Japanamac

Kyushu Galleries

19 Feb 2006 | Comments Off

As promised, the Kyushu galleries are now online. There are two galleries, one for Kurokawa Hot Springs and another for Takachiho Gorge. We wanted to make another gallery for Mount Aso, but we weren’t able to take enough pictures to populate a full gallery. I guess that gallery will have to wait until our next trip to Kyushu!

You may notice that the new galleries are a little bit different than previous galleries. That’s because they were made in Apple’s new program, iWeb. Making galleries in iWeb was very easy and the presentation is excellent even if the galleries load a little bit slower than expected. I guess it’s a small price to pay for better galleries. Eventually, Azusa and I will be transitioning all of our previous galleries to iWeb as well so you may notice some navigation changes in the near future.

Mount Aso

18 Feb 2006 | Comments Off

After spending the morning in the awe-inspiring town of Takachiho, we didn’t think the day could get any better. That’s when we arrived at our final stop, beautiful Naka Peak on Mount Aso.

It turns out that Mount Aso is actually an active composite volcano range. We had driven all over the Aso mountain range during our trip, but it’s so large and spread out that we didn’t even really notice. For example, on the way to Takachiho we had been looking down into Aso’s crater, which measures 24 kilometers from north to south. It was such a stunning view. The guide told us that Aso’s crater is the world’s largest and most populated caldera. With it’s green; gently rolling landscape and broad grassy plains I’d bet it’s the most beautiful as well.

It’s hard to get a sense of scale from pictures, but those little figures near the lake are indeed people.

I wish we had more time to explore Naka Peak, but the busy schedule barely allotted enough time to eat lunch and take a few pictures. Azusa and I wanted to get closer to the smoke emitting volcanic rim, but we’ll have to save that for our next trip to Kyushu.

Takachiho Gorge

17 Feb 2006 | Comments Off

Early in the morning, Azusa and I boarded the bus for Takachiho Town. There weren’t too many people on the bus because this part of the tour was optional. It seems that a lot of people were still worn out from the previous day’s busy schedule and they opted to stay at the hotel in the morning. Anyways, Azusa and I were happy that the bus was only half full and that we could sprawl out.

As it turns out, most of the people who stayed behind did so because they knew the bus ride to Takachiho would be extremely long. Azusa and I didn’t know, but it’s almost a three-hour drive from our hotel in Aso!!! Ouch!

Normally we might complain about such a long drive, but it’s hard to complain when you’re looking out the window at some of the most amazing scenery in the world. Honestly, most of the drive was through meandering mountain roads and the view of the Aso mountain range was simply breathtaking! The only bad thing about it was that I longed for our Mini Cooper. What an awesome mountain drive it would be!!! Maybe someday Azusa and I will come back for a cruise.

After stopping for breakfast, we finally arrived in Takachiho. The town itself was very interesting because it is built mostly on the terraced sides of a ravine and every curve in the road brings you to a lower level. Just when it seemed the town couldn’t extend any deeper into the earth, we reached the bottom.

At the lowest level of the town lies the Takachiho Gorge. Takachiho Gorge is a v-shaped gorge that was created naturally when water from the Gokase River eroded ancient lava from Mount Aso. Azusa and I had seen pictures of the gorge in travel magazines and its mysterious appearance is the main reason for us wanting to visit Kyushu in the first place. I have to admit, Takachiho Gorge didn’t disappoint! We took our time walking around on the newly renovated promenade and saw the famous Manai Waterfall near the end of the gorge. Takachiho Gorge was so beautiful that I kinda felt sorry for the people who stayed at the hotel…

Here is a picture of Azusa standing on the promenade with the 17 meter high Manai Waterfall in the background. You can actually rent a boat and paddle around in the Gokase River, but our tour schedule didn’t allow enough time for that… Maybe next time!

We didn’t know it at the time of our visit, but Takachiho Town is also the location of the Ama-no-Iwato shrine. According to Japanese mythology, the goddess Amaterasu hid in a cave near the shrine until Ama-no-Uzume lured her out. Real Otaku might know that the protagonist of the Capcom video game Okami is none other than Amaterasu in the form of a white wolf.

Next Stop: Mount Aso

Next Page »