Friendly Fukuoka – Ryumon Falls, Aso Farmland and Kumamoto Castle

This will be a long post as it covers the first field trip and the opening ceremony of the Fall semester. So I apologize in advance for the many photos and long texts! Hang in there 😉

On sunday morning we gathered at the International Student Centre. We were going by bus on a two day ‘Welcome Trip’. The highways in the city are built up high, very different from those back in the Netherlands which are just ground level, so we had a nice view over the city and the sea on one side and mountains on the other side of the city. What a view. I can’t believe I managed to go to a beautiful place like this and felt very lucky.

After a fun but also slightly sleepy bus ride we arrived at our first destination, Ryumon Falls. At these waterfalls usually a shinto ritual takes place, which is the ritual of purification. The thought is that by standing onder the falling water your impurities will be washed away along with the water. But the stones are very slippery and dangerous so we weren’t allowed to climb them. We could go in the safer part of the water, but it was crowded and with my camera I didn’t want to take the risk. It was a beautiful place in the nature and it oozed tranquility.

We ate lunch in a restaurant near the waterfall. It was traditional style; we had to sit on the ground and the food we ate was some kind of soup with noodles, smoked fish and unidentifiable vegetables. The restaurant was very quaint and cute and it was nice to experience a real rural and traditional place like this.

And some photos made by the staff and friends 🙂

Selfie stick!

We then continues our bus ride through rice plantages, quaint villages and way up to the mountains. The nature in Kyushu is so impressive, it feels so organic, like it has been like this for thousands of years. The second place we visited that day was Kokonoe suspension bridge, which is the biggest in Japan according to our teacher. I never walked on a suspension bridge like this. The fact that it slightly swinger from left to right was interesting. Not for the faint of heart though. The views were spectacular as was to be expected. On the other side of the bridge some of us ate some soft ice-cream. It’s not as good as the ones back home, but they are delicious anyway and ice-cream is always welcome. One of my friends brought a ‘selfie-stick’ with her. It’s a trend in Asia lately, but I never saw one in real life. And it is actually a very useful thing! Making group pictures has never been easier. After this trip I am convinced that I should get one too…

At the end of the day we went even further into the mountains until we stopped at our ‘hotel’. It is a facility that belongs to our university with sleeping rooms, a gym, conference rooms, a cafetaria and hot spring baths. Soon after we arrived we had another short information session until dinner was served. We got some curry with rice and fried chicken. It was an easy meal but I really liked it. I just love curry. In the evening we had free time! I had an appointment with one of the professors about my bachelor paper, but after that I want to the gym. It was just a big sports hall just like back in elementary and high school. We played badminton, basketball, volleyball and things like that. It felt good to do some exercise after all those days without any exercise and eating a lot of food. And the reward; soaking in a hot spring bath. At first I wasn’t sure about going because it is scary to be naked in front of strangers. But I just went at a time when it was quiet and together with a friend we said we just look away from each other haha. But it wasn’t all too bad!

After a relaxing soak in the bath we went up to our rooms and chatted for a while until the other came back from the gym and the bath. We then gathered with a big group in the hallway and played games and chatted until late in the evening. It really felt like a bonding trip. And the hotel had great wifi so I finally got the chance to Skype with my parents, even though it was just for a short while and it was a chaos with all the noise in the hallway. But it was such a fun evening.

Next morning I had to get up early even though I hadn’t slept at all. There was just so much noise and it was hot and generally I can’t sleep well with a lot of people around me. But I wanted to make this day another good one so I ignored the fact that I was dead tired. After breakfast and packing our things we continues our trip. We went up the mountains again to go to Mt. Aso. On the highlands of Mt. Aso we got of the bus. The first thing we saw there was a performance by a monkey. The monkey was so cute, but it was also very sad to see. It was so scared and confused. But moving on…. There was an awesome view over the valley beneath Aso. There is a lot of farmland there, and you could see it neatly divided in rectangles of all the same size. As someone from the Netherlands, mountains and views like this still impress me endlessly. After a bunch of group photos we headed to the valley of Aso.

There we reached Aso Farmland which is basically a huge supermarket complex with ‘local products’. I was expecting fresh fruits and vegetables, but it was the typical Japanese sweets and other products packed in their pretty packages. These packages are so gorgeous but I was hoping for fresh products. They also sold some ice-cream and other home-made products though. I went to take a look at the cheeses (I miss cheese!) but the prices made me want to cry. Everything was too expensive there so I didn’t buy anything in the end. When everyone was back in the bus we headed to Kumamoto, for the castle but first lunch! The lunch was really nice and we all got a mini-stove which was so cute. And again it was kind of a traditional lunch which was nice. What was even better; the focus was on meat and not fish this time.

With our bellies full we made a short bus trip to Kumamoto Castle. This castle was on my bucket list for Japan, so I was happy to go there! Sadly we only had an hour there so we kind of had to rush through the place. What makes Kumamoto Castle so special is it’s black exterior. The rest, well, I wouldn’t know well. I didn’t pick up much information there because I didn’t have time to read the information signs. Instead, just enjoy the photos 🙂

Japan Trip, Nijo Castle and Japanese Concert

In the afternoon we needed to be in Osaka for a concert, so we decided to visit only one place today that was nearby our hotel. Or so we thought…. We went there by foot because we like to walk (you can see a lot) and it should’t be far away. But our still feet ached from the day before and our destination, Nijo Castle, was further away than we thought. But hey, at least we got another good work out, saved money by not taking the bus and we got to see the neighborhood.

Before we entered Nijo castle we were asked for a picture by a group of students. By now we were used to getting interviewed and photographed by students, it felt like we celebrities or something.
It is allowed to walk around inside the castle, but with your shoes off. This castle is very different from the one in Osaka though, which had many floors (so was very tall) and was colorful. Nijo castle only has one floor, but has more ground surface. And it is mostly colored white with wood details, so it is sober. The big and lush garden makes a big contrast with the plain building. One interesting detail really stuck with me; when you walk around inside the building the floor makes squeaky sounds. This was a defense mechanism against intruders. It was really funny to hear the creaking footsteps of all the tourist. Other than some beautiful wall paintings there wasn’t much to see inside the castle. The garden is much more interesting. It is the prime example of a lush Japanese garden. It took a while for us to walk through the whole garden (and find our way back) and at the end our feet ached. But it was worth the visit, since it was our first visit to a real Japanese garden.

Castle Moat

I just couldn’t get a nice picture of the gate

The castle

We had to head back to our hotel to drop off our stuff and go to Osaka for a concert. On the way we stopped at Circle K for some food. While we were there they were having a special promotion for the new album of Super Junior. My friend and I were both big fans of them at the time so we ecstatic. All the drinks included a sticker of Super Junior, there were even cakes and other foods packed in Super Junior packages and if you bought a certain amount of products you could get file maps with their picture on it. There was even a Super Junior surprise bag; the bag (also with super junior pictures on it) contained some Japanese candies and some other stuff I can’t remember. Anyway, if you are a fan of k-pop, keep your eye out for promotions in Japan 🙂 I will also write about Shin Okubo, Korea town in Tokyo in one of my later posts for the k-pop fans.

So later that day we were reunited with lovely Osaka city again. Our destination was Hyogo Performing Arts Centre for a concert by Mika Nakashima. Initially we bought tickets for a Namie Amuro concert, but it was cancelled so we opted for Mika Nakashima instead whom we both like but don’t know very well. So we didn’t really know what to expect. Anyway, before the concert we needed to wait for about two hours so we sat outside and looked at the people there. I don’t whether if it is a thing Japan, but there were a lot of people juggling, playing with the diabolo, dancing and such outside of the Performing Arts Centre.

The concert itself was more in a theatre kind of place where you would normally watch an opera, so it was quite an unusual setting for a j-pop concert. But it turned out that it wasn’t your typical j-pop concert as Mika Nakashima doesn’t really do all those cute dances witch cutesy songs and weird costumes and there weren’t ten thousand fans waving with lightsticks. It was more of a down to earth concert in a small venue and her voice sounded awesome in that theatre like venue. Her voice is just as good as on her CDs. Too bad the instruments were a bit too loud to hear her well. The fans were still your typical Japanese fans with their lightsticks and little chants to the songs. It is nice to experience it because that is something you definitely don’t see in European concerts. At the end of the concert she couldn’t stop thanking her fans and she was even crying. You could tell she is a very genuine person which is really nice. We had a positive experience at this concert.

Late in the evening we finally arrived in Kyoto and hadn’t even had dinner yet. So when we walked by the Baskins Robbins we just had to eat some ice-cream. We had heard a lot about Baskins Robbins so we had been eyeing the ice-cream shop since yesterday. And we were on vacations, so why not eat ice-cream for dinner right? There was a promotion where you’d get the third scoop for free, so we each got three flavors. I can say that hype about Baskin Robbins is a valid one. It id quite expensive, but just as Ben & Jerry’s the ice-cream is stuffed with delicious things and there are many yummy flavors to choose from. Plus the ice-cream pies are so cute! We didn’t try them or take photos of them, but I did make photos of them when I was in Korea (Baskin Robbins is a Korean store), so I will show them in the foreseeable future.

We finished our day with some cup noodles. Ice-cream doesn’t keep you full for long after a day like that. Or maybe we just wanted to eat noodles, whatever. Which reminds me, we didn’t even eat any really ramen during our trip!

There are still a considerable number of traditional houses in Kyoto, calles Kyo-machiya. There were several near our hotel, nice! Sidenote, I love machiya and am almost a machiya-specialist haha.
The squeaky sounds at Nijo castle are cute
Lightsticks and fans chants are really funny and kind of weird when your are not used to them
A Japanese concert is a nice experience
The concerts are well organized and usually you have a seat number; they even put chairs with numbers in the standing areas.
Even though it was rainy season we barely had rainy days. It was just cloudy and usually there was a gray sky. It was still hot and humid though.
Baskin Robbins is yummy!
Late night noodles are a-okay, even on vacation
K-pop fans will be able to get their k-pop fix in Japan if you put some effort in it. Think store promotions, concerts and festivals, Korea town in Tokyo, big music stores, and the likes.

101 Things to Do in Japan

So it’s your first time going to Japan, but you don’t really know what you can do in Japan. Or it’s your 5th trip to Japan, but after visiting Kiyomizu-dera and Tokyo Tower you just don’t have any inspiration anymore. Then this is list is for you! It is inspired by my first trip to Japan, my future exchange year in Fukuoka and my never ending bucket list.

General places

(Après) ski (Party) in Hokkaido
Exotic getaway in Okinawa
Exploring temples in Kyoto
And especially make sure to visit Fushimi Inari Taisha in Fushimi
Get your Chinese fix in China Town of Yokohama
Crawl through the huge Buddha of Kamakura
Shopping in Tokyo
Eating lots in Osaka
Go to historic Nara
Enjoy the multicultural Nagasaki
Visit Japan’s most beautiful castle in Himeji
Enter the Buddhist world of Koyasan
Be amazed by the black castle of Matsumoto
Relive days gone by in traditional Takayama
Learn about the unique architecture of Shirakawa houses

Traditional entertainment

16. Attend a tea ceremony
17. See a maiko or geisha dance
18. Attend a Hanami party (cherry blossimg viewing party)
19. Try Ikebana
20. Relax in an Onsen (hot spring bath)
21. Transform into a geisha
22. Go on the 88 Temple Pilgrimage
23. Indulgence for a Kabuki performance
24. … and Sumo of course

Modern entertainment

25. Sing karaoke
26. Try your luck with a UFO-game at one of the game arcades
28. Get creative with purikura, cute photo stickers
29. Get your light sticks out for a Concert
30. All-you-can-drink party at an izakaya, Japanese bar
31. Drop your jaws at the extravagant musicals of Takarazuka
32. Eat Korean hotteok pancakes in Korea Town, Shin-Okubo
33. Take a river cruise in Osaka or Odaiba, Tokyo
34. Go to the 7/11 at 3AM
35. A night out at a Host- or Hostess Club
36. Fashionista time in Harajuku. Or eat crepes.
37. Go deaf at a Pachinko parlor

Enjoy nature

38. Photograph the gorgeous colors of koyo, autumn foliage
39. Catch some glowing fireflies or screeching cicadas
40. Light up by watching the Firefly Squid
41. Smell the lovely lavender of Furano in summer
42. Explore the Gyokusendo Caves in Okinawa
43. Gaze up at the Wisterias of Kawachi Fuji Garden
44. Bathe with monkeys in the hot springs of Yamanouchi
45. Climb to the top of Mount Fuji
46. Search for princess Mononoke in Yakushima
47. Dive the wonderful underwater world of Okinawa
48. Enjoy the view of terraced paddy fields

Special places to eat

49. Pet cute animals at a cat- dog- or owl cafe
50. Feel like a true geek at a a geek cafe
51. Nomming at a yatai, food stall
52. Live a Japanese fairy tale in the theme cafe of the Bamboo Cutter
53. Become a true Princess at the Princess theme cafe
54. Catch your own fish at Zauo cafe
55. Mysterious ninja restaurant, Ninja Akasaka
56. Find your dream robot girl at Kabukicho Robot Restaurant

Festivals

57. Watch stars on Tanabata Star Festival
58. Play at a matsuri (Summer Festival)
59. Enjoy students’ creativity at a bunkasai, a cutural festival
60. Be amazed by the snow statues of Sapporo Snow Festival
61. Party with demons at the Oni Fireworks Festival in Hokkaido
62. Stroll through fields of Sunflowers at Akeno Sunflower Festival
63. See the historical parade of Jidai Matsuri
64. Dance with the Awa Odori Dancers during Obon Matsuri

Famous sites

65. Appreciate Japanese gardens, like Ritsurin Garden
66. Pose in front of the Golden Pavilion, Kinkakuji
67. And visit the Silver Pavilion As Well
68. Drink your portion of wisdom, health or longevity at Kiyomizudera
69. Buy souvenirs at touristy Asakusa
70. Calm down at the zen garden of Ryoanji
71. Admire Osaka Castle
72. Tokyo Imperial Palace
73. Remember how lucky we are at Hiroshima Peace Memorial
74. The largest wooden building in the world, Todaiji
75. Oase of peace in Tokyo, Meiji Shrine
76. Eiffel Tower’s red sister, Tokyo Tower.

Amusement parks

77. Visit Disney Sea Land, the only one worldwide
78. Feel like a ninja or geisha in Edo Wonderland
79. Get sick in one of the crazy rollercoasters of Fuji-Q Land
80. Watch fishies at Kaiyukan Aquarium
81. Become dizzy by the height of Tokyo Sky Tree
82. Act like a kid at Sanrio Puroland
83. Play in the first Universal Studios of Asia
84. Step into the Netherlands at Huis Ten Bosch
85. Water fun at Spa Resorts Hawaiian

Unusual places

86. Paradise for cat lovers, Tashinojima
87. Naoshima, island of art
88. Eerie times at the deserted island of Hashima
89. Site of Reversible Destiny, Yoro Park
90. Yunessun Spa, refresh yourself in a hot bath of wine, tea or Ramen soup.
91. Yum, Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum!
92. Farming at Pasona02, an underground farm
93. Creepie doll city Nagoro
94. Meguro Parasitological Museum, for people with strong stomachs

Accomodations

95. Release your inner monk during a temple stay
96. Get cosy and cramped in a capsule hotel
97. Feel the allure of traditional Japan while staying in a machiya
98. Treat yourself and stay at a ryokan. With private Onsen, just because you can.
99. You don’t need to be in love to enjoy the quirky love hotels
100. Go on the Cheap and spend a night in a Manga/Internet Cafe
101. Chilly stay at the Alpha Resort-Tomamu ice village

Japan trip, Osaka Castle and History Museum

On our second full day in Osaka we decided to visit the famous Osaka castle. But before that we had to visit an internet cafe. At that time we didn’t have any fancy iPhones or iPads and we didn’t bring our laptop, so we were dependent on computers at our hotel or internet cafe. Since our hotel in Osaka didn’t have a computer (at least, not that we knew of) we went looking for an internet cafe. Luckily we found one soon because we were situated in the touristic area of Dotonbori Street. I didn’t take any pictures inside but I took one of the futuristic looking hallway to the elevator. Very fancy. Inside the cafe there were some simple computers at desks, but there were also private cubicles and even some private cubicle with something that was a crossing between a couch and a bed. Very luxurious but I am not sure if I’d like to sit on it. And there was a massive collection of manga comic books available. I understand now why the internet cafe scene is big in Japan.

Then we made our way to Osaka castle. It is surrounded by parks and castle moats so it is quite the stroll before you arrive at the castle, but very enjoyable. During this stroll I saw one manhole cover with a carving of the castle which was very pretty. The Japanese like to make artworks of their manhole covers. At the moat there was a man who was fishing so we took a little break to watch him and take pictures of the surroundings. There we also saw a man jogging backwards, very peculiar… the funny thing was that the other Japanese people didn’t even look at the backwards jogging guy but were intensely staring and turning their heads when they saw us…

Osaka castle itself is gorgeous, I love the combination of the light blue roof tiles with the golden decorations. In combination with the moats, castle walls and parks it as a nice scene. The inside of the castle is now a museum. Not the best I’ve seen so far, but it was good to learn a little bit about the history of the castle and we saw some awesome war outfits of Japanese generals. But walking this much every day took a toll on our feet so we couldn’t wait to finish the museum and sit down.

We sat down on a bench in front of the castle to give our feet a little bit of rest. There we had a chat with a Japanese old man, who surprisingly new a three words of Dutch (Yes, the second person!). After he left something weird happened. A guy on a bicycle passed us by and stared at us, which happens often so no problem, but then he turned around , rode a circle around us and took a photo of us, and left… Creepy. By then we realized that it was already 3PM and had to move on. We also wanted to visit the History Museum of Osaka nearby the castle so we started to walk through the park making our way to the museum.

Some cute turtles

Because we arrived late we were afraid that we wouldn’t be able to enter but that was no problem. A sad thing is that all the information plaques were in Japanese so it was not catered at foreigners at all. But the museum was so cool! Instead of just artifacts there was even a replica of an Osakan street a hundred years back in time, complete with sounds and mannequins. And there was a smaal replica of an ancient shrine, a collection of traditional costumes and a bridge from the Edo-period. In my opinion the best museum I have visited. A downside was that the permanent collection is only 4 flours big and that the other 7-ish floors were closed, maybe because there were no temporary exhibitions at the time, but we don’t know. But our feet were thankful for the few floors.

The Osaka Museum of History

When you say Osaka, you say Takoyaki and Okonomiyaki. Since we both dislike seafood we didn’t want to try Takoyaki, but Okonomiyaki was definitely a must try for us! And so our quest for Okonomiyaki begin. After wandering for a while we found a restaurant specialized in Okonomiyaki and se we headed in. Immediately we knew we made the right choice. The staff was young and friendly, and funny too. We took our seat at the counter where the food was made right in front of us. We ordered a non-seafood one. I have to say, since then I tried more original ones with a bit of seafood and they are equally nice, despite me hating seafood normally.
The young guy who was preparing our Okonomiyaki and made a small artwork out of the toppings. He was happy when my friend took photos of the cooking proces and offered to take our picture, so it was our first picture together.
It took a long time for us to eat the huge portion and couldn’t finish it in the end. But it was the best and most fun dinner we’d had in Japan.

Back in our rooms we watched tv again. Japanese tv is so funny, especially the commercials.
As you can see in the next pictures; a man talking to a toilet. I have no idea what this ad was about.
And an ad with a super cute dog. The dog appears to be really famous and is usually used in the commercials for this brand (though I forgot which brand). And the last picture is the view from our room at night. It is not the most beautiful view, but I like it because there was always a lot of activity with people and cars and a small park. I liked watching the normal Japanese life go on. And at night it was mesmerizing with all the lights.

Notes :3

Internet cafes are great in Japan
Japanese castles are pretty
Manhole covers in Japan are beautifully decorated, they are some new kind of art
Staff in restaurants will greet you and say goodbye in unison, gotta love it.
Osaka Museum of History is a must visit for history lovers
Okonomiyaki is the best dish you will eat in Osaka
You will get questioned by students at a Japanese tourist site. Prepare for questions like ‘Hello, how are you?’, ‘Do you like sushi?’ and ‘Can I get your signature?’. Students usually get a list of things they need to say to foreigners when on a school trip to practice their English. Or they will just ask you for a photo.