Miyazaki

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Miyazaki is a small city in the very south of Japan in the south east of Kyushu. It is known as a popular honeymooning destination for Japanese couples because of its sub-tropical climate. It takes about 4 hours to get there from Fukuoka by bus (very short compared to some of the bus rides we took in SE Asia!) and since I want to see as much of Japan as I can whilst I'm here, I thought I'd go check it out. One of my Japanese friends is actually from Miyazaki so she helped us book our bus and told us some of the best places to go.

We took the first bus of the day so that we'd arrive in Miyazaki early and have the whole day there. Unfortunately however, the rain was absolutely pouring down when we arrived. Part of this sub-tropical climate is rainy season and whilst I'd hoped and prayed it would be over before our weekend there, we had no such luck. The hotel we had booked was called AreaOne and we booked it initially because it was cheap and came with breakfast that looked great in the pictures! We didn't expect too much of the building because it was cheap so were pleasantly surprised to find a really fancy-looking, modern hotel. The room was pretty small but it was done up nicely and the breakfast certainly didn't disappoint!

Despite the rain, we still had a great first day. We went to the science museum first which is apparently quite famous in Japan and has a huge planetarium. Whilst I felt it wasn't as good as the science museum in London and it was filled with kids whose parent's didn't know what else to do with them on a rainy Saturday, it was still really fun and the show in the planetarium was awesome (even though it was all in Japanese so I didn't understand much of it).

Our next plan was to go and visit Miyazaki Shrine. We had to take a train to get there so arrived at the train station only to find we'd have to wait an hour and a half for a train!! I couldn't believe it. Where in the world do ever have to wait that long for a train. It wasn't like we'd just come at a bad time either, all the trains came less than once an hour. I usually moan about having to wait 8 minutes for a subway in Fukuoka but never again after this. I was so shocked because although Miyazaki is a small city, it is still a city. It's not like its in the middle of nowhere!

The shrine, when we eventually got there, was really nice. It's in a forest so theres a pretty little walk up to it. There was a ryokan (traditional Japanese hotel) and conference centre in the forest too which would have been cool to stay at and a number of other little shrines.

After waiting (again) for the train back to the centre, we had nap before heading out for some dinner. One of the speciality foods in Miyazaki is chicken nanban which is fried chicken basted in a sweet and sour sauce and then covered in tartar sauce. It is delicious! I'd had it before in bento boxes but I was eager to try to the real deal. Therefore we decided to go and find ourselves some. We had one place in mind that we'd read about online which is apparently the place where chicken nanban started but unfortunately, for some weird reason it closed pretty early which meant by the time we got there they'd stopped serving. Instead we decided to head back to the main shopping arcade which is a really traditional Japanese shopping street, in order to go to one of the places along there. However I was shocked to discover than in fact nobody wanted us in their restaurant! Every place we walked into instantly told us they were full, even though we could see seats! I'm guess this was due to the fact we are white - either they don't like us or they are genuinely worried about having us in there in case we don't speak any Japanese. We got stared at so much whilst we were in Miyazaki, like ten times more than usual, so I'm guessing they don't get many western tourists.

We ended up in this tiny little izakaya (Japanese style pub) which was a blessing in disguise since the food was really good there, including the chicken nanban, and the staff were really friendly and wanted to know all about us so took the time to actually speak to us and realised that actually we could speak some Japanese!

After dinner, as there is little to no nightlife in tiny cities like Miyazaki, we decided to go to karaoke! We were shocked at how cheap it was; normally in Fukuoka we'd be lucky to pay 2000yen for all night nomihoudai (all you can drink) if there was a big group of us and we haggled a lot with them but here we were offered it for 1800 yen straight away, no haggling required! It was actually so fun going to karaoke with just two of us because it meant you were constantly singing, although I'm not sure my throat would agree! We set ourself a curfew of 3am so that we didn't stay out until 6 like normal and waste the next day. We aimed to get up for breakfast the next day at 8 and although we didn't quite make that we were down there by 9 to eat the biggest breakfast ever to cure our hangovers. They had literally everything from croissants to boiled eggs to Japanese curry. We went down in pretty much our pyjamas which we thought was normal. Apparently not. We got lots of stares as we filled our plates!

The weather had cleared right up for us so we decided to head to Aoshima which is famous for its beach and tiny tropical island. We arrived at Aoshima train station and walked towards the beach. Aoshima is a strangle place as it definitely has a holiday resort feel to it but it all looks a bit dated and run down. Maybe as it wasn't officially 'beach season' yet in Japan nothing had been opened properly.

I was overjoyed that they sold mango everywhere! Even though it was about ten times the price of mangos in the Philippines and they're a different kind of mango so in my opinion, aren't as good. For lunch we found a little family run restaurant which served the most incredible chicken nanban! I ordered a Hiyashijiru set which came with a mini chicken nanban, rice and vegetables. Hiyashijiru is a chilled cucumber and sesame soup made from crushed up tiny fish and miso. It is another one of Miyazaki's specialities and was delicious!

Aoshima Island is a tiny island, small enough to walk the whole way around, attached to the beach by a bridge. It is surrounded by a mixture of sand rock and mud rock which has created these amazing uneven wavy rock flats as its been eroded by the sea. It's known as the Ogres' Washboard. It was so cool, like nothing I've ever seen before. I spent ages looking in the rock pools and climbing over the rocks. There is an awesome shrine in the middle of the island thats surround by a tropical forest. The whole island is very sacred so the shrine is a particularly important one. It's officially a shrine for marriage. There was a really cool walk way where you go through the tori gate and there are hundreds of the wishing plaques (plaques you buy at the shrine to write your hopes and wishes on and leave them hanging there) all hanging from above you and you are surrounded by tropical trees and plants. It really didn't feel like Japan, it was so cool!

After we went to beach but stupidly we had not brought any swimming costumes with us so I just ended up paddling. I was desperate to go in the sea and even considered going in in my tshirt and pants but my friend wouldn't let me! Had it not been a country as conservative as Japan, I definitely would have done.

I had spotted a lovely little tapas bar at the train station when we arrived in Miyazaki so we'd decided we would go there for dinner that evening whilst we waited for our bus home. As with most western food in Japan, it was alright, not excellent but not awful. Definitely not authentic Spanish food but I love tapas and hadn't eaten it at all whilst in Japan so it was definitely worth it. And the restaurant did a glass of champagne for 500 yen so I definitely couldn't complain! It was a nice end to our little weekend away.

Unfortunately, due to a stupid typhoon cancelling our flights to Okinawa, Miyazaki was my last trip in Japan. I was so upset that I didn't get to see Okinawa, especially as it was something we'd had planned all year only for it to be cancelled the day before! I am also beyond gutted that my year abroad is coming to an end! It was really great to go to Miyazaki and see what life in a small city is like in Japan. I definitely noticed the different attitudes of people. My next trip will be to Singapore next week when I spend 5 days there on my way home (exciting but sad). However I still have some other blog posts I need to catch up on and since I am very busy enjoying my remaining days in Japan, I feel I'll be writing my blog long after I am home! At least it will give me something to do when I'm mourning my year abroad being over....

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