Nagasaki (Japanese: 長崎市, Nagasaki-shi) is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture in Japan. It was formerly part of Nishisonogi District. Nagasaki was a center of European influence in feudal Japan from first contact through the isolationist era until the opening of Japan and the resultant modernization of Japan during the Meiji Restoration. It became a major Imperial Japanese Navy base during the First Sino-Japanese War and Russo-Japanese War.
Also, the city became the second and last city in the world to be bombed by a nuclear weapon (plutonium bomb), following Hiroshima.
There are many interesting travel spots around Nagasaki and among them are the Nagasaki Peace Park that commemorates the loss of lives due to the horrible times when the A bomb dropped. There is another Peace Park of the likes in Hiroshima as well. It is our duty as human beings to visit these parks because today, more than ever, we need to know how devastating war is and remember so that history shall not repeat itself again.
ANother place of visit would be Sofukuji, an Obaku Zen temple with a Chinese appearance. The temple is really a beautiful sight to behold that and is a school to Japanese Zen Buddhism.
Fukuoka is in the Top 10 largest city in Japan and the largest city in Kyushu. This city is bustling with people and one of its major attraction is the food stalls or Yatai. The open stalls in Fukuoka is possibly the city’s best known symbol! There are over 150 yatai across the city, with the highest concentration in the centrally located Nakagawa and Tenjin districts. Fukuoka is also known for many other touristy attractions such as:-
Canal City Hakata: A large shopping and entertainment complex. Shofukuji Temple: Japan’s first Zen temple. Ohori Park: Public park with pond. Fukuoka Castle Ruins: Ruins of the city’s former castle. Momochi Seaside Park: Futuristic district along the waterfront. Dazaifu: Historic town 30 minutes outside of Fukuoka.
But we’re gonna focus on the street food in Fukuoka – th Yatai’s!
Typical fares you can expect from these street food vendors are yakitoris, hot pot(oden), and the famous Hakata Ramen, a local noodle dish featuring relatively thin ramen noodles in a pork bone based soup (tonkotsu).
Various types of alcoholic drinks can also be found at the yatai. You know, what this means? It means a whole bunch of tipsy people are co-mingling in the same area. It’s definitely a great place to know more Japanese people cos everyone’s so uninhibited from the alcohol!
The Yatai is open from 6pm to 2am, 6 days a week – the off days varies from stall to stall but it’s usually sunday that’s their off day.
When you go to Japan, you must attend a Sumo match because it’s a traditional japanese sport. Baseball may be big in Japan but Sumo Wrestlers are bigger, literally and figuratively. :)
The sport is surrounded by ceremony and ritual. The Japanese consider Sumo a gendai budō: a modern Japanese martial art, even though the sport has a history spanning many centuries.
The Sumo tradition is very ancient, and even today the sport includes many ritual elements, such as the use of salt for purification, from the days Sumo was used in the Shinto religion.
Sumo Wrestling
The basic rule of Sumo is very simple; the first sumo that touches the floor with something else apart from his sole or leaves the ring before his opponent, loses. The fights usually last about a few seconds and its very rare for it to last for up to 1 min or longer.
Six tournaments are held each year and each tournament lasts 15 days. I don’t know how many fights go on in one day with each fight lasting a few seconds. I think they must be many fights but there are also the traditional rituals held before and after a match as well. It’s definitely something that’s worth experiencing.
Three of the 15 tournaments is held in Tokyo (Jan, May, Sept), and one each in Osaka (March), Nagoya (July) and Fukuoka (November).
Beppu is known for its hot springs resorts. There seems to be a variety of hot springs for your try out there, i.e. the sand baths. The hot springs are divided into two kinds – the onsen (for bathing) and the Jigoku or directly translated to Hell (for viewing). I guess if you were to bath in a Jigoku you’d die cos it’s too hot?
Anyway, the most popular nine (also the most touristy) hells are as followed:
* Umi Jigoku
The “sea hell” features a pond of hot, blue water.
* Oniishibozu Jigoku
This hell is named after the mud bubbles which emerge from boiling mud pools and look like the shaven heads of monks.
* Shiraike Jigoku
This hell features a pond of hot, milky water.
* Chinoike Jigoku
The “blood pond hell” features a pond of hot, red water.
* Tatsumaki Jigoku
This hell features a boiling hot geyser which erupts every 25-30 minutes for about five minutes.
The most famous Onsen in Beppu is the Takegawara Onsen. It offers a variety of hot springs and pool that will satisfy patrons of all taste.
Beppu is best accessed from Kokura Station, which is the last station on the Sanyo Shinkansen before the Hakata terminal in Fukuoka (about 5 1/2 hours from Tokyo by hikari shinkansen). From Kokura Station, there are two direct limited express trains to Beppu per hour. The one way trip takes about 75 minutes and costs 4,090 Yen.
It is also possible to use slower local trains to reach Beppu from Kokura, however, one transfer of trains is necessary, and there are only about three good connections per day. The one way trip by local trains takes twice to three times longer than by limited express, but it costs only 2,420 Yen.
Kyūshū (九州) is the southernmost of the 4 main islands of Japan. The climate is slightly warmer and more tropical than Honshu, and the southern and eastern coasts are regularly battered by typhoons each year. The terrain is generally mountainous with very fertile valleys much like the rest of Japan, except for the wide plain area at the top of the island – the location of the largest city area of Fukuoka and Kitakyushu.
Regions
There are 7 prefectures on Kyushu, plus nearby Okinawa:
Fukuoka — Home of Fukuoka city, the “Capital” of Kyushu
Saga — Small and rustic, famous for pottery and pre-historic village ruins
Nagasaki — Hilly city with more than it’s fair share of history – major “foreigners port” during the closed-Japan period, and victim of the 2nd US atomic weapon attack during World War II
Oita — Rural area well known for abundant onsen hot springs especially Beppu
Kumamoto — Center of the isle of Kyushu, location of the Aso caldera, largest in the world, and the beautiful Amakusa chain of islands
Miyazaki — The surfers’ destination of Japan – big beaches, big waves
Kagoshima — Dominated by the Sakurajima volcano, hot enough to grow sugarcane, get buried on hot-sands beaches, two famous islands of Yakushima and Tanegashima
Okinawa — corals and fish! about 1 hour flight from main land Kyushu. Once an independent Kingdom leading the South-Asian sea-trade. Once governed by US. the island has a mixed culture between the West, Japan and Okinawa. Very different from the rest of the country. One of the most popular destinations for summer vacation in Japan.
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