Blogs from Saga, Japan, Asia

九州３日目、久留米で佐賀出身の友達に２年ぶりの再会を果たしました。 昼食は有名な「大砲ラーメン」 豚の匂いが四国出身の私には少しきつすぎましたが本場の味が体験できて良かったです。 車で佐賀まで連れていってもらい念願の「吉野ヶ里遺跡」へ。 弥生時代の衣装を着て、遺跡を巡ることができたので、仮装好きな私にはもってこいでした。 修学旅行生達には冷たい目で見られましたが、こういった場所で、いかに楽しむか。 その方法を私たちは知っているのです。何でも楽しんだもん勝ちなんですよ、マセた学生達よ。 縦穴式住居やら古墳やら、社会の教科書を思い出しながら色々と勉強にもなりました。 自分の彼氏と自分の友達が一緒になってあんな格好して遊べる環境が新鮮で、不思議と心地よかったです。 タイムリミットも迫り、友達との別れを惜しみながら高速バスで博多まで戻り、またしてもトン。 豚カツを食べて空港へ向かいました。 明日どうしよっかこの後どうしよっかの連続で、本当にノープランで旅に挑んだのですが お互いの友達からのお勧めスポットやお店を聞いて、実際にそこに行ってみたり 地元民ならではの場所に連れて行って貰ったりで、友達には本当に感謝感謝です。 そこから広がるなにかがあったり。つながりがあったり。まさに藪から棒。 この先もそんな風に全国、全世界へぷわっと広がっていけたら本望です。 光陰矢のごとし。 以上、旅日記でした。ちゃんちゃん。... read more

yes, that's right! on thursday, laura and i set off for ureshino - a famous onsen and hot spring town not too far from saga. we were really dreading it to be honest and found it amusing that stripping off naked and sitting in a hot bath with strangers is considered to be relaxing amongst the japanese! we felt anything but relaxed! after chatting to some ladies in the information centre, we decided that we would visit a 'rotenburo' - an outdoor bath. because the temperature of the baths can be as high as 90 degrees, i wanted to try somewhere outside so that there would be a breeze to cool us down a little! the roteburo only cost 800 yen which is about 3 pounds... can you imagine a beautiful outdoor spa in england costing ... read more

last friday, i watched a very emotional and moving graduation ceremony for the san nensei (third grade) students... and i'm sure it would have been even more so had i actually understood what had been said! i suppose it wasn't necessary to understand the language though - the beautiful songs, the tears (from the teachers and students) and the very japanese, formal proceedings made for captivating viewing! what we consider to be 'formal' events in the west seem disorganised and chaotic when compared to similar events in japan.... they really do take planning to a whole new level here! graduation is an extremely important event - whether the students are leaving kindergarten or university... there is no originality, creative input or change from year to year, for fear of spoiling the memory of the day! the ... read more

yesterday, i witnessed one of the strangest weather experiences i've ever seen! i walked out of my apartment in the morning and the sky was really dark and heavy... it's difficult to explain! and it was throwing it down with rain but it didn't feel like normal rain! some of the teachers at school explained to me that every year they experience "yellow rain" - a mix of sand and toxic dust from China's Gobi Desert! the dry weather and seasonal winds bring the dust over korea and japan, which i guess only heighens tension between the countries! school children in south korea had a day off school because some people can become ill after breathing it in, but sadly we didn't have the luxury of a day off in japan! i've only got a few ... read more

I decided to be a tourist on Saturday as I sometimes feel like I’ve not been exploring as many new places recently! So I took the train to Kashima and made my way to Hitoku Inari shrine… the third largest of its kind in Japan. I got even more looks than I normally get in Saga and lots of people walked past me commenting loudly about a “gaijin” (foreigner) being there! The shrine was beautiful and I had a lovely stroll around it for a couple of hours, despite it being a slightly cold and cloudy day… I bought a Japanese fortune doll, even though I can’t read the Japanese fortune that came with it! I can just tell myself that it’s all good! In the evening, I met up with Gareth and Laura in a ... read more