Microblog

Monday plan: Naoshima “art island” Inspired by a post at tofugu.com about staying in an “art site” with hotel rooms.

Out-of-Comfort-Zone Weekend, Part 2 : haircut, explained with gesticulations. Feared I’d get a Kim Jong-un bouffant.

Wrote about last night’s stay in a capsule hotel.

Home tonight. I’m top, first in row. Currently in yucata, street clothes in wash. Everybody minds their own business.

Saturday, currently on bullet train to Okayama. This weekend’s theme: outside of my comfort zone. Tonight, it’s a capsule hotel for $26.

At end of hike, removed boots, soaked feet in hot spring (so good), put on shoes, caught train at adjacent station.

Saturday plan: hike, then, late afternoon, “reposition” myself to Okayama, ready to explore islands south of Okayama.

View at the bottom of Mt. Yufu after the climb. My first hot spring selfie. (Solo hot spring, so OK to take photos.)

View at the top of Mt. Yufu (Kyushu) today, Friday.

Hiked all day on volcano Aso-san. Massive caldera. Air quality got iffy at its steaming crater: told to “evacuate.”

Thursday: early train from Kumamoto, hike on huge, live volcano (Aso-san–see map pin), then evening train to Oita.

History day #2: massive Kumamoto Castle, a reproduction. The last samuris largely destroyed the original in 1877.

Dejima artificial island, Nagasaki: from 1641–1859, Japan’s only link to Europe. That’s why I’m visiting Nagasaki.

Origami cranes, Nagasaki Peace Park.

Monday evening, Nagasaki downtown and harbor from the top of Mt. Inasa.

Today, Monday: Kagoshima to my next base, Nagasaki. I’ll take a bullet train, then an express train.