14/12/2015
Dancing All Night
Every winter, the tiny mountain town of Takachiho in Kyushu’s Miyazaki prefecture hosts an all-night dance party. But it’s not what you think--Takachiho’s yokagura festival is an 800 year-old tradition, and all of the gods and goddesses of Japan are invited. Every weekend from mid-November to early-February, local men take turns performing in a sacred dance marathon that lasts from dusk till dawn. Kagura, a series of 33 ancient Shinto folk dances, reenacts the Japanese myth of the sun goddess Amaterasu. According to legend, she was so upset by the violent antics of her brother, the storm god, that she hid herself in a cave and plunged the world into darkness. The whole pantheon of deities gathered to try to find a way to lure her out of the cave; eventually, another goddess called Ame-no-Uzume led them all in a dance (including a strip-tease) so uproarious that it made Amaterasu peek out of the cave to see what all the commotion was about--and the world was once again illuminated by her radiance. Kagura dancing can be found all over Japan, but Takachiho’s all-night kagura is something special--in fact, it was designated as one of Japan’s Intangible Folk Cultural Properties in 1978. Takachiho kagura is said to be close to the art’s original form because of the town’s distinct connection to the Amaterasu myth; Takachiho is the actual location of the cave where Amaterasu hid.
Yokagura is also special to me because for the last two years I’ve called Takachiho home. Since I'm planning on moving back to America next summer, I knew that this year would be my last chance to experience the remarkable ceremony. So I invited a few friends--Japanese, American, and British--to share one last night of dancing in this magical place.
26/12/2014
A Visit to Miyazaki Prefecture
My name is Mugabi Jophous an international student from Uganda; and first year master student in the school of bioresource and bioenvironmental sciences in Kyushu University.
I live in Fukuoka city and this year summer I visited Miyazaki prefecture with my Home visit mother. Lying in the south east coast of Kyushu Island, Miyazaki prefecture is about 5 hours drive by bus from Fukuoka city. The journey seemed tiring but when I reached Miyazaki it was really rewarding. My home visit mother’s family warmly welcomed me and brought back my childhood memories of the visitations to my grandparents.
Miyazaki is not a crowded city and I really enjoyed walking freely in the streets and its blue skies no wander they are many places named Ao (blue) such as Aoshima.
26/12/2014
Graceful Natural Beauty Of Miyazaki
Miyazaki is a prefectural capital city on the south east coast of Kyushu. It is a pleasant seaside town popular with people on vacation and many beauteous attractions. It is one of the most sunshine hours of any city in Japan and visitors come to here for the relaxed atmosphere. It is also famous for its beautiful wide blue sky which ranks one of the top ten all over the world. It takes about 1 hour and 45 minutes from Haneda, Tokyo International Airport to Miyazaki by flight. There are many tourist attractive sites in Miyazaki. Among them, I would like to introduce the three places I like best.
Udo Shrine, a lucky place for visitor
It is located on the Nichinan Coast, is about 40 kilometers in the south of the Miyazaki city. It takes about 1 hour and 25 minutes from Miyazaki station by bus to there. Interestingly, there is no closing dates and entrance fee is free. Walking from the car parking to the shrine takes around 15 minutes but worth the effort. It is dedicated to Yamasachihiko, the father of Emperor Jimmu, the mythical first emperor of Japan.
26/12/2014
Childhood Dreams:
When I was a child and being later, I always had a passion for looking views full of greenery, forest, trees, river, waterfall, birds, nature and so on. However, these dreams just came true by my first oversea travel to Japan. The first place where I had a stay almost for 4 days and really enjoyed was Fukuoka. One day we went out for sightseeing along with my colleague. In order to join cable and slope cars we took tickets and guide pamphlet from JICA Center and after 10 minutes walking we reached to Yahata station. It was on weekend and shuttle bus free services were also available for everyone, carried through to the foot mountain station from where we have started a short journey to the top of the mountain. A beautiful green mountain covered by dense trees called Sarakura. We had slope car straight toward the top and after that cable car was used for looking around. Both cars were full glass and very helpful to see each point easily. On the way to the top we felt like flying gradually to the sky whereas cable car presented the beautiful view of the city and green edge of the Sarakura heap. Roads and stairs across the whole mountain provide comfort for people walk or drive. In spite of seeing incredible spectacles, we met a Japanese astrologist and two other personalities from Turkey and Algeria to whom we exchanged ideas about own culture and social behaviors. Anyhow, we captured different photos along the way and near about to leave we relished amazing sunset.
25/12/2014
Nakagawa Seiryu Onsen, Fukuoka
Before going to Kyushu, Japan, there were friends telling me the scenery of Kyushu is unique, it’s different to Hokkaido and Tokyo (Japan Mainland). I have been to Hokkaido before, I love it, and hence I was very much looking forward to visit Kyushu, just to experience the different scenery of Japan.
20/12/2014
First Time in Kyushu
For koyo (red leaves) hunters, it’s impossible for them to miss Japan as there are so many beautiful places that we can see Koyo. I’m one of these hunters so I’ve visited Japan every year. However, this is my first time in Kyushu.
I was a solo traveler who explored some parts of North Kyushu during 30 November to 5 December 2014. Although it was autumn, Fukuoka welcomed me with shower. Dazaifu Shrine was my first destination. The rain could not stop me from looking for red leaves.
18/12/2014
Sweet Memories of Kyushu
Me and my sister are no strangers to Japan. Both of us have been to Japan many times visiting Tokyo, Osaka, Hiroshima etc But this is our first time travelling to Kyushu in November 2014. Hence, we planned for a 2 weeks trip to give us enough time to take in all the sights and attractions that we have researched on. In this article, we will give some highlights and insights on those that left a deep impression on us as we travelled through Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Kagoshima, Kumamoto, and Oita, Miyazaki.
First up is an idyllic getaway on Nokonoshima Island (Fukuoka).
Nokonoshima Island is about 10-15 minutes by ferry from Meinohama. It's a very small, tranquil and scenic island to explore. You can rent a bicycle to cycle around the island, like what we did. There's hourly rental and full day rental. We rented 2 bikes for 2 hours. It's very cheap and convenient to rent a bike. The bike rental kiosk is right in front of the Noko Ferry Passenger Terminal.
19/11/2014
A Journey the Length of Kyushu
We arrived at Fukuoka/Hakata airport after a long but uneventful flight from London. The great thing about this point of arrival in Japan is that the airport is so close to the centre of the city - after a short metro ride we found ourselves checked in and eating delicious meat skewers for a light evening meal at a small local bar. Although we were still in the centre of a modern city small things like a shop totally devoted to chopsticks or fans immediately gave hints of a change from our normal surroundings, and the bowing reception we received from all staff as the first customers to enter a large department store the next morning was both slightly disorientating and delightful.