At last! The hangovers were gone and we were all ready for a day of sightseeing, well I was anyway. I know for a fact as a host with a limited range of attractions to show off that it's hard to establish whether or not the guests are enjoying themselves or not but I was ready for anything and I hoped it was understood by all.
We jumped in the car, well Chistao's Dad's car actually, I forgot to mention that in honour of my visit to Kagoshima the family felt that it made more sense for us to have use of a larger car. It also had an ETC card that allowed us to pass through the toll booths quickly and we soon found our way onto the highway and out into the hills. Kyushu is a sub-tropical volcanic island and so the hills are steep sided and completely covered in pine trees. The road winds up and back down the hills before ending up in a small town called Chiran. We first stopped at Chiran gardens which is a small selection of classic Japanese houses 7 of which have beautifully kept gardens. The entire collection of gardens are referred to as a 'mini Kyoto' and all exhibit the Japanese garden style known as 'Borrowed scenery' ensuring harmony with the surroundings in which they are situated. It's an extremely peaceful place which is a far cry from what I'm expecting to see later on in Osaka and Tokyo.
After the gardens we crossed the road to a traditional restaurant where I had a classic Udon soup with Tempura prawn and vegetables. As usual, it was delicious and was served with several accompaniments such as glutinous rice parcels and chunks of Japanese omelette. Once we'd had our fill we headed further down the road in search of the Chrian peace museum for Kamikaze pilots.
I've been to several places that have an unsettling feel to them, Chernobyl, The Korean DMZ, Auschwitz and the Kamikaze museum was to be no different. Despite the signage being entirely Japanese, one only really needs to know a few basic facts about the 'arrangements' that were made and the rest of the museum seems to speak for itself. Approximately 1000 pilots, mostly if not all from the greater Kagoshima region, 'volunteered' for the ultimate sacrifice and the pictures of each and every one of them adorn the walls of the museum. Several aircraft (presumably ones that broke down?!?) are also present as well as one peppered with rusty holes that was recovered from the waters around Okinawa. Looking at the planes its easy to see the futility with which these men gave their lives and further research on the subject seems rife with opposing views. Nevertheless, one thing is for certain, many young pilots died and this fact is commemorated outside with around 1000 stone lanterns representing each one of them.
Back in the car, we tried to get the crazy looking Japanese GPS system (which is not only better than anything I've seen in the West but is also 10 years old!) to tell us how to get to Ibusuki. Along the way we stopped next to Kaimondake volcano which is extinct but perfectly conical in that way that all volcanoes should be. After jumping back in the car it didn't take long to reach Ibusuki where I was to experience my first Onsen and also a first for both Alex and I, a partial burial in piping hot volcanic sand.
After finding the changing rooms we stripped down to our birthday suits, put on a Yukata and wandered down to the beach where several dozen Japanese faces protruded from steaming mass of dark sand. Alex and I were given our own area (presumably for foreign looking people) and were systematically buried alive by men with shovels, all this for a modest 600 Yen! Once entombed in the sand, the heat from below increased rapidly and started to burn my backside until I really couldn't stand it any longer. "Alex?", "Yes?", "My arse is on fire!", "So's mine, hang on, I'll ask what to do." We soon found out that you should raise your hips and re-adjust your posture whilst the undertaker shovels more of this stuff on top of you until you look like an extra in Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence. After that you start to braise gently until the sweat starts to come out of every pore of your body (presumably the reason for doing this at all) and your core temperature raises at an alarming rate. "How long are we meant to do this?" asked Alex. "How the hell should I know?" I replied and we both laughed about how ridiculous we must have looked. We soon decided that people probably do this for half an hour but 9 minutes seemed like more than enough and we switched movies and emerged from the sand in a way that would have made George A. Romero proud.
Once back inside we threw our Yukatas into a box marked YUKATAS! and entered the Onsen (traditional Japanese hot baths). They were actually quite nice but after a while I was looking for the plunge pool as the heat was almost as big a problem as the 6 year old local boy who could not stop staring at us! The plunge pool was fantastic as it was larger than a Swedish style pool and not as cold allowing us plenty of time to cool off. Drying down was a bit trickier as the pathetic towel that was provided was barely large enough to dry your eyelids without needing to be wrung out but once done, the feeling was pretty fantastic.
We were all pretty tired by this time so we jumped in the car and headed back to Kagoshima for a nice cup of tea and to take Oscar for a walk. Daiki wanted to play on the slide so we went to the local park but as it was absolutely freezing we didn't manage much more than a couple of goes before wandering back home for Dinner. Chisato excelled again with a dinner of Cabbage soup, Japanese burger with rice and a green salad. Once Daiki had been bathed and had gone to bed, Alex and I thought a quick beer at a local bar would be good idea. Well, yes and no.
The local bar was run by an old lady who seemed to be closing up but allowed us to come in. We got talking although it was Alex who was doing most of the work as he translated both ways between all 4 of us with astonishing ability. After a few beers and some more Shochu we asked for the bill and it seemed that most of the 'complimentary' snacks and additional Shochu were not complimentary at all and she stung us with a huge bill! By now it was late and we decided to knock it on the head, after all, We had Iso gardens to visit tomorrow.
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