Day 48: 18 May 2009

LOCATION: BEPPU AND KAGOSHIMA
MOOD: RELAXED
LISTENING TO: FRANZ FERDINAND – TAKE ME OUT

PARTING SHOTS:

I woke up this morning with two burning questions on my mind: firstly, how could I get to my next stop (Kagoshima) in time to actually get anything done (ie not repeat the Beppu experience), and secondly, what was I going to do about the smelly clothes?

As it turned out there wasn't really much I could do about either. A quick check of the train schedules showed that it would take a number of hours to get to Kagoshima no matter which route I took, and that the fastest route was still to go back to Fukuoka and then take the north-south train. Kagoshima is in the south of Kyushu.

With regards to the clothes, the smell was stronger in certain clothes than others, so I took the ones that were still wearable and quarantined the rest. I went out and got some food from the convenience store for breakfast, took a walk around the beach area near the hostel and then headed back to the station to catch my train. The weather had cleared up considerably so I was able to get a couple of nice shots of the town.

The Beppu TV Tower. After you travel enough in Japan you learn that there are a couple of buildings that every self-respecting Japanese city/town has to have: a tower, a ferris wheel and a big train station.

The main street of Beppu, which runs along the beach.

The stretch of beach near my hostel had excellent sand. Apparently this spot is used for sand baths.

A lot of beaches in Japan are filled with these concrete blocks. They always remind me of that game jacks that you play with the rubber ball.

The mountains tower over Beppu. Head up into the hills for the onsen and jigoku.

The road to my hostel. It was a little tucked away, but a nice place with friendly staff nonetheless.

Beppu Station. The random guy with the monkey hanging off his cape is apparently some local celebrity. The plaque includes the useful English description: 'The man who loved children.' I'm wondering whether it's in bad taste to make a Michael Jackson joke.

The view from the platform at Beppu Station while I was waiting for my train. It's actually a lot more majestic when you're there in person.

ONLY FORWARD, NEVER BACK:

I arrived in Kagoshima in the early afternoon. Kagoshima is the southernmost major city in Kyushu, and after the country-feel of Beppu it was nice to get back to a proper city. That being said, Kagoshima had a really nice breezy vibe to it. Perhaps being way down south and away from the craziness of Honshu allowed Kagoshima to develop a more relaxed pace than its northern brethren.

Kagoshima Station. Nice, shiny and still under construction.

The view from the front of Kagoshima Station.

My accommodation for my two night stay in Kagoshima was a charming little guest house a few blocks away from the station. The establishment was staffed by a middle aged woman and a couple of early 30 somethings who were all very nice and helpful. As I was checking my e-mail I struck up a conversation with one of them and found out that she had spent a couple of years living in Queensland. She had complimented me on my Japanese and I saw it as a chance to return the favour but she protested saying that even after all that time she still didn't have any confidence speaking English. It gave me pause to reflect on how different it was learning English as a foreign language and made me thankful that I had grown up with the world's lingua franca as my mother tongue.

By this point it was mid afternoon and so I grabbed some quick takeaway food and headed to the station to go and see some sights. The first on my list was a period garden and villa complex that was said to have outstanding views of the volcano that overshadows Kagoshima, Sakurajima. I hurriedly asked the station attendant which train to catch but in my rush I misheard what she said and ended up catching the wrong train. I quickly realised my mistake and got off at the next stop, planning to catch the next train back. It was then that I realised that there were only one set of tracks. I waited for a while to see if a train would come from the other direction, but none did.

Wondering why they would make a one-way train station I decided to take a walk to see if there was another way to get back into town. The guy at the local convenience store drew me a map but told me that it would be a long walk. I was half contemplating it until I realised how hot it was, at which point I decided to head back to the station. I ended up riding to the next stop and then catching a train in the opposite direction from that station.

By the time I got back there wasn't much time to head out again so I figured I'd do some CD shopping instead.

Kagoshima Station it itself a major entertainment complex with shopping malls, cinemas and even a ferris wheel (see below).

Like I said before, every major city has one.

Kagoshima is a major city, but it's more low-rise than its northern brethren. In a way it reminded me of home. Except with better weather and nicer people.

My hostel was a collegial little place right near the station called Kagoshima Little Asia Guesthouse. I highly recommend it.

SING IT LIKE YOU MEAN IT:

I arrived back in time for the dinner served by the proprietors of the hostel. Seated at the communal table with steaming bowls of rice and what I think was sea bream I got to meet some of the other people staying at the hostel, and in particular I struck up a conversation with a Japanese fisherman from a nearby island called Kei and a British lass who worked in Nagoya and was in Kagoshima for a holiday.

After we finished dinner we stayed chatting while everyone eventually left, and I then suggested we go out and get a drink. Kei came into Kagoshima fairly regularly for business and knew the area pretty well, and Kirsty (the Brit) and I managed to convince him to come out with us. Originally we were looking to go to an izakaya (a Japanese pub), but due to my previous experiences with drunk Japanese businessmen I suggested we go to karaoke instead.

We didn't really share much in common in terms of musical taste (Kei mostly knew older Japanese songs, I knew mostly American rock and pop and Kirsty was into house), but we managed to come up with a few numbers that everyone knew. Throw in the open bar package that we ordered and I think we managed to have a pretty good time. After about two hours I had sufficiently purged any residual stress from my hectic schedule and we decided to head back to the hostel. We didn't go to bed immediately; instead we decided to stay up and sit outside on the deck and keep chatting for a while before Kei and Kirsty's work commitments the following day put an end to our night out.

I didn't bring my camera when we went out to karaoke, but I did have my phone.