conflict knowing they might not return. Imagine being the parent of a son asked to be a kamikaze pilot ? Definitely a one-way ticket. I’ll let the following pictures tell the story.
Kamikaze pilot ready for his final mission.Notes of support and encouragement were often written on a hino maru ( national flag ).This pilot – a boy of 18.Samples of clothing.Googles and cap.Remnants of a Japanese “Zero” fighter recovered from Kagoshima Bay in the 1980’s.“Triangle” huts, where pilots spent their last night together, shared stories, sake ( and, according to one letter, often some tears).Inside the triangle hut. Pictures of the pilots can be seen on the wall.Letter to parents by young pilot, “Masanobu”Page 2 of letter..The original Chiran base ( airfield) has long since been redeveloped but remnants remain in the town – here a water tank from the war period.
Following the incredibly sombre experience in Chiran some relaxation was in order – what better place than nearby Ibusuki, home of the famous Japanese hot sand bath . A wonderful experience where you lay on a bed of hot sand ( heated from hot springs below the sand ) and staff cover you in more hot sand up to your neck in which you then relax for 15-20 minutes. Invigorating..! The experience is completed with some further relaxation in a hot onsen afterwards. Bliss.
Hot sand bath, Ibusuki. Photos not allowed – this one from the hotel itself.While parked up in Ibusuki a very friendly Japanese fellow in an extremely “lifted” Mitsubishi Delica van insisted on photographing his vehicle together with ours. Despite his van’s lift kit he could not believe how “takai” ( high ) our van was in comparison. Conical Mt. Kaimon, near Ibusuki at the very bottom of Kyushu. Typically the last Japanese landmark the kamikaze pilots saw as they flew south to certain death in Okinawa.
A short ferry ride across the mouth of Kagoshima Bay took us to the south eastern side of Kagoshima-ken ( state ), close to the southern-most extremity of mainland Japan. Not just an “extremity” box to tick but it’s a particularly scenic drive to Cape Sata that attracts drivers and riders from all over Japan. We’d earlier reached Kyushu’s western edge (near Sasebo) so made the trek on to Cape Sata, Not only was the drive ( and hike at the end of it ) worthwhile, but it also afforded us a chance to camp at the first “formal” Japanese campsite we’d come across. Not exactly like home, but pretty close and ticked all the key boxes : flat, with potable water, and impeccable amenities. We hope to find more of these!
View of our van we don’t often see – on the ferry to Capa Sata.
Hiked out to the Cape Sata observatory- time for a selfie.Cape Sata – end of the road in southern Japan Bikers LOVE the road to Cape Sata. It’s all about the curves.
Being at the very bottom of Kyushu now, the obvious next direction is north, following a general route along the east coast of Kyushu- but, we’ll save that for the next blog 😊.
The PanAm completed in April, 2022 and with the truck camper sold, we shipped our new Sprinter van to Australia in late 2022. We travelled there through all of 2023 and into 2024 before shipping it up to North East Asia where we travelled for 4 months between Korea and Japan, before shipping it back to North America. It’s our plan to continue exploring the world in 2025.
