Usuki, Castle ruins and Temple Pagoda, southern Oita Prefecture

Castle gate

Usuki is a 30 minute train ride south of us in Tsurusaki. It is beautiful with cedar forests on the hills surrounding the old town which is home to castle ruins built on the only high point.

These gates open the way up to the ruins. That's Morgs, Mo in Japan (I like it!), ahead. These ruins also boast being the Tsunami evacuation area!

Usuki is famous for the stone Buddhas carved into the rock These are stone guards to the shrines.

The leaves are changing drastically now. Maple trees are responsible for most of these colours....green, red, yellow, brown.

Buying kabosu and mikan (Japanese, well actually Oita, lemons and nectarines) for our vitamin C intake.

This is a pagoda within the grounds of a temple. Amazing that it actually stands because the wood is old and thin. Gargoyles adorn the roof eaves.

This is one of the bells that you can often see in Temples or old sites. The hammer is not on the inside but knocks the bells from the right (see photo). The bamboo below this bell was used in the recent candle festival that Usuki hosts every year. It is a religious festival.
This is a typical Buddhist/Shinto graveyard at the same temple.

The disciples?

Sumo in Fukuoka

This was a real spectacle and well worth the trip to the biggest city on Kyushu, Fukuoka. We watched the big guys arrive. Sumo has opened up so there are now many international competitors....the Mongolians hold the top positions!

This sport is really tough. The wrestlers have to push each other out of the ring (or off the sand raised platform) or put the other into the dirt first. Some fights can last a couple of minutes, other last a few seconds! The roof above the ring is symbolic of a Temple. Sumo is traditionally a religious affair. The referee was a Buddhist priest however nowadays the ref is highly trained for his work.

Hishiro Night Fishing

I was happy to see a moon without interference from secondary light.

I took a train one Friday night to join a few of my fellow teachers out at a small fishing village. This is a clip from that night.

The next morning....

The catch....

Hells

Jigoku, a boiling spring (known as a hell), in Beppu just west of Oita is one of the many hells here. There are also onsens (hot spring baths). A group of us went to a mud onsen which left your skin smelling of sulphur and skin feeling soft. The hot water courses through beppu streets and drains and this town is 'steamy' as a result. A fantastic place. Quaint shops, Japanese architecture, beautiful mountains and the flat sea.

In one section, the road had been in the way of a landslide and left a deep donga. We used the resources available to get our bike across to the other side. The road thereafter was littered with rocks and logs....

The bike trip through from Oita to Miyazaki Prefecture, Kyushu island

The road to the top of the pass separating Oita Prefecture from Miyazaki Prefecture is normally a gentle drive in a car but we ascended the mountain after typhoon number 4 had damaged these slopes.

In Takachiho, our destination after 80km of cycling, we managed to see Yukagura dancing. This is a traditional form of story telling. Entertaining and humourous it is carried out by men using masks, a drum and flute for music and a narrator between stories.

Incestuous PMB

We are leaving this colonial city...where the municipality is cruel to its residents, especially the poor ones...in search of social justice, peace and adventure. This may take some time!

I recently wrote a report about the provision of housing for poor people in PMB. Housing is shamefully lacking for those that cannot afford it and the municipality continues to victimise, evict and relocate poor people away from the CBD. This is not the response I would expect from a 'caring' government, which the SA govt claims it is.