06 August 2016
Hiroshima: 71st anniversary of the atomic bomb explosion
Peace Message Lantern Floating Ceremony this evening in Hiroshima - when planning our trip schedule, we hadn't realized that we would be here on this very special day.
Before this ceremony, we visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum - narrating the lives behind the numbers. A very emotional place, reminding that no war is ever right. The ones who suffer are never those who cause it.
Most beautiful outdoor bath, just before leaving Kurokawa
05 August 2016
Kurokawa Onsen and the area around the Aso volcano
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| Arrived at the hot spring paradise - in our hotel (Yumerindo Ryokan) in Kurokawa Onsen. |
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| View towards another Ryokan across the river. |
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| Our room. |
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| Neatly folded yukata belt. |
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| Who is arriving today? Indications at the ryokan entrance. |
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| Our futons prepared for the night - sooo comfortable. |
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| Breakfast. |
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| Karl bravely accepted the challenge of the adult breakfast. |
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| Jakob chose the child's breakfast set - no risks! |
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| Visiting Sanga Ryokan, where we stayed the last time, three years ago. |
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| Stunning outdoor bath. |
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| Baskets waiting for visitors (to put ther cloths and towels) - we were all alone. |
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| Pure magic. |
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| One of the five Aso summits. Unfortunately, we couldn't go there, because due to many big dammages of the recent Kumamoto earthquake, the street to the top was blocked. The volcano is still very active. |
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| Road blocked - no access to the summit area with its great volcano museum and wonderful hiking routes. |
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| Summit area, surrounded by the famous grasslands. |
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| Earthquake dammages. |
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| Entrance building of the famous Aso shrine - completey collapsed in the eartquake in April 2016. |
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| Earthquake dammage. |
Temple Details in Fukuoka and Dazaifu
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| Holy cow. |
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| Another one (I like cows!). |
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| Jakob opening O-mikuji - random fortunes written on strips of paper at Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. Literally "sacred lot", these are usually received by making a small offering and randomly choosing one from a box, hoping for the resulting fortune to be good. Apparently, he had to try several times before getting a good one. |
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| Sharp-eyed temple lion. |
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| Japanese Manneken-pis. |
Japanese summer flora and fauna
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| Gingko fruits are ripening already. |
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| Japanese cicada - their sounds and songs are floating everywhere in the forests. |
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| Curious little ferns on an old tree near a famous shrine. |
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| Omnipresent: Giant bamboo. |
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| Pastures grasslands around the Aso volcano area: I guess that some of these freely grazing horses may be eaten - raw horse meat (sashimi) is a local delicacy. |
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| Semi - japanese cicada. Usually they try to escape if you get so close. This one might already be old and tired ... |
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| One of the many dragonfly species ("tonbo") flying around in the summer breeze. |
Hot town, summer in the city... Fukuoka
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| The crowded Fukuoka City Expressway - on two floors! |
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| Dinner with Takahashi-san, a former colleague of Thomas, now living in Fukuoka. |
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| Famous local dish - Tonkotsu Ramen. |
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| "Frankie Nipplewater" - summer attraction in the Canal City shopping center - with lots of children coming there to cool down even late at night. |
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| Our Rykon, Kashoma Honkan, in Gion-machi, Hakata. |
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| Traditional folklore ans handicraft center in Hakata: Traditional silk weaving. |
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| Jakob's favorite summer attraction - screening vending machines for new drinks. |
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