Winding down...

  Miyazaki, Japan
Wednesday, April 25, 2007

I spent my final day in Kagoshima being lazy - I needed a break from the perils associated with active volcanoes. Instead I just parked myself on a bench for a few hours and finished The Da Vinci Code, probably a couple of years after most people, but better late than never. Soon afterwards, it started raining and didn`t stop for the rest of the day, not that I minded as I`d already done my sightseeing...I just had a quiet evening at the ryokan, watching a dubbed version of Rocky 4, and getting organised ahead of my next journey.

There wasn`t anything earth-shattering to see in Miyazaki, but I`d been told that it was a nice place to unwind for a short while, so I`d booked into a hotel near the train station for a couple of nights. I hadn`t researched the place that much, and was left wondering about its exact raison d`etre when the first thing I noticed in my room was a suggestive leaflet describing how "our masseur will treat you as a king at your room." Another one promoted the Rainbow Channel as their special 24 hour Adult Channel complete with skimpily dressed Japanese girl on the front, playing volleyball on the beach! Needless to say, I didn`t leave my room for the next couple of days...

4. Shrine on Aoshima

Just kidding of course, because as tempting as it was, I knew I had to make an effort to see some of the sights, beginning with a short train journey down the coast to Aoshima. The main attraction here is a small island covered in palm trees, surrounded by strange rock formations, and it made for a pleasant stroll. There was also a bright red shrine hidden away in the trees, so I visited that before sitting down and watching the waves come crashing in - it was nice to be on the coast again. 

7. Biggest in Japan?

I walked along the beach for a couple of kilometres, passing many beautiful shells and disturbing a few crabs, until I reached Kodomo-no-kuni, an amusement park facing the ocean. During spring, it is the main venue for the "Miyazaki Flower Fiesta" with a staggering 800,000 flowers on show, and sure enough it made for a colourful sight. Of course, this being a theme park in Japan, there was a good old fashioned ferris wheel in the confines, though I didn`t see any "biggest in Japan" claims. Admittedly English signage is rare in these parts, so I`d hazard a guess that a "biggest ferris wheel contained-within-a-park-overlooking-the-ocean in Japan" sign was hanging around somewhere...

z10. Science Museum

Speaking of which, I got the train back to Miyazaki after this to visit the Science Museum, home to "the largest planetarium in the world" if you believe the Lonely Planet, or "one of the largest planetariums in the world" if you believe the Miyazaki Guide that I picked up from the Information Desk, or "one of the largest planetariums in the country" if you believe the small booklet that I was given by the museum itself! Make your minds up. Whichever, it certainly was huge, and really relaxing as I sat in the blacked out dome, looking up at a gazillion stars.

They then played a strangely touching cartoon called "Le Petit Prince" about a boy from another planet who`s sole aim was to look after his rose and pet sheep! Thinking about it afterwards, I remember Javier in New Zealand reading the book, and saying how the basic principles of the children`s story can be applied to adulthood as well. At the time I didn`t have a clue what he was talking about, but I can see where he was coming from now...

As for the other exhibits, they were fun and interactive, although the non-existent English information meant that I mostly just pressed buttons at random and hoped for the best!

After a quiet night in my hotel room (no giggling), I got up early the next morning as I had a few hours to kill before my train to Beppu. Luckily it was a nice day, so I walked to the peaceful Miyazaki Jingu and had a stroll around Heiwadai-koen, home to a vast array of odd clay haniwa (tomb guardians) which had been excavated from somewhere or other.

In keeping with the rest of my short stay in Miyazaki, it was a relaxing morning, with nothing to get the pulse racing, but enjoyable nonetheless...