We are now on yet another big Japanese island - Kyushu. It’s the one furthest west of the main island group. We chose the city of Fukuoka for our last stop in Japan for the main reason that you can catch a direct flight to Busan from Hakata airport. A side benefit is that it’s known as the birthplace of tonkotsu ramen. The broth for this noodle soup is made from pork bones boiled for eighteen hours, which makes the liquid rich and cloudy with all the collagen. We had a delicious lunch at a place called Ichiran which is famous for this style of ramen.
There wasn’t a ton of touristy things to do in Fukuoka, so we hit the mall and watched some dancing fountains.
We briefly shopped for shoes but then decided that breaking in a new pair of shoes with four more weeks to go was too risky. So we looked around the Gundam toy store instead. We didn't buy any of those, either.
We also had a nice stroll through the Ohori Park, which had a fantastic walking path that was separate from the biking and jogging paths. A very peaceful park, with some fun-looking swan boats in the pond.
Our hotel (a Best Western) was nice but it was kind of in a seedy area So at night we walked a few blocks away to have a look at the yatai food stalls set up along one bank of the Naka river. “Yatai” is Japanese for food cart or “shop stand”. The stalls are popular for locals and tourists alike.
On Tuesday morning we took the train about 45 minutes away to see the Nanzo-in Temple. On the way into the temple grounds I made sure to rub the Buddha belly for luck!
The main attraction at this temple is the 135-foot long reclining Buddha statue. We had magically arrived at the statue about ten minutes ahead of the tour groups so we had some good photo ops.
Here are a couple of fun facts. The reclining statue is about the same size as the bronze part of the Statue of Liberty. It’s also not very old; it was only unveiled in 1995. The feet of the Buddha are also supposed to be a power spot for good luck.
It was a risky move but I once again threw in 500 yen for a fortune at the temple. I’ll admit I am a sucker for the lucky cat, Maneki-neko. In with the fortune was a charm which in my case, the right paw raised with a golden amulet is supposed to bring prosperity. That sounds much, much better than the first fortune at Senso-ji — I’ll take it!
For our last day in Japan we decided to take a day tour. It was a long bus journey to the first stop, the volcanic region around Mount Aso.
Luckily it has been 90,000 years since the last eruption so we weren’t too worried about the smoke fumes coming from Nakadake Crater. The scenery was breathtaking. The volcanic soil is full of nutrients so there were wide grassy meadows.
Further down in the valleys, farmers grow crops (a specialty is watermelon) and raise cattle (yogurt, milk, cheese, and marbled Wagyu are also regional specialties). We tried one of the yogurt drinks and it was delicious! They also raise horses for the meat and make moisturizer from the horse fat. Needless to say we did not try either of those items.
We were on the bus for another hour or so before arriving at the Takachiho gorge area.
We had a few minutes to get a first glimpse of the gorge before heading into a nearby restaurant for lunch. It was grill-your-own Kyushu Wagyu (don’t worry we double checked that it was actually beef and not horse!)
They gave everyone a generous pour of homemade sake from a long bamboo flask.
Because we had only signed up for the tour the day before, it was too late to book one of the rental rowboats. But that was fine for us, as the best views of the gorge were from above.
Besides, if we had been down there in a boat we would have missed spotting this Japanese badger. They are nocturnal, and rarely seen, so it was super lucky that Kevin noticed it!
Taking this tour made our last day on Kyushu so much more memorable! Even though we were exhausted by the time we got back to the hotel, it was a great way to see the natural beauty of this part of Japan. Now to repack our suitcases for South Korea!
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