Asahiya Ryokan Beppu

... the one hand, this is a very beautiful place with friendly people and very nice, warm weather. The culture here is indeed more laid-back and is noticeably different from the mainland. People just act different here yet it is still Japan. On the other hand, this is a somewhat sad place where the weight of history and the hideous events of nearly a century ago still linger in the hearts and minds of the inhabitants. In addition, the resentment over the continued U.S ...

... was only completed during the early 1990's. This was another interesting spot to take in. Okinawa was for centuries influenced by both China and Japan. Before becoming a vassal of feudal Japan, Okinawa was largely a vassal of Imperial China. The influence of both cultures can be seen in the castle -- there is definitely lots of Chinese influence here from the layout to the colours.

The Gyokusendo Cave was another stop along the way. Unfortunately I don't ...

Today we arrived at Naha City in Okinawa. We flew from Tokyo in an ANA 747. It has bee a really long time since I've flown in a 747 and (other than landing which I hate with a passion) it was a pleasure. The service on ANA is impeccable and the 747 (despite Airbus' development of the A380) is still the granddaddy of all airplanes. It was a pleasure to once again be on a 747.

Upon disembarking from the ...

... a stunningly hot day and the indoor area was air conditioned. After Shuri Castle, we went to Kokusai street in Naha City. This is a palm-lined street with tons of small souvenir shops, with a surfer atmosphere. I picked up quite a few gifts here! My favorite purchase was a red coral necklace for myself. The store's owner was so happy to see me for some reason that she gave me free shisa keychain. Riley was getting restless, so ...

... from the Chinese Fu dogs. They are a pair or lion-like dogs that sit on top of houses or in front of them. The one on the left, the female, has its mouth shut to keep in all of the good things. The one on the right, the male, is roaring to scare away the bad. Shisa dogs are everywhere; many of my souvenirs are shisa-themed.

After walking through the village, we made a pitstop at the Oceanic Cultures Museum, which ...

... that. But she still let us shop for a nice long time, during which I got to experience the Japanese toy section (full of bizarre toys such as Anpanman, the superhero with bread for a head, Mameshiba, the puppy-faced edamame bean, and various other sad-faced adorable animals). I also perused the candy section but was disappointed- isn't it supposed to be shiny and colorful? There wasn't even a good selection of Haribo- not even fizzy colas! There weren't a whole lot of exciting ...

... through the sports section, through a giant kids section, and into a cruise terminal, without finding the place we first explored the day before. We had to leave the mall and walk around the exterior to get our bearings, and by that time I had about 20 minutes to shop before I had to head home. Nat and I said our goodbyes, and I hit the road. It instantaneously started raining when I stepped outside, and I managed to get good ...

... eyesight, but the route was easy and bright enough to walk along and especially after she got used to the darkness, there was no problem and even she walked much faster than me. By the way, the park had another attraction, Eisa. To tell the truth, we had seen it in Ryukyu Mura, but this time it was better than that with more performers, a spacious stage, a lion dance, and a huge drum placed on the stage. Unfortunately, we were forbidden to ...

... of focusing on visiting the 9 hells (which all of the other Japanese tourists seemed to be sensibly doing in the middle of the winter) we honed in on having a relaxing body and mind weekend by visiting 5 of the 8 major hot spring areas. On the first day we took a hike up into the mountains, to enjoy a natural hot spring in the middle of nowhere. Very peaceful and serene-as it was literally a pool of hot water on the side of the ...

... there is a lot of seeing and not much doing. After a few photos you can move on. This suits the uber-short Japanese vacations perfectly. But it means us foreigners end up with extra time up your sleeves even when we plan our trip tightly. Next we visited 'Monkey Moutain' were 50 odd years ago a farmer, sick and tired of monkeys stealing his crops, decided to feed them on a schedule. The monkeys liked this as is meant regular ...