12th (a journey comes to a close)

7:30 am bedtime is definitely not good for the foot…they head back to their nearby rooms and I get a few hours sleep before I make the last leg of the journey back to my office in Shiojiri…arriving a little after lunch to some surprised co-workers…chat a bit, do some things around the office, go for some grub and then pass out! It is over…the trip is basically finished…now there are a million and things that need to be done…a great dread comes over me as I fall asleep…but first things first…I must go to the doctor tomorrow and get myself back on the road to recovery and good health… that is primary and that will be done tomorrow…need to get my ticket back to the States....time has flown by…it will take some time for me to digest all that has happened over the last year…but digest and rediscovery will hopefully be as fun and maybe even more rewarding than the actual experience itself…who knows…but I truly want to create something from what has gone on in and out of my head over while on the journey; something that lasts and that I can share with people…it will take some time but it will be done…a new goal…but for now it is back to some daily chores and getting back to life here and now…

11th

Get up and get going…there is a long day of driving ahead...it is an uneventful drive through some nice countryside…stop off for some lunch at a small michi-no-eki…it is one of the expensive ones so I go across the street for some food at the supermarket and eat in my car...some homeless have taken over a corner of the parking lot and also taken over one of the picnic pavilions turning it into a home…quite incredible actually…in this countryside town. I fill up the car and am off…first exit to get off will be Kyoto…then get right back on and hang out at a service area until the time comes for half price driving…take a nap and then we are off again...I decide I will call it a day in Ina which is but 30 minutes or so from the final destination…but I have lots of buddies in Ina and it would be fun to hook up and celebrate the arrival back…give my buddy Shun a call and he says he and everyone are quite busy with graduation theses but sure come on over….I arrive about 1:00 am and we start celebrating…another buddy Yosuke comes over and the night flies by with laughter and talk…it is great to be back in good company…before you know it…it is 7:15 in the morning and I am exhausted…

10th

Found an outlet at a parking lot up in the hills and ended up spending the night there...head back to the michi-no-eki to check out the dyer/weaver and get the address and direction to there as well as to a pottery studio called Shusai Gama…it is a wonderful place and I spend a few hours looking around and a few yen buying yet more pottery…then off to the weavers and a wonderful chat and tea with the wife of the potter who has taken over from grandma and with another young lady from Chiba who has spent the last year as an apprentice at the studio…pick up a few things there as well and then hit the road…it is time to get going and get back…long drive taking me to Okayama Pref. and an extremely hungry Kelton drops by a supermarket to get some food…very hungry and thirsty…walk about the store...it is incredibly overpriced…what is up? I shake my head and walk back to the car…go to open the door only to realize that once again I have totally locked myself out of the car…I must resort to the same antics as I did in Fukuoka, only this time I am in the parking lot of a busy supermarket…I begin removing everything (tables, chairs, lamps, hoses, electrical spools, etc…) from the store space and attempt to get my butt up through the crawl space and into the bathroom…it is done but in the doing my ankle and Achilles are stretched and I am in terrible pain once again…go further down the road and come upon just what I need…a delicious pizza…gorgonzola cheese soothes the spirit and fills the stomach, that followed by a wonderful coffee and desert and I forget all about what just took place in the parking lot…off down the road to a michi-no-eki and a place to sleep. I decide to take the expressway all the way back to Nagano and decide to do it all the next day…with the ETC pass I have to go through the tolls there are lots of special 50 % off deals as long as you drive at certain times and for certain distances…so I sit down and begin figuring out the route to be taken so as not to cost much money…must get off the expressway before you go over 100 kms at a stretch, if you do so the cost is half-price between 10 pm and 6 am, there is also a commuter deal in the early evening…my night it is spent plotting the course and counting the miles…I figure it out and decide that indeed tomorrow will be the day…the day of return to familiar ground and familiar faces…time for bed…

9th

Woke up to the sound of waves crashing the coast below…and the sound of trucks pounding the pavement on the highway nearby…but it was a pleasant and long sleep…checked out the bakery at the michi-no-eki and it was quite nice…went to do some business and was stopped by a official looking character who asked if I minded participating in a short questionnaire about Shimane Pref…I said sure and answered his questions about my travels here…he gave me a small token of thanks and complimented my Japanese ability…a good way to start the morning…thought we would have lots of power in the battery after being plugged in almost all night long….wrong! next to nothing again….must have been using too much energy on other things and next to nothing went to the battery…that sucks! UGH! Oh well…but it is not just that my ankle and foot are hurting...this is getting ridiculous…I mean really one month has passed and I haven’t been able to walk normally one day of that entire month…just when I think it is getting better it seems to turn in the opposite direction…I am not in the least bit happy…but I should take off and see Izumo Taisha the meeting place for all of the gods in Japan…it is but a short drive and we are at the michi-no-eki which stands at the entrance way to the great shrine…I check out the exhibit they have at the michi-no-eki and then head to the old Izumo train station which was put out of service in 1990. It had been built in 1924 and was quite an impressive building…after taking a bunch of photos and sitting around taking in the spirit of the place I biked up to the main shrine area…beautiful and serene…the foggy mountainside adding to the ambience…recently they found uncovered huge pillars that suggest a huge shrine stood on the grounds here in the Hein period…there is definitely something in the air…some strange spiritual feeling that seeps in as you walk around the grounds…incredible quiet and peace at the back side of the shrine…many young couples come here as it is the shrine for tying together relationships…many other single women are walking about and upon reading the wish placards around the shrine, it is obvious they come asking the gods to find them the MR RIGHT and to make that relationship lasting forever…hmmm….if it were only that easy.
I head back and take off for the next michi-no –eki down the road where I have decided I will have dinner and check out a nearby onsen and if they have an electrical outlet for the borrowing I will stay…the dinner was fantastic…I had gingered pork and rice…they had seom great handicrafts for sale there as well…in fact I may call the indigo dyer and weaver tomorrow to see if I can visit her shop and check out some more of her works…go for a bath and head off in the search of electricity to charge up my sub-battery…I realize this is all about come to an abrupt end…I will be back in Nagano in but four days…I will be off the road….the tenth, the eleventh, the twelfth and then the thirteenth…that is it….my journey will have come to an end….at least for a while…at least this kind of a journey…I will miss the movement and I will miss the freedom this car had given me…

8th

Get up and off but not as early as I had hoped…get into Iwami and park…ride about town…a town still under great construction…I stop off and watch some videos about the history and the recent restoration efforts…a fabulously rich history...stop off at a huge gift shop that has been here for more than 20 years and now has branch stores all over Japan…an incredibly trendy and fashionable place…I buy few more things…these credit cards will be the death of me…then the rain begins to trickle down and I realize I have run out of camera battery power in both cameras…head back to the car and unload gifts and reload batteries…then off to the Kumagai House which is now a museum...incredible place that was recently totally redone…some of it very well done…some of it not so well done…I talk with the woman at the museum who is originally from Hiroshima but mover here because she liked the atmosphere…we talk about the obvious changes taking place and she is very up front about her anxieties that the base will change to on solely based on tourist income and the entire felling of the place will change…it may no longer be the place she had hoped for when she moved here…The next few years will be crazy she said…maybe it is best to come back in about 10 years or so to enjoy the place again…I go around a bit more but the rain is getting heavy and for some reason my foot is beginning to really bother me again…it is painful…it is time to get back in the car and hit the road…not too far to the next michi-no-eki…where I find an outlet and a source of water....the rain is pouring and there will be no sunset to ponder at this evening…I eat some food I picked up along the way and flip on the computer to find…yes indeed a WiFi connection….and that means tonight is to be dedicated to one thing…the selecting and uploading of photos….an exhausting job….going through thousands of photos and trying to choose a few hundred aint so easy and it is exhausting….get all of them up and get some blog work done... even watch a few “Daily Show with Jon Stewart”…time for bed…my ankle is not well!!

7th

Up and out for some more sightseeing going to some great temples and the birthplace and grave of Yoshida Shoin…one of the people who made the Meiji Restoration possible and helped to bring about modern Japan…there are quite a few important folks from this area who studied abroad and brought about a great change in Japan…the Choshu Five are an interesting group of five young men sent off secretly to study in England…this is an interesting area...I wish I had more time to spend here…after some thinking about history and how some figures in history can really bring about great changes...it is time for a few more pottery shops and a liquor shop and having spent a bunch more money I decide it is time to get out of this town and head up the coast…I need to get to a move on and get my butt up to Izumo and Matsue and back to Nagano…drive and drive and finally pull into michi-no-eki near Hamada…nothing special… a good sleep…and want to get up early and get off to the Silver Mining town of Oomori or what people refer to as Iwami…it has been restored recently and is the middle of great change in order that it be registered as a World Heritage Site…it was once a very rich town and the site if the beginning of the great silver rush that took Japan's silver around the world and brought much back in terms of trade with foreign countries and with trade came the introduction of culture and the air of change…

6th

Pull into Hagi and check out the tourist info for some info about parking and as a good tourist town should have...they have a huge parking lot in the middle of town that is free…and there is a clean restroom there as well... he suggests going to their michi-no-eki for lunch and I do go and check it out…only to find it and everything there way overpriced…no way I am eating there nor staying there…head back to town and the free parking lot…take to the bike in search of lunch….everywhere is overpriced…parking may be free but is there no justice as for the price of a lunch….I run across a coffee shop being run out of a van in the arcade shopping area…I decide he looks like a guy in the know and inquire…he steers me the second floor of a ladies apparel shop where he says they have good lunch sets…and he was RIGHT ON…a great wonderful healthy stomach filling set for 750…excellent home-cooked food served with a smile…after that I drop by to say thanks and hit the road for some sightseeing...taking in the old parts of town and some of it is absolutely beautiful, while other parts have been left for ruin…a strange mixture…stop by a few pottery shops and as expected begin purchasing…I should not be spending more money on pottery but it all speaks to me and it says…BUY ME>>>BUY ME>>>>USE ME>>>>I WILL BRING YOU HAPPINESS….and hence it is done…but some here and buy some there…head back and take a short break and then to the onsen and off for coffee at the guy’s place who saved my stomach earlier in the day….have a decent coffee and then inquire as to a good place to get a few drinks and some good food…he suggests a friend’s place that is not far away and I am in…I bike to HARUKA and am overjoyed, not only by the delicious food but by the wonderfully delicious selection of Shochu…the owner and I hit it off and he gives me a few freebies…I have drunk way too much and make my way back to the car…drink lots of water and pass out….

5th

I wake up at the michi-no-eki after a good night of sleep and get some long overdue work done…go check out the market and restaurants and am pleasantly surprised…the restaurants are great…600 yen lunch set that is perfect…all-you-eat tofu and mackerel with veggies, soup and rice…hmmm….also a ham store next door has some wonderful cured hams for half-price and the shops are full of goodies…I notice that I am walking almost without any limp…yes indeed I am on my way back to normal and that is indeed a JOY!!!
I buy little and decide to get on the road to Hagi in Yamaguchi…a not so beautiful drive through Kita-kyushu and Shimonoseki areas and then get out along the coast and beautiful cobalt blue waters and sunshine greet me…the ride is a nice one but I am extremely sleepy and decide to call it a day at a place called Doi-ga-hama...there seems to be an interesting anthropology museum here and will check that out tomorrow morning before I hit the road the pottery town of Hagi…have a nice dinner and find some vending machines from which to borrow some power…listen to some music and do some work…really need to get that done…

4th

It is tie to split up and go our own ways…we get up and have a nice breakfast of leftover soup…Ryo tidies up and gets himself packed and ready for the road…I will miss him…it was but a short time but it was fun and it was natural…we make good travel mates…I wish he would have come earlier and we could have explored more together…but there is always the future and I am sure we will be seeing more of each other…we say goodbyes and take cares and he rides off down the road with a heavy backpack and some uncertainty I am sure but nonetheless with that great open mind and open attitude that makes Ryo who he is…I truly wish the best for him…I head back to the car and do some blog writing, take a nap and decide to get on the road…it is time to get going and get out of Kyushu…there are a million things that need to be done and I am not getting much done here…I look over the maps and the weather reports and decide to take the Japan Sea route rather than the Inland Sea route…that is just a serious of big cities from here to home and that is not my style…I want to go to Hagi and to Izumo...the weather report looks favorable and that route is sure to be more interesting…takeoff and get on the expressway to get through the Oita - Beppu Sunday scene... I am sure it would be utterly maddening trying to drive though those cities….it was a good choice and end up pulling into a michi-no-eki in Buzen in early evening…have some good food for dinner but am not at all hungry and after writing some blog entries hit the bed…

3rd

We get up and head off to another free onsen up the hill…a few old men in a very hot onsen…wow…what a way to wake up…we hang a bit and soak and then decide to move on…I stop off an buy some gifts to send out to people here and there…realize I have no cash and need to borrow some from Ryo…we take care of that and head back to get his motorbike and get ourselves on the road to Usuki…a place famous for its Stone Buddhist carvings in walls of hillsides outside of town…I had been here 24 years ago when I was traveling with my buddy Joe…it impressed me then and it impressed me again…although this time around everything had been cleaned up and repaired and roofed…major changes had been undertaken in order to help preserve the statues from decaying any more than they already had…even the head of the main statue had been replaced to its original position…I sort of liked it detached and laying on the ground in front of the Buddha...although I must admit that the face did seem to be smiling more now than it was 24 years ago when it was detached. We had a good time walking about and then headed into to a nearby park for a nap and much to our pleasant surprise there is electricity to be had….don’t know why but we are both exhausted…wake up and decide to head into town and do some shopping for some dinner goodies…we have decided in Nabe because we bought a big head of Hakusai or Chinese Cabbage and some leeks or Negi as well as some Konyaku....so we get some tofu, some ground fish balls, and some oysters…hmmm…but before we head back for dinner we decide to check out downtown Usuki and are blown away by its beauty and atmosphere…what a great town…the lighting throughout greatly adds to the ambience as does the architecture…there look to be more than a few shops that I would like to spend a night in drinking and eating at….and we just bough stuff for dinner…after walking about town and stopping for a coffee and beer…coffee for me…beer for Ryo…we decide it is our last night together…we may as well head back and enjoy a nabe and a few drinks and talk with each other before saying goodbye…and we head out back to the park...electricity abounds!!!

FEB 2nd

We awake and Ryo is still energetic from the night before…maybe just still drunk…I am feeling pretty awful but trying my best to keep it under control…Ryo heads out to buy some bread, juice and yogurt…I start making breakfast and we figure out today’s plan…first is a bath…we head to one of the free ones and it is perfect as a morning bath…then we head to the grocery store for some goodies to make lunch with…snow is falling again outside but this time we are traveling by car…after a fantastic pasta and pizza lunch we both take a nap…out like a light…then we decide to do some more sightseeing and go to where they cure bath salts from the onsen in some huts…there we meet a young girl who was born in America but chose Japanese citizenship and now lives here…she is with two Polish travelers who she met in the station earlier in the day and whom she has decided she will take care of…she is incredibly opinionated and pushy…I feel incredibly sorry for them…but it is only for a day and night so…I drive then back down the hill to a bus stop and Ryo and I head off to Hyotan-no-yu onsen for a multitude of baths….a sand bath to start….and from there it just got better...we spend a few hours there and then it is dinner time…we have had a rough day today…eating sleeping and talking baths all day….so we go to a seafood restaurant for some of the local specials which includes freshly killed sashimi…so the fish id still moving on the plate while you eat the meat that has been sliced and sits around its body…it was delicious…a great place but the service was next to awful...we are full and head back to our spot along the harbor and fill up the water tank and empty the waste water tanks…hang out a bit talking and then it is time for bed….a rough day it has been…

FEB 1st

February has arrived already…the trip is coming to a close…I need to get back and figure a lot of stuff out before the new school year begins in April and I need to get back to the states and see my family as well…Martin, one of the teachers at my school called yesterday to inform me that he was going to be leaving at the end of March….meaning I need to find a new teacher…ugh…anyway morning arrives and we are graciously served a nice breakfast and then we decide to hot the road and head to Beppu…we take the car and his bike so we can get around in the town more easily on his bike…we plan to meet up with Greg and Asako for a party at some 50’s / 60's music dance club…we head into town and meet at the station…ask the police if there is anywhere around where we can park for free and get some good advice…as we are getting in the car we get some more advice on some potential parking from some taxi drivers…after checking a few spots we find a place that is centrally located and is not only free but has a toilet nearby and a water supply…but no electricity!!! Oh well…it is better than paying…we head off by motorbike to tour the “hells” of Beppu and find some onsens to check out…Beppu has an incredible amount of hot springs…a few thousand…some free, some dirt cheap...all different...also some sand baths…the place is a thermal hot spot….unfortunately today it is cold and windy and believe it or not snowy….two on a bike helps warm it up but not quite enough…it is freezing!! We do the tour and have fun checking everything out…my ankle is not great but I am managing…after we head back to the car and thaw out a little before walking into town and to a wonderful old bath house called Takegawara onsen….conveniently located just down the street from the club we are to meet everyone at for the party…Takegawara is quite hot but we manage to get in and get clean as well as relax…then off to the party at the “Hit Parade Club”…all you can eat and drink for 2,500 yen…live music and dancers as well as karaoke in your own room…we head in and head to the room being rented by the teachers from Asako’s school…Ristumeikan Asia Pacific Univ (APU). We walk in to a room full of unfamiliar faces and introduce ourselves…and are told that Greg and Asako are not coming…OH!! Well we have paid the money so we may as well eat drink and be merry…and so we do…without any sense of embarrassment or shyness…soon we are talking with everyone and making friends…Ryo seems to be enjoying the scene as well…we drink and eat and drink and eat…much more than I should be doing….the shows that the performers put on are excellent…and the cast of regulars who know all the dance steps and moves are a blast to watch as well…tons of kids in the audience…a real family attraction…the cast from APU take off and Ryo and I stay and drink more and watch a few more shows…we stay until it ends…there is no use paying any money anywhere else and at least here is warm…needless to say we are quite happy by the time we leave and my foot is in NO pain as we walk back….in the car I get out my sax and we continue making merry…heading down to the pier for a night performance of kelton playing his heart….I am sure the people staying in the hotels nearby may have not been so happy but we were having a blast….about 2:00 am our heads were finally on the pillows and we were both fast asleep….a long long day for the both of us…

31st

Wake up and check out the michi-no-eki offerings….a great gift shop…local people making and selling wonderful stuff and very reasonable prices…I buy a bunch and have a wonderful lunch at the restaurant and then go for a walk to see the nearby waterfall…quite beautiful area and very serene and peaceful….then back for some gelato and sit and wait for a message from my buddy Ryo who is on his way this way and we are to meet up tonight in Oita sometime…I am also planning to meet up with some former colleagues from Shinshu Univ who now live and teach down in Oita…so it should be fun just not sure of the timing yet…Ryo is coming on Motorbike from Shimnoseki…I met him in Ogasawara and he is now on his way to Okinawa... we thought it would be fun to get together again and enjoy some time in another place together…making merry and enjoying life…he calls and wakes me up to say he will soon be in Oita…WOW…I need to get moving and need to get in touch with Greg and Asako about getting to their house etc…I make a break fro it and fly towards Oita down narrow country roads…we make plans to meet at a convenience store and I arrive about 30 minutes after Ryo…we meet up and hang out a bit…then head off to the area where Greg and Asako live…they get back from work and we all meet up and head out for Chinese food and a wonderful hot spring bath up in the mountains called saru-no-yu…absolutely splendid…what is not splendid is my foot…the ankle is without doubt about to suffer a second gout attack in the same place…tomorrow I need to start taking those steroids again and painkillers to see if I can at least walk and enjoy my time here with Ryo….Greg and Asako are kind enough to give us a warm room and some warm futons for the night…ahhh…bedtime….in a house…a warm house…futons…ahhh….

30th

5:30 comes early and it is still quite dark…I get myself bundled up to go outside and frost covers the ground….I slowly walk to the spot where I think some good photos can be taken and within minutes my hands are freezing, my feet numb…it slowly gets brighter, but in the meantime my camera is getting covered in frost as is the lens…my fingers can hardly move…e few other brave or crazy souls show up, one a TV crew, the sun finally begins to shine over the valley below and the clouds of mist that make this place a mysterious spot…godly legends abound from here…I take a lot of photos and walk around a bit…back to the car and try to warm up…it is not easy….not easy at all…I have not been this cold in a long long time! Go back to the michi-no-eki and get some food and then hit the road for what turns out to be a wonderful and beautiful drive around the base of Mt Aso. It is a spectacular area…the brown grasses flowing in the wind and the sharp bends in the roads remind of places in the western US more than somewhere in Japan…I run down the road and stop off at a michi-no-eki hoping for electricity but none to be found…take a great nap and then head to the laundry mat I had passed on the way and get some grub and do some wash…then head to different michi-no-eki and there we find what we need...electricity…without it I have no heat…the fact that the generator is dead and the battery I had bought recently had been completely wiped of energy…I need to find an outside source and I need to get this battery recharged…but never have enough time….it must be done in secret at night and I must pull the plug before I sleep…not easy….anyway I get a great night’s rest…problem is my ankle is not getting better…in　fact it seems to be hurting more and more…the long walk and cold bike ride coupled with little to no sleep and the cold morning was probably not good for it….

29th

Get up for a day of adventure…a wonderful friendly lady at the info center here at the michi-no-eki has a ton of great info and maps in Japanese and English…we plan out my day together and I take off…first to check out the sunrise spot and then to the gorge area for a hike and a lovely walk…once again over doing it I am sure... then to one of the important shrines that is the scenes for one of Japanese myths...this area is the scene for many of them…a very deep and spiritual area…and it has that feeling….off for an afternoon bath and a nap and then back to the michi-no-eki and for a bike ride down the hill into town for the Kagura Dance performance which is performed from 8:00-9:00 every night 365 days a year…a wonderful hall that at times is packed to the brim with tourists…the narrator says some nights they must do two or three performances in order that everyone can have a chance to see it…this night there are a total of 7 people and the hall is very very cold…nonetheless the performance is excellent…the dancing and music…well worth the trip in the freezing cold and the 500 yen it costs…the REAL Kagura is performed mostly in weekends from NOV to FEB at various places throughout the village…it starts in evening and runs through the night until the morning for 33 nights during the period…I had just missed one on the 27th…the last one is the 10th and I can’t wait until then...back on the bike and stop off at a liquor store to pick up some local shochu for presents, also have a bite to eat at a local café that more than anything looks warm…it is really cold! I head back and then pack up and head to the hills so that I can wake up and take photos of the sunrise...it is freezing cold…but I am sure I found an outlet up at the top of the hill I can borrow…get to the top and someone is in the building where I want to use the outlet….I wait and wait and wait...finally around 12:00 they leave and head down into valley to their warm homes…I hook up and warm up the car….but need to get to sleep if I expect to get up at 5:30….hmmm…pull the plug and go to bed…

28th

Hyuga market is fantastic...cakes, sweets, rice, sushi, fish, chicken everything and anything…hmmm…after a nice breakfast hit the road…drive for a while and stop at the JUSCO for some shopping and some INTERNET…do some blogging and head to the mountains... beautiful scenery the entire trip from Nobeoka to Takachiho…stop off at the michi-no-eki in Seiun no hashi and take a nap…then finish off the trip pulling into the michi-no-eki in Takachiho…a great toilet and electricity for the taking….happy and warm!

27th

Get up and head to Miyazaki city….secretly recharge the battery in a parking lot using the vending machine outlet…get it back to normal I think…I recharge myself by taking a three hour nap and think I may be on my way to normal as well…take a walk arounf the Haniwa niwa which is a wonderfully delightful garden full of replicas of haniwa figures that had been discovered all over Japan…then for a bath at a place along the highway and down the road to a michi-no-eki in HYUGA…make a simple pasta dinner and get an early night…seems I should have waited on the bath cuz the one here right next to the michi-no-eki seems great!!
Oh well…I had my bath and it was good at that moment…comparisons may not always be good... but for next time I have new info to make the decision making more informed….

26th

Up for bike ride down the coast…biking is much, much easier than walking these days…and to the island of Aoshima…the afternoon brings some rain and a splendid lunch…way too much food again but it was all made with love and all so delicious and all so cheap…a big set with all you can eat rice and soup for only 700 yen…it was a feast…I had difficulty eating it and could not imagine having seconds on the rice or the soup…the guy sitting down form me had seconds on both…he was about two times my size…he comes here often I think! Down at the beach area I meet some local folks, surfers and have a nice night talking wioth them…they come back later to check out the car and we hang out…which meant little to no sleep…and no battery either ?! Seems I had left heater on when I went out in the morning…so we all hang out with candles and lanterns aglow enjoying the feeling of camp.

25th

Get up after filling the water tank at night and head down to the wonderful Miyazaki coastline to Nichinan Kaigan…stop off for a bite to eat and after talking with the two ladies there I am convinced that I should bike down the coast to the famous Shrine “Udo Jingu”…a nice ride and then a short hike up over the hill or so I thought…it was not so short…and it was all up and down stairs…not at all good for the ankle…I began hobbling again in a very short time and at times was in such pain that I was about to give up…but persevered as one does when they have come this far…it was a spectacular place and one that I was gald to have gone to, only if I had taken the easy walking route that I took on the way back…back on the bike and back to see my lady friends talking with old ladies, I decide to break out the wonderful cake that the Nakamuras had brought for me and share it with the ladies…that brings smiles and coffee and we enjoy chatting about traveling and the car..they want to get a tour of the inside and so we check it out…big smiles and waves of goodbye and good luck…I pull into Aoshima and find a park near the station and an absolutely great supermarket nearby…this shall be home for a day or two I decide and it is time for dinner and time to rest the ankle…

24th

Get up head to the airport to meet up with the Nakamuras and Yumi…all former students at SLS...Yumi now lives in Kagoshima and the Nakamuras live in Yokohama…it is always nice to see familiar faces…especially in new places…somehow the faces look new as well…places seem to change faces and that seems to change relationships…that is why I am so happy when people from the past come and join me in the present….first stop is an old train station that has been kept as was…a charming small station with a feeling that will never disappear until they tear away the last piece of worn wood…we go for lunch, (actually we go many places for lunch but they are all closed) and have some fantastic ice cream and yogurt…somewhere along the line we crossed over into Miyazaki Pref…difficult to tell really…we drove to another gift shop type place that had a strange corner of goods that had the same phrase written all over them…it was ありがとうございますor “thank you”…turns out to be some small religious type cult…very interesting but definitely not worth the money being asked…then off to see and as usual buy some pottery at Ryumonji pottery, then to the shrine I had gone to a few days before, and for snacks at Tre Grappoli (the Italian place that I fell in love with after my doctor visit)…we say our goodbyes and I head out of town to a michi-no-eki in Sakatani…It was great seeing everyone and having a day with friends. THANKS!

23rd

Rain, rain and more rain assure that I won’t be doing too much today! I check out and back down the road to the michi-no-eki… do some more translation work and write blog entries….take an afternoon nap...decide it is time to clean up and get the place looking presentable for my guests tomorrow… as night falls I head up to the abandoned and lonely electrical outlet by the building and snag some electricity…it is not quite the same as Sakura-Sakura but I like it…oh yes I like it a lot...I think more than anything I enjoy the randomness of it all... nothing fixed…nothing decided…each day full of choices and decisions to be made and none of them are really wrong…some maybe better than others but it all works out…and I am always relatively happy…the lack of great expectations may also have an important bearing on that feeling…expect less and get more…hmmm…

22nd

Wake up to a beautiful morning and decide it is time for a drive up to the mountains of Kirishima and maybe over to the Ebino area…there are some beautiful lakes and scenic vistas there to enjoy…and with the snowfall it is probably even more beautiful…I even put on the hiking boots and get ready for a hike, but the ankle is just not having it yet…I change back into sneakers and just walk about in the parking lots and nearby…still it is quite beautiful and I am glad I got out and about…take a break out in the countryside and fix my flat bike tire…ride around a bit and as the ankle is feeling better I go for an extended walk…head back into the lodge and then for a bike ride to the local shrine…a huge place with great mystic atmosphere…the ancient trees towering and the ever present moss growing in a million varieties and shades of green surely contribute to that…there are spirits and energy here…ahh…but it is back to work and to bathe and to eat too much and to sleep and to watch TV and to realize that I did way too much today and that my ankle is none to happy….when will I learn?…will I ever learn?

21st

Wake up and continue the search for a good place to stay for a few days to relax and get some work done…decide to check out the Tourist Info Center and as I am about to walk in an elderly Japanese man selling broiled and steamed sweet potatoes stops me to comment about my lovely car…the talk turns into tea and more talk…his dream is to have a camper and travel around Japan…for now he is renovating his kei-truck and has been a few places already…plans to make a big trip in a few years after selling some more potatoes…I see my future in his eyes! I ask about lodging and get similar answers to what I have already searched…decide to get some food and check into Sakura-Sakura…do some work, have a wonderful bath…all to myself…and a huge dinner…one which I eat but one which I know is probably not good for gout…maybe staying at a Japanese hotel like this with breakfast and dinner was not such a good idea….they serve way too much food...but it is nice to be in a big bed, in a warm room and strangely nice to watch TV…

20th

I call Doctor Sato and the lady on the other end seems kind enough...says I need to get there before 12:30 as that is when they stop seeing patients on a Saturday…yes I know it is Saturday…as usual I was awoken by hordes…hundreds and hundreds of young jr high soccer players at before 8:00 this morning…there can’t be that many kids on this island….I get ready and take off to Kirishima…arriving about 11:45 I check in and the ladies are wonderful…all happy and smiling and very complimentary of my Japanese…all of the old people sitting around give me lots of stares, but I am used to that…my name is called and the doctor listens to my saga…and the first thing he says is….well you need a shot of steroids and that should get you back on your way…also I will give you a one-a-day prescription if some steroids that will last you a week and some painkillers and stomach medicine as well as some new patches that have painkiller in them….that should fix you up....yes yes yes !!! and then he notices I have no National Health Insurance card with me and I will have to pay 100%...he says he trusts me and that he will ask for only 30% as long as I send him the card number sometime in the near future….he is full of smiles and extremely kind…I am feeling better already!!!! I go out of the office with a new confidence and head own the road looking for some lunch and a new car battery to use as a sub battery…it is time…it is over time…I have been suffering with this battery since we left…thinking a million times I need ti change it…I must change it but am still suffering with its fickleness…I go to a car shop and do that first and get a can of oil as well…then head for one of the best Italian lunches I have had in a long long time….i spectacular place near the Kagoshima airport…Tre Grappoli…a wine list to die for...and out of this world coffees. I am so happy I could dance out the door…maybe I did….the girls were giggling as I left…I head to the mountains and the hot springs of Kirishima…a beautiful drive up the michi-no-eki at the top of the hill with an awesome view of the bay and Sakurajima in the distance…I even find an outlet and decide to hang here….a beautiful sunset inspires better thoughts and I feel a turnaround coming…head out for an onsen at Sakura Sakura Onsen、a place famous for its mud baths…have a nice bath there and also have wonderful little dinner…hmmm…maybe I should stay here for a few nights and get some work done…it is defiantly a thought to entertain...ask about prices and availability and head back to the car…hmmm I should stay somewhere for a few nights and fully recover…yes indeed…if I get work done the money will more than enough cover the expenses…I go to sleep knowing that from the next day I will be living it up in style somewhere….

19th

Get up and am feeling a little better…except I) notice that my bike tire is flat and spend some time trying to see if this a simple one or not…think it is the valve which has been broken but only leaked slowly before…fill it up again and see what happens…head down the road into Sakurajima and walk about looking at the lava fields…my ankle is not allowing much mobility again and I am not happy…why is this taking so long! Why am I in so much pain!!!I decide the best I can do is to do my laundry and clean up the car…head back to a Laundromat I saw on th way and do what I can….find some electricity there as well and a decent net connection…it is always nice to get clean clothes and cleaning the car also helps the spirit…I head back toward town and scope out a few prospects for parking spots for the night…the michi-no-eki does not seem very accommodating although they have a great restaurant…the curry and rice was huge and excellent!! I head to the sports park and find a wonderful spot with clean toilet and great view of the volcano…this is it….I do next to nothing….my ankle is not well and just going shopping at the local supermarket proves difficult and extremely painful…I need to get to a doctor in the know…and soon…I check the net a little and notice one in Kirishima…Sato Clinic….he is a member of the GOUT Research Group and the last of the three listed for Kagoshima Pref…maybe I will try him tomorrow…it is a long drive but I wanted to go in that direction eventually…may as well go a bit early and see what happens….

18th

We drive to the Kagoshima Chuo Station and send Nori off…I am alone again…it was nice to have a companion on the road again, not the best of times for fun and activity due to my ankle but it was nice to have someone to chat with and laugh with…it is rare that I laugh when I am alone…even smile….I guess we need another around todo those things and those are things I like to do…smile and laugh…so I thank Nori for the smiles and the laughs and apologize for the tears of self pity….may we hook up again sometime when I am more energetic and fun to be with…I take off toward Sakurajima…get out of town and get to place where I can relax... I notice there is a michi-no-eki with an onsen on the way and it seems like a good place to hang for the day…drive around the bay and arrive at a beautiful place looking across to the volcano Sakurajima…take a bath and go for dinner at the restaurant there…I chose the daily special and absolutely fantastic…for 700 yen…a superb aji-fry teishioku…superb…some of the best deep fried aji I have ever had….seriously…I am completely satisfied and head back to the car…splendid…but the Internet reception is not so good and no electricity…a boring night alone…

17th

Morning comes but both of us are exhausted and we take it slow…I decide we need a change of scenery and we head towards the mountains outside of Kagoshima….looking for a place with electricity…we find our michi-n o\-eki and sure enough we can get some power there….Nori is tired and takes a nap, I do some work…he has a sore throat and may be coming down with a cold…we get some dinner and just sit around talking and listening to music…electricity is nice! He decides he should be heading back to Nagasaki tomorrow which means we need to get him to the station to catch a train and then an bus…it is a long trip back…we get an early night's sleep…but I can’t sleep well all night…between going to the toilet and my ankle in pain!!

16th

I get up and search the Net for the other doctor who is a member of the group and head off by taxi…I am greeted by a wonderful hospital that seems like it may be the place…modern and friendly…wait for a while and am called in…I explain the situation and suggest that the doctor give me a shot of steroids that help to ease the pain and speed the cure…I have had one before and it worked wonders…he disagrees and offers me some painkillers in suppository form so as to save my stomach…hmmm…that is all…yes that should do the trick he supposes….I wish he were the expert doctor and not just one of the young ones...what can I say…I take the prescription and head to the pharmacy across the street…I am handed a questionnaire that has been translated by some moron into English that is not in the least part understandable… I tell the young lady that I will edit and change the entire form…so as I wait I rewrite their questionnaire much to their delight…the young woman who sits with speaks quite good English but this was horrible…I wish they would give me the medicine for free but no going!! I get a taxi back to the car and we decide it is time for a change of scene and we head down the coast line in search of a michi-no-eki with an onsen…cuz I need a bath!!! We find just the place and it has a supermarket next door as well as another more quiet parking area just down the road…we head for a bath and then have dinner there as well…pick up a few snacks and call it a day…

15th

It is Monday and we get up and head to the Post Office…I need to get some money form my account… and then by the shrine again...Nori wants to pick up an amulet...Then it is off to the mountains and to an absolutely wonderful spot…Shiratani…only if I could walk….I stay in the car and Nori goes off for a two hour hike…he comes back refreshed and tired…I took a nap and several trips to the toilet…we head back down the valley and off to the carver’s workshop…she is happy to see me and I am happy to see her as well…I buy the carving and we exchange contacts…she offers that I am always welcome anytime and to please come back when I am feeling better…it is agreed…we put some gas in the car and do some other things before heading to the ferry port…stopping off at a convenience shop to get some stuff…while Nori is shopping I decide to pull the car around and slam into some rocks with the front bumper of the brand new renter…ah shit! We head off to the rent-a car office and then a short stop off to get an estimate for repairs, then off to the ferry and goodbyes...
It was a whirlwind tour and one that was made incredibly miserable by my health problems…I am very sorry for Nori and try to apologize…again that turns to tears….I am in a bad way and need to get to a doctor that can help….as soon as possible. We arrive back and head out for a nice dinner...praying that I can keep it down…It is nice to be back in the car…my home!!

14th

Today we head to the Yaku-sugi Info Center and I am having a lot of trouble…it is not fun anymore,,,not at all…I need to sit down and my stomach has turned itself inside out…there is nothing but intestinal fluids coming out anymore and the strange smell of that alone is alarming…but we must go see one of the famous trees that is accessible from the road and so we drive to Yayoi Sugi…a 3000 year old tree that speaks the truth…we spend some time there and it is indeed relaxing and comforting to be in such company…after that we head around and stop off at a small wood carvers shop…a wonderful lady is there to greet us and I buy a necklace and a small statue of a JIzo figure…he has a wonderful smile and I am sure he will look after me…I really want a larger statue that she has but don’t have the cash and tell her that if time permits I shall return the next day with some cash and purchase the lovely statue…she has an impressive aura and I have a feeling we will meet again...not just tomorrow…we head off into town and stop off at the main Shrine in town…Nori wants to visit there and make his New Year’s prayers there…it is a small but quite interesting shrine….a powerful feeling lingers around it….we head off to another house even cheaper than the last…only 2,000 yen per person….it is a nice and quiet place…and if I had felt better I am quite sure that the owner and I would have drunk the night away talking….none of that this time…I tried to sleep but ended up going to the toilet at least 12 times during the night….there is nothing left inside of me…where does it come from?

13th

We head to the port and the rent-a-car lady finally shows up…I was getting a bit worried…we get on the ferry and are off like lightening to Yakushima…an island of the gods, known for its intense spiritual nature and incredible forestｓ of Yaku-sugi...it is a World Heritage Site and is a place I have always wanted to go….unfortunately to truly enjoy you need to hike hours in the mountains…and I am not sure that is going to happen this time around…health! We arrive and I am in a lot of pain…it is getting stiffer and stiffer as the swelling continues to build…I need to get to the hospital more than anything…I get a call from the rent-a-car lady…I forgot to fill up the tank before handing the car back and she had to fill it up…she would like me to pay her back…of course, but how? After much conversation with the ladies at the Cosmos Ferry Line we make a plan where one of t he employees will take the money in an envelope and meet the lady at the port in Tanegashima…this takes over and hours to get together and countless phone calls here and there…the regular hospital hours are over and once again I will no doubt have to face an ignorant doctor about my condition…we rent a car from the same company as on Tanegashima and the young woman is kind enough to　drop me off at the hospital first before dealing with the paperwork. I wait for about an hour before I see an young lady doctor who has just arrived in Yakushima herself and is totally clueless about what I need…moreover they don’t stock most of the medicines I ask about…finally we decide on some pain killers and some stomach medicine for my ailing stomach and I am out of there…
I have my doubts about this helping at all but we should forget that for the moment and enjoy our time...we drive around the island and take in some wonderful sights here and there…deer and monkeys here and there, lovely waterfalls, untouched nature…I want to get out and walk, to run, to explore but am mostly refined to the car…we end up driving around most of the island and spend the night at a lovely house which again we have all to ourselves…we get some food at a local restaurant and settle in…I will get better…I will get better!!!

12th

Wake up to a large Japanese breakfast and hit the road…just around the corner is a beautiful beach at which we take some time to hang and run into a bunch of elementary school kids who don’ｔ seem to realize it is January…they are in the ocean jumping around as if it were summer…their teacher looks on with a great smile…lovely kids who yell goodbye form the bus as they leave…big smiles everywhere…we head to the Space Center and tour around…we just missed the bus tour and the next one is not until afternoon, so we check out the Center and its exhibits about space and the Japanese space program…then head around and drive to a few more sites here and there, some more great beaches and then back to the main port area…book into a business type hotel that was cheap and nearby the port so we can get going in the morning…we order out for pizza and much to my pleasant surprise what arrives is an absolutely delicious pizza that was not only cheap but arrived in less than 20 minutes after calling piping hot….ahhh…heaven…I am out of medicine…I took it all and unfortunately despite a few good moments here and there I am not better.. Nori says I should take it easy and stop walking so much…I know he is right but I want to see places...I want to get out of t he car and walk about….explore…that is what I enjoy…he insists it is OK with him…not to worry about making sure he is enjoying the trip but to concentrate on getting better…hmmm…easier said than done!

11th

We get up and finish packing for the journey…we will spend at least 4 nights away and if I feel better maybe even more…we walk to the ferry slowly and casually...we get inside and look around at the schedule…hmmm…this ain’t right….hmmm…we are in the wrong building…we want the express hydrofoil line and that is at the port down the road a bit…we need to make it on time and we start walking…this ain’t easy for the cripple with a heavy backpack…Nori suggests a taxi.,.the meathead refuses and persists on walking to the next place…it was not as close as it looked…I am in a lot of pain but try to hide it…we get on the express and are off…it is an incredible ride,,,flying on top of the water…again we are there before we know it…the landscape has changed and it is semi-tropical…warm…ahhh!! We get some info at the info center and rent a car fro ma sweet old lady, book a night at an inn near the Space Center , where the beaches are supposed to be gorgeous…and we are off for a picnic lunch and a scenic ride along the coast…this place must be magical in warmer weather!! We take our time here and there and before you know it…it is check in time and we are late…I have been chugging this medicine and it just doesn’t seem to be helping…this is not a good sign…we arrive and have a bath and a wonderful home cooked dinner…we are the only guests in a rather large inn…the old lady is quite excited about having a foreigner and more than that a foreigner who speaks Japanese…we have wonderful night’s sleep in a totally peaceful place…tomorrow will be better!!

10th

We arrive in Kagoshima after a nice drive and head to the ferry ports, of which there are quite a few…a bit confusing really….and no free parking anywhere to be found…pull in to one and get some info…then head for one of the only parking lots that I can get into…one that has no awning over the ticket machine…we settle in and I talk with the attendant about places to go...we head to a nearby shopping / restaurant area and grab some lunch…then head back to the car a try to decide a course for out trip to Tanegashima and Yakushima…taking the camper is out of the question…they want a fortune to hall it over, so we will leave it in parking and rent a car there…I am irritable and tell Nori it is probably best that he head downtown to the major shopping area and I get some rest…I think he is glad to get away from me and I try to forget the pain…but it is not going away…I decide I MUST go to the hospital and seek some attention…I NEED to get better so that I can enjoy myself on the islands…I check out on the NET to find a doctor who is a member of the same GOUT RESEARCH GROUP that my doctor in Nagano is a member or and luckily there are two in Kagoshima City..problem, is that we are passed regular hours and who knows what kind of doctor will be there on night duty…I call the largest one anyway and get directions…I take off, giving Nori a call,…pull the big boat up to the curb in front of the hospital and head to the night entrence…I can’t find my National Health Insurance Card, which means I will have to pay cash and pay the entire fee… needless to say I just want the medicine and nothing else…the young doctor on duty is agreeable and gives me what I ask for…he knows little about gout and nothing about the medicines I am talking about…he gives me a prescription as he looks through his book...I pay the fee and am out of there…I have my Naixian....it is a NSAID pain killer and the usual dose is one after very meal..with the plan that has worked in the past to zap a gout attack I take three of them every three hours…it reeks havoc on one’s stomach but seems to work…I meet up with Nori and we head for an onsen at a local spot within walking or, in my case hobbling, distance. It is refreshing if nothing else…we get some convenience store food and head back to the car….tomorrow we want to head out to Tanegashima in the morning and we need to get ready…I take my medicine and pray that I will be better tomorrow…

9th

Wake up to sunshine and put the car on the ferry for the short trip over to Kagoshima Pref. the ride was over before we knew it…drove down the beautiful coastline to a michi0-no-eki at Akune for some more great lunch…more wonderful seafood. Then further down the road…stop off for the night and make some dinner after doing some shopping…a nice dinner if Blue Cheese spaghetti and garlic bread but too salty and strong for Nori…probably for me too..I tried some other medicine today but no luck…the pain is getting worse and it is getting more and more difficult to walk….this is definitely a gout attack…and not a simple one…problem is that I don’t have the medicine I usually take at this stage to get rid of it before it gets full blown…I am irritable and end up crying...I am feeling sorry for myself and for putting a friend through this mess…we decide we both need sleep...tomorrow we will head into Kagoshima city and will need energy to get around…not sure where to park etc…
and with me being practically immobile I am not looking forward to the city.

8th

We get up to cloudy weather and have a bite to eat and then head off to find what we can find…we head down around the coast and stop off at Ooe to see a church and go through a museum about Christian life in the area especially during the time when it was forbidden by the Shogunate in Tokyo. It was a lot more interesting than I thought it would be and turned out to be incredibly educational for both of us. Problem is my ankle is hurting more and more…is it a gout attack? We head down to the Ushibuka at the end of the peninsula and enjoy an absolutely wonderful seafood lunch!!! Fabulous little town…but I am having trouble walking…I decide I should take some medicine to see if I can stop it before it gets worse. We drive around a bit and go for a wonderful onsen outside of town... then head back to the wharf to get some rest…my stomach is not happy with the strong medicine…tomorrow is the ferry to Kagoshima Pref…

7th

The weather finally cleared and I went for a walk, took some photos and waited for contact form my friend Nori about what time he will come if he can come…the seas are a still a bit stormy…I clean up the car a bit more and do some shopping…the ferry will run in the evening and he will arrive around 6:00…we meet up and head down the road a bit and find a place to pull over for the night…my ankle is feeling a bit funny but don’t think much of it.

Jan 22nd an Explanation

I have had more than one person writing asking what is up…I am I still alive…yes indeed I am! But it has not been easy traveling recently…I have mentioned time and time again how the weather changes one’s perspective and changes the journey…well until the 8th of this month I had not experienced an even greater stronger force…a force that turns a journey on its head and colors everything one does…health is the key factor on the journey…until now I have enjoyed good health with a minor trouble here and there but nothing that changed my trip and the way I looked at it. That is until the 8th…a reoccurring trouble reared its ugly head in the form of a swollen and very painful left ankle…gout. The attack turned my plans upside down and turned what should have been some of the best days into some of the worst. I am in Kirishima taking a rest at a wonderful spa…getting some work done and recovering…it took trips to four hospitals and more painkiller of more kinds than I would like to recall…but today I am happy to report that it was sunny and I went for a hike and for a bike ride…I am getting back on track and am SO HAPPY to be on the way…I will go over the past few weeks in a quick and brief manner…everyday was filled with pain and regret…regret that was not enjoying some wonderful spots and that during most of the time it was not me alone that had to suffer…I felt terrible that a friend from Nagasaki had arrived on the very day that I felt maybe an attack was on the way and he endured my immobility with great kindness and graciousness…nonetheless I felt horrible that he had to a part of the whole scene. So lets take a few steps back and recount the past few weeks…

6th

Rainy and windy…a day to stay in and do some work...i am sure that will make some people happy somewhere, not necessarily me but…Having endless access to electricity and by virtue of that heat and music...work is going quite well…do wish the rain would stop though...be nice to get out and go for a run or do something. My big excitement for the day was the police stopping by to see who I was and what I was doing….they were duly impressed that I could take a year off and go traveling, in the end wishing me luck and saying I should try the local fish…never mentioning I should stop stealing electricity from the toilet…very well of them. It was a great moment when I opened the back door and he saw my non-Japanese face…he was stunned into a silent moment and I stepped in and started the conversation…he soon picked up that I was speaking Japanese and fro there everything went smooth…in my entire travel it was my first conversation with the cops which in itself is quite amazing considering the places I have parked and the things I have been doing…off to take a bath and it was another fine one with a great view and once again 300 yen…after which I went to the local super market not expecting t o find much but much to my great surprise I find a Laundromat and a supermarket chock full of bargains…the vegetables were incredibly cheap as was the meat and fish…and they had an amazing liquor store inside as well…I only took a look around and bought nothing…recently I have been spending too much cash and decided to cut back…I got my laundry done and went back to my spot on the hill to make an excellent pork and broccoli stir-fry and salad…strawberries and yogurt for dessert…now just have to ride out this wind and cold and hope we can wake up tomorrow in one piece…

5th

Spent a good part of the day at the michi-no-eki in Ariake…had an excellent seafood lunch…did some work and uploaded photos…I had picked up an unguarded Wi-Fi connection and enjoyed listening to NPR and watching the Daily Show as well as downloading some movies and music…decided to hit the road in the early evening and headed down the coast to and area called Tomioka…it is actually a small island off the coast where I thought there may be a good park to pull into and relax…the ocean is absolutely beautiful!　Pulled into a hill top parking area with extremely clean restrooms and free electricity…a wonderful view out over the ocean…a good place to hang and get some work done…now that it is the New Year I figure I should get going!! Made dinner and started in on some work…problem is I have not been feeling well for the past few days and it continued…some kind of stomach virus maybe…a bit of a fever and aching joints…decide to hot the sack early…take some Bufferin and pass out.

4th

Woke up with a terrible hangover…look out the window and the parking lot is packed full…there is another Keirin cycle race…not sure I can get out of the spot I am in…first need to get to the toilet and then clean up from the party last night…and see if I can put back together the electrical cord that got screwed up last night in a drunken move…but first things first…then back to clean up and get the tools out and am able to fix the cable that got pulled apart…good thing…it is nice to have electricity… and heat…and since the generator is broken and the guy in Kumamoto who we thought may have the part id not….I have no generator for some time…must search out free electrical outlets with more of a vengeance than before…decide to get out of there and move down the coast to the Amakusa area…but I ain’t getten out of this parking spot very easily…luckily a parking guy comes by on bike and helps me maneuver my way out of the tight spot…we chat for about 15 minutes and he is very impressed with my trip and the car and my Japanese...wishes me luck and shakes my hand…then on th way out I run into the other parking guy who told me about the onsen and he shakes my hand and waves goodbye as I pull away…as I pull out there I notice a huge line of cars waiting for a space…with me gone four more cars can get in and park!! Take the road and stop off at a michi-no-eki that was not yet on the map, but was indeed excellent...the clam soup lunch was out if this world!! And hit the spot for this hung-over aging man…buy some stuff in their excellent market including some mackerel sushi and some mustard lotus root (karashi-renkon) and some citrus…take a short rest and off to the next michi-no-eki which boasts of an outdoor spa with a view of the ocean…indeed…take a bath and it is another excellent one for 300 yen…a great view but too colc to stay outside very long…discover some free Wi-Fi and spend the night catching up on news and music and movies…the sushi is perfect! Not a complaint except that I still don’t fell very well…stomach feels strange and have some trouble sleeping again…

3rd

Wake up and go for a run…get myself back on track…after that a bath at the same place and a healthy lunch...get in touch with my buddy Takuya who is from Kumamoto but is a student at Shindai and a friend of Mitsuharu’s…we played soccer together and he came to my house to help clean up and get me ready before I took off on this trip…he is at home and we are planning to get together today…I head back to the same parking lot as before…it is near his house and his father and he walk over to the car…we take a taxi downtown to a Karaoke place that is on the top floor of a sort of restaurant court with Chinese and Italian on the floors below…you get your own private room for Karaoke and can order anything form the restaurants below…excellent food…really great…and lots of drinks…Takuya and his father are both excellent singers and sing a few…I decline being shy and being tone　deaf…I wish I could sing but I just have no confidence and the are both excellent !! We talk about music all night long…his father and him both are crazy about music so the conversation never tires…we have out fill and head back by taxi to the car and to a night long of drinking and music in my car…I try to introduce some new stuff and am very happy to get a CD from Takuya’s dad that he made of Takuya singing a song that his dad wrote…very well produced and Takuya sounded great…he is a natural and such a nice guy…hard to believe he is only 20…I look forward to being friends with the both of them for a long time to come…

2nd

I decide to get out of the parking lot and at the advice of one of the parking attendants go to an onsen area outside of Kumamoto called Kikuchi Onsen…it was a beautiful area and the onsens looked great but by the time I got there the hotels were no longer accepting non-guests for the baths…I head back towards Kumamoto to an area called Shisui, where there is a strange park dedicated to Confucius and some great cheap onsens…pull into the michi-no-eki….where there is water and a free supply of electricity…yeah! Get some food at te supermarket and go for a bath….absolutely excellent and only 300 yen…back to the car and for some reason my stomach Is not happy at all…very sharp pains and difficulty sleeping... not a good night…

January 1st 2007

A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE! If you did not get my NEW YEAR’S MESSAGE HERE IT IS:
I find myself sitting on a ferry from Shimabara in Nagasaki Pref to Kumamoto City in Kumamoto Pref…outside is sunny with just the right amount of haze to make the distant islands even more interesting. As we pulled away from the harbor there was a grand view of fthe volcanic mountain named Unzen. I spent my day yesterday there, walking around and feeling the power of our Earth…the power of both the destructive and creative forces…the power of regeneration and the birth of life in places that had lay barren for years and years.
I felt a similar power a few days earlier in Nagasaki. I was vividly reminded of the creative power of people to rebuild and give life back to an area which in an instant had been reduced to nothing but ashes and corpses by the human forces of destruction.
The year 2006 for me has been a year of movement and constant and clear daily change. My 15,000km journey around Japan has taken me to many places both physically, mentally and spiritually. The journey, like most, is at the same time both an outward one and an inward one. I have had plenty of time to search for new roads and new ways both on the real roads I have been traveling and on the mental roads in which I live. It has been a good year and words can hardly even begin to capture the feelings of thanks and appreciation I have for all of the people who have made my experience possible. I can simply say “Thank YOU”.
One common theme I find wherever I go, whatever I do, to whomever I talk is the feeling that each and every one of us needs a place to be ourselves...to become, to create, to make something of the time we have here on this wonderful planet. We all find ourselves in different conditions and different environments which offer varying chances and varying possibilities. Whatever those conditions each of us must try our best to make sure that we constantly and continually use all of our power to help create a world in which all others can feel free to be, to become…a world of co-operation and co-existence that fosters, inspires, and creates LOVE, PEACE and RESPECT.
May Each and Every One of YOU have a Healthy, Happy New Year
Keep on Moving
Keep on Changing

Much Love, Peace and Respect
Kelton
December 31st 2006
Kumamoto Japan

Kiyoshi is up early and out..he has family things to do…I stay in and upon getting up head down to the park again and see all of the people…have some nice lunch…but certainly am not feeling very energetic so it is back to the car for another sleep…Kiyoshi calls and wants to see if I want to go downtown for some coffee…we go out and walk around the quiet town…find a place for some great pizza and coffee…and end up talking the night away…

31st

Up and for a run around the track at the sports park where I am parked...another wonderful day…get some breakfast and head to the wharf just in time to catch the 11:00 ferry to Kumamoto…a short one hour ride…quite full with passengers…all of whom it seems wish to feed the poor fat seagulls during the entire one hour trip....it is sickening to watch so many people being so cruel in the name of human entertainment…not only kids who know no better, but parents, grandparents…no one seems to be thinking twice about the effect this mass feeding must be having in the birds….and the ferry company encourages it by saying that the human snacks they sell make great feed for the seagulls…of course it makes them a ton of money from selling the junk…I get angry and vent at one of the clerks who is selling the crap that is being fed to these beautiful creatures…she looks at me quite puzzled...I take some snapshots and tell her I will be contacting groups concerned with protecting nature and wildlife about this travesty…my whole trip is ruined by the unnatural swarming of the birds around the ship…HUMANS!! I pull into Kumamoto and start the search for a place to park…check out a few places that looked good on the maps but in reality were out of the question…end up on some steep narrow roads through some housing areas where more than a few heads turned as I climber the never ending slopes…that seemed to get more and more narrow as I climbed…this was out of the question…the next place was well…third choice looked good but couldn’t and open entrance to the parking lot…around and around and then finally there it was...the secret entrance to a huge open parking area…a few abandoned cars so I know it was OK…not far from town and very close to the famous Suizenji Park…a hub for New Year’ s activity…got myself situated and the went downtown by bike to get a bath and see what kind of New Year’s Eve was happening…I knew there were a few countdown parties here and there from the Net…the bath looked out on the city and a beautiful shot Kumamoto Caste all lit up for the festivities….went to bar and met some people…one student, Kiyoshi, who was interested in speaking English and I hit it off well…we chatted and chatted until we decided to head back to the Suizenji Park Area and closer to my car for the final countdown…lovely shrine there...people milling about, fires going to keep people warm…smell of sake everywhere…New Years in Japan…200y arrives and we head to my car for some more talking…he ends up sleeping over as he was in no shape to drive…

30th

Wake up and still the generator is making a strange noise…call my buddy Sugunuma at Dream Island for some advice and he says maybe need a part or two but that there is a guy in Kumamoto that has such things and probably can fix it…only trouble is that New Years is the big holiday season here and no one works…he promises to get back to me and I do what I have needed to do for quite some time…I put on my running shoes and some new sweats that I bought the day before and hit the track for a run and some stretching…feels so good…I wish I would have never stopped….need to get back into shape…another sunny, lovely day…and I should be getting up the mountain side to Unzen…get up there around lunch and take a look in the visitors center and a short walk around town…a quaint town with some excellent onsens..all 100 yen or so…the smell of sulfur pouring out of the ground in some places is overwhelming…you can feel the power and heat beneath you….some areas are now again green with vegetation after having been scorched too nothingness just about 10 years or so ago when it erupted...rebirth and regeneration…creative and destructive forces all wrapped into one…I stop off at a potter’s shop and end up spending an hour or so there talking with him and looking at his wonderful works of craft…the glazes he makes from the volcanic ash are incredible…and the works which are glazed in them are incredibly expensive…not this trip around…but maybe someday…amazing stuff…I end upi taking two pieces home and getting some advice as to where to go for a bath and for lunch….first I need to stop by the car and get some money as I just spent it all for his pottery….get some cash and head out on foot to the hotel he suggested…I arrive at the door and inquire about lunch…only to find that once again I am too late….it is 2:10...I must stop talking so much and start paying attention to time!! I decide to eat the crackers in the car and then walk to the onsen…a few kilos through a hillside pass…and I arrive at heaven…a sulfuric heaven…the smell is not quite heaven but the soothing feeling in the water is! Spend some time there and then try to remove the smell by washing several times….not sure it is going to work! It doesn’t….I smell like a sulfur pity as the sweat seeps in to my clothes on the hike back to the car…want to get down off the mountain before the roads begin to freeze and do…pulling into Shimabara, where I will catch the ferry to Kumamoto the next day…but first things first…food! I am starving…go the supermarket and but a bunch of goodies, head to the car and pig out….have a few drinks and pass out…

29th

Morning comes early as I remember the parking lot man said I should move the car by 8:30 or I would get charged again…I move down the road a bit and find a wonderful free place along the waterfront complete with water to fill up my near empty tank….I walk into town to the bakery I saw the day before and buy some wonderful looking and smelling breads…HMMMM…I can’t wait to get back to the car and have this in the sunshine with some coffee and juice….actually I couldn’t wait and ate two of then before getting back to the car…it is a beautiful day…finish off the rest in the car and then head back into town for another bath at the same place as the day before…Hama-no-yu…and sure enough he is there…the smiling gentleman fro the day before…and he is all smiles to see me again …from ear to ear…we nod to one another as nude men do in a bath….then I wash up and sit in the bath again..this time he comes closer and touches my left arm muscle…."you have big muscles” he says….that is the ice-breaker… I was sure it was going to be a comment about the cold weather...but no…the big muscles…I am always a bit unsure how to respond to that one….the weather one is much easier…this time the questions begin and continue. I ask a few myself…the standard ones about age, children, grandchildren, etc…he is 83…but in quite good health and looks strong as ever…I am sure he was much stronger than I when he was my age…I leave and he smiles as I shake his hand….the other elderly regulars look on a bit puzzled….then in it back to the bread shop for some more....the clerk smiles as I walk in again buying a bunch more for the road…stop off for some sushi at the supermarket…some of the best sushi I have ever had from a supermarket…fill up the water tank and hot the road as the sun begins to slowly fall into the ocean…a wonderful scene…one which I am sure I could appreciate more if my gas tank was not empty and not sight of a gas station…finally as I am beginning to sweat thinking about what would happen if I ran out of gas on this two lane road that is carved out between the mountain side and the ocean…what would happen…and up ahead there is a town….and a gas station or two or three…ahhhh….I wish I could go back and experience that beautiful sunset again with a full tank of gas…get a call from a friend who I made in Nagasaki and who lives nearby…he directs me to a local park where I can spend the night and then comes to visit and we drive back to Obama Onsen for a bath at another local place…a wonderful old place…nothing has changed there for a long long time….the bath has one light bulb hanging above it and the room is a cavernous wooden place with a high ceiling and a simple wall separating the men from the women…the water is fantastic...simply wonderful…all locals…only locals would be able to find this place and once again 150 yen…it is a cold cold night but the body is warm and warm can be….we head back through the mountains to my car and sit around chatting until around midnight…he has work in the morning and heads home…I pass out…I am a bit unhappy that my generator is not working….I tired turning it on and it emitted a strange sound like metal scraping against metal….not the kind of sound I wanted to hear…with no electricity it is hard to keep warm…I must switch on the engine and use the heater and power from the main battery through the inverter….ugh!