Kyushu by Bus

So, for the third time in three days, I made a journey from Honshu over to Kyushu: the third largest of Japan’s islands; only this time, the trip was on a longer-term basis. Again, I took the train to Kokura, where I had a couple of hours to spare before my bus left for Nagasaki. I thus dropped my bag off in a coin locker and meandered around the city for an hour or so before hopping on the peasant wagon.

Kokura

From my research – I’m a researcher, don’t you know – I decided that travelling by bus is the best way to get around the island. It’s cheaper, provides greater routes on the misshapen island and allows the opportunity to watch a DVD of someone else’s choice on a small, poor-quality television screen. But the travelling the island by bus allows for greater views of the island that is covered by tree-laden mountains, offering the perfect backdrop for falling asleep.

Nagasaki – what I saw of it, anyway – is a strange old place, with buildings seemingly placed at random around the harbour area. Not surprising for a city flattened 67 years previous, and reflecting the various mountains that surround the city, leaving little chance for Milton Keynes-style town planning. Naturally, the area is very nice, with the top of Mt Isana providing good views of both the city and the islands along the coast.

The Peace Park doesn’t quite have the surviving landmark of Hiroshima, but has an interesting design for the hypocentre and a museum similar to that at Hiroshima. I also took the opportunity to sample some popular entertainment in the city, seeing E-Girls, whoever they are, on stage at the train station and making my first cinema visit to see ‘Momo e no tegami’, as well as wandering the streets of Shian-bashi.

Nagasaki Peace Park

But the large brown shit in the toilet bowl of Nagasaki was the weather: It absolutely pissed it down solidly for about 24 hours. This meant that no ships were heading out to Hashima Island, the prison island now abandoned apart from the filming of poor sequels. This wasn’t a ‘must-do’, but something I’d been looking forward to seeing. It was, therefore, to my annoyance that I woke on the Sunday morning to find a bright sky and calm waters on a day when I was told the sea would be too rough for any boats to make the journey.

Mt Isana, Nagasaki

I’ve read a lot about Beppu being one of the best places to experience Japanese culture, combining old traditions with modern entertainments, in another city surrounded by mountains and sea. And that Japanese culture is getting naked with middle-aged businessmen.

Beppu

As you arrive in Beppu, the place looks like it’s on fire, smoke rising from endless buildings, but then you soon remember that this is one of the best places to sample the onsen experience. I took the plunge in two onsen: one in the city and one up in the mountains, and was lucky to go at relatively quiet times, though still got treated to the sounds of business discussions as buckets of hot water are poured over genitals. It’s an interesting informal venue to share discussion and certainly unlike any I’ve had before.

Beppu

The food in Beppu was certainly among some of the best I’ve had, though probably more by luck than local fame, though the place does stink of boiled eggs. Though sadly, the rain in Beppu falls just as hard as anywhere else in Japan.

Oita Train Station

While in Beppu, I made a quick stop over in Oita for what has become a pointless ambition to visit all 10 Japanese World Cup stadia 10 years too late. Oita is probably the most random of the cities to host the World Cup, being smaller and less accessible than many that didn’t, though it does have arguably the cleanest train station in the world. The ‘Big Eye’ Stadium, or Oita Bank Dome as it’s now known, is in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by farmland, trees and Milton-Keynes-style car parks. Eventually finding the home of Oita Trinita, it’s one of those large, out-of-town stadiums that sits pretty in the sun surrounded by nothingness, but as an actual venue that is easily accessible for thousands of people to get to it is less successful. Still, Oita Trinita only get around 8,000 a game.

Oita 'Big Eye' Stadium

I finished off my time on Kyushu with a couple of days in Fukuoka (pronounced ‘fuck you, okay?’). Fukuoka is a nice city, but lacks much uniqueness for me, despite the city’s history. It’s a little bit too modern and clean, lacking much character, hence why it was named 14^th most liveable world city by Monocle magazine. But with clear blue skies on hot, sunny days, the city does look good and so proved good for a short stay over.

Fukuoka

Fukuoka

Being that this is definitely a baseball town, I decided to go and watch the football. Avispa Fukuoka were playing my new favourite team: Tokyo Verdy. Another J-League Level 2 game at the Level 5 Stadium. Despite the home support being excellent as ever, I saw the home team lose for the first time in a J-League game, Verdy emerging 3-1 victors. At the time of writing, I have now been to 20% of Verdy’s games this season, with a 100% win record in games attended. I won’t bother telling you my Villa stats for the season.

Level 5 Stadium, Fukuoka 

I went to five cities in a ten day stop on the island, but would happily explore it further and wash my genitals with yet more Japanese businessmen.