16/07/2024 / Last updated : 16/07/2024 d.d Temple / Shrine

Fukoji temple Magaibutsu (Buddha)　普光寺磨崖仏

March 28, 2024 The morning in Michi no eki Harajiri no taki is grey and overcast. Only the swallows are energetic, swooping and weaving in and out of the overhanging roofs and skimming the car park, oblivious to the various devices set to deter them. We take another gentle tiptoe though the tulips and down to the Harajiri waterfall. Here are Oriental Greenfinches, wagtails, and dippers. Fukoji Temple The intermittent drizzle becomes more insistent, and we leave for Fukoji temple to view a large Buddha carved into the rock face. This takes us on an interesting drive mostly along narrow, winding roads strewn with dead sugi foliage. Arriving at Fukoji […]

12/07/2024 / Last updated : 12/07/2024 d.d Hiking / Walking

Shiramizu and Harajiri waterfall　白水の滝、原尻の滝

March 27th. 2024 Aso　阿蘇 Leaving Minami Aso michi no eki Kugino, we set off for Mt. Aso itself. In recent years, sadly, it has not been possible to approach the active crater and peer into the bubbling cauldron. At the topmost car park, still some distance from the crater, the buildings are deserted and derelict. There is still an amazing landscape all around but nothing to the spectacle we could wonder at some years ago. That said, the colour of the dead grasses, bushes in nascent bud, the seams of soil and ash black, orange and red are wonderful. We did not visit Kusasenri this time, but there is good […]

12/07/2024 / Last updated : 12/07/2024 d.d Scenic Drive / Spots

Scenic Drive R. 442 from Yame to Aso　八女から阿蘇へ

March 26, 2024 A leisurely start to this trip – the first for a year – in that we don’t leave until around mid-day. It is cold, windy and there is persistent drizzle. Soon, before we hit the highway, we stop for lunch at Ohsho. This gyoza chain had it’s origins in Kansai and I remember it as very down market, tin tables, plastic table covers and the staff skating in white gum boots on the greasy floor. It has cleaned up it’s act and is now a very reasonable lunch spot. Cost/performance excellent and the menu extends beyond gyoza and ramen. Cherry blossoms at Hyugami Dam　日向神ダム Soon we are […]

24/02/2021 / Last updated : 23/02/2023 d.d Temple / Shrine

Rakan-ji, one of our favourite temples, and the Yabakei Gorge　羅漢寺、耶馬溪

December. 2020 Nakatsu michi-no-eki Wake in Nakatsu michi-no-eki (roadside station) on a cold bright morning. This is the second time to spend the night at this michi-no-eki and it stands up well to a return visit. Parking, at the far end, from the truck park, by the side of the information centre is quiet, secluded, to some extent, and near the toilet. Good clean facilities but I don’t recall any flowers. This michi-no-eki has a restaurant that also provides take out and a large market selling local vegetables, meat, fish ,specialty, Bento and so on. So large, in fact, that they provide shopping trollies something unusual in a michi-no-eki. D. […]

19/02/2021 / Last updated : 23/02/2023 d.d Arts / Places of interest

Kunisaki Peninsula – Antony Gormley　国東半島

December 2020 Kunimi michi no eki was a very peaceful place to stay. We were the only vehicle staying overnight and the road itself was almost as silent as the bright, cold night, stars and half-moon hanging overhead. Itsutsuji Fudoson – Antony Gormley 　五辻不動尊 Our first stop of the day is to be Itsutsuji Fudoson. This is a shrine clinging to a rugged crag high in the Kunisaki Peninsula. Since the 2016 Kunisaki Art Project, the shrine has shared this outcrop with an Antony Gormley figure “Another Time XX”. The figure stands on a rocky ledge, just below the shrine, staring out over a magnificent view of the surrounding landscape […]

03/02/2021 / Last updated : 23/02/2023 d.d Scenic Drive / Spots

Matama Beach sunset, Kunisaki Hanto 真玉海岸、国東半島

December 2020 Considering a trip to Kunisaki Hanto (peninsula) and checking places to visit, we discover that today, forecast to be bright and sunny coupled with a low tide, is an optimum time to check Matama Beach. This beach in Kunisaki is famous for its spectacular sunsets. So, at short notice we load the van and set off, heading first for Kita-Kyushu and then taking the Higashi Kyushu highway towards Oita. This is mainly a one lane highway which makes for boring driving, but the traffic is light even on a fine Saturday. Matama Beach We exit the Higashi-Kyushu highway at Koge Parking Area and follow local roads to Matama […]

19/08/2019 / Last updated : 02/02/2023 d.d Temple / Shrine

Komo-jinja, Ao no doumon and fantastic Rakanji　青の洞門、羅漢寺

December 2017, Komo-jinja and Ao no doumon　薦神社、青の洞門 Our first stop of the day is Komo-jinjya not far from the michi-no-eki Nakatsu. The shrine is not very interesting but we enjoy a walk by the large pond in pleasant morning sunshine though it is still cold in the shade. The pond is the object of worship of the shrine. After walking by the pond, we drive to Ao no doumon to walk through the tunnel. Zenkai, an early 18th. century monk hand dug this tunnel to ease movement for local people. Little of this original remains, as a much larger excavation carried out in the Meiji period destroyed most of Zenkai’s […]

19/08/2019 / Last updated : 02/02/2023 d.d Temple / Shrine

Saganoseki Peninsula and Usa Shrine　佐賀関、宇佐神社

December 2017, A peaceful night at Yayoi michi-no-eki, cold but we sleep warm. The morning is chilly and cloudy and someone is erecting a Jerry’s Popcorn stall right in front of us as we emerge. Next to that, a knife grinder and seller, white K-trucks are delivering vegetables to the shop. Busy. Saganoseki Peninsula We leave, a little after nine am, but it is still cold. as we head for Saganoseki. Here we are surprised to discover an observatory at the end of Saganoseki peninsula. From this point there is a splendid view of the turbulent straits (Houyo straits) between Kyushu and Shikoku. The lighthouse on the end of Sada-misaki […]