Musical Greeting on Arrival — Beppu Train Station, Kyushu. These two guys were playing in the train station lobby and had accumulated quite a crowd of onlookers. There were even chairs set up like at a theater. They were quite good.
Japanese hotel — Hotel, Beppu, Kyushu. We stayed in this simple Japanese style hotel where Matt sat working on editing our digital photos.
Fugu — Usuki Station, Kyushu. Usuki is known for its Fugu -- supposedly the best in the country. Fugu is blowfish. Apparently, fugu sashimi is a delicacy, made more interesting by the fact that slightly improper preparation of the meal can cause a painful death.
Fugu shop — Fugu restaurant, Beppu, Kyushu. While it looked inviting, we opted for a food group with a better chance of survival. After all, we had nearly been struck by lightning earlier in the trip and didn't need to push our luck.
Testing the waters — Hotel in Beppu, Kyushu. Our Japanese hotel had this nice outdoor bath. Loraine dips her toe in to test the water, which is VERY hot. They seem to really enjoy scalding hot water in this country.
A beautiful bike ride — On the road to Usuki Buddhas, Kyushu. The next morning we caught a train to the nearby town of Usuki and "rented" bicycles. This has got to be the most amazing thing I've ever seen. We got off the train and asked about bicycle rental and they gave us the keys. No deposit, no name, no fee. The rental was completely free, and it was lots of fun to cruise through the local streets. This monument/shrine was along the road so we stopped to investigate.
Rice fields — Rice fields, Usuki, Kyushu. Our bike ride took us past these fields -- some were flooded, some were recently harvested.
Island shrine — Usuki, Kyushu. We crossed a bridge on our route and saw the entrance to this cute shinto shrine, so we stopped to take a look around.
Inner shrine building — Usuki, Kyushu. The inner shrine building. According to our guidebooks, this building contains the shrine's sacred object which is kept safe under lock and key. It's so safe that nobody is ever allowed to look at it because that would diminish the object's power.
Many gates — Shinto Shrine, Usuki, Kyushu. This shrine is on an island, so there are the traditional gates (torii) at every possible entrance, including the ones by the river over Matt's shoulder.
Destination: Buddha — Usuki Buddhas, Kyushu. Our main goal for visiting this part of the island was to see a series of stone Buddhas carved into the volcanic ash deposits. While Kyushu hosts great water sports and even several active volcanoes, the carvings were unlike anything we had every had the chance to see. So, we skipped all the other sites and came to this out of the way spot.
Lighting Incense — Usuki Buddhas, Kyushu. About 80% of the country practices some sort of Buddhism, though only a small fraction of those people consider themselves "religious." Here, Loraine lights a bundle of three incense sticks.
A closer look — Usuki Buddhas, Kyushu. The statues were originally carved during the 10th-13th centuries.
Torii — Usuki Buddhas, Kyushu. There is also a Shinto shrine at the site of the Buddhas. That's a bit confusing because Buddhism and Shinto are actually different religions. Shinto involves revering of ancestors as ever-present teachers. It is a religion native to Japan and therefore all "Japanese" people are essentially Shinto by birth. Buddhism wasn't introduced to Japan until much later. Apparently, the two coexist for most Japanese who can practice both religions as the teachings of each cover separate aspects of life and do not conflict.
Action — Usuki Buddhas, Kyushu. This carving was one of the most animated of the bunch, with most of the others in seated meditation.
A serene Buddha — Usuki Buddhas, Kyushu. There are over fifty carved Buddhas at this site, concentrated in about 5 clusters a short walk apart. The central Buddha over M's shoulder is said to be the most important of the bunch, partly because of its serene facial expression that so completely captures the essence of the Buddha (closeup in the next photo).
Closeup of the face — Usuki Buddhas, Kyushu. A beautiful face makes this Buddha carving very special.
Matt-sized torii — Usuki Buddhas, Kyushu. You probably recognize this classic gate style called a torii. Our books say that the gates either represent the boundary of the sacred space or are there to prevent evil spirits from entering. Like many ancient customs, there is no single answer about their purpose.
Ringing the bell — Usuki Buddhas, Kyushu. L prepares to ring the bell at a the Shinto shrine here.
Inner shrine building — Usuki Buddhas, Kyushu. L at the inner shrine building of this shrine.
Wood carving — Usuki Buddhas, Kyushu. Carvings on the shrine building.
Bamboo forest — Usuki Buddhas, Kyushu. Walking from one cluster of Buddhas to another takes you through this impressive bamboo forest.
A safe shelter for Buddhas — Usuki Buddhas, Kyushu. At 1000 years old, the Buddhas are getting pretty fragile. In the 1990's, the Japanese government built these enclosures to protect them from the elements and underwent a massive drainage and engineering project to prevent further deterioration.
Hands — Usuki Buddhas, Kyushu. We particularly liked these Buddhas for their hand gestures.
Hands — Usuki Buddhas, Kyushu.
Colors — Usuki Buddhas, Kyushu. These were the only ones with really intact colors, but presumably all of the statues would have been decorated.
A variety of shapes — Usuki Buddhas, Kyushu. The variety of shapes and designs is indicative of the fact that they were carved over a long period of time.
Us with Buddhas — Usuki Buddhas, Kyushu. One of our homework assigments from Japanese class last summer had us write out, "Could you please take a picture of us?" That one came in handy here.
Ceremony — Usuki Buddhas, Kyushu. We were about ready to leave after several hours of examining Buddhas when we saw a procession of Buddhist monks and onlookers heading towards the most important Buddha. We followed along to watch what turned out to be a fascinating ceremony. Watch a video clip of the ceremony at this link: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=246543224264271439&hl=en
Ceremony 2 — Usuki Buddhas, Kyushu. It began with a series of offerings of food and fragrance to this Buddha statue. Watch a video clip of the ceremony at this link: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=246543224264271439&hl=en
Ceremony 3 — Usuki Buddhas, Kyushu. We watched as the monks held up these books and chanted. Watch a video clip of the ceremony at this link: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=246543224264271439&hl=en
Speed reading — Usuki Buddhas, Kyushu. We were not sure exactly what was going on, but the monks had these stacks of books that were folded accordian style. They would hold them and chant and then start rapidly flipping through them and chanting faster like they were symbolically reading their contents aloud. Watch a video clip of the ceremony at this link: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=246543224264271439&hl=en
Public blessings — Usuki Buddhas, Kyushu. Eventually, the pulic onlookers were allowed to bow in front of each monk. The monk would repeat the speed reading process and then gently hit the bowed person on the shoulder with the book in what appeared to be a blessing of good fortune. The big bowl to the right of the monk in this photo is a bell that the monk would ring periodically. Watch a video clip of the ceremony at this link: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=246543224264271439&hl=en
Hands on hips — Usuki Buddhas, Kyushu. We took off after the ceremony ended and headed back towards the train station, snapping this photo along the way.
Pagoda — Usuki Pagoda, Kyushu. Usuki is home to a shrine with a graveyard and three story pagoda. It was very beautiful to sit in the garden for a spell and enjoying the view of the Pagoda under the shade of the shrine roof.
Pagoda shrine roof decorations. — Usuki Pagoda shrine roof, Kyushu.
On the shrine steps — Usuki Buddhas, Kyushu. Like many other sites in Japan, shoes come off before walking up to the shrine.
Dragon Carvings — Usuki pagoda shrine, Kyushu.
Another shrine entrance — Usuki, Kyushu. There were many beautiful shrines with gardens around the town.
Drain carving — Usuki, Kyushu. Even some of the drains seemed to have carvings here.
Castle road — Usuki, Kyushu. Usuki was once home to a great castle, and some of the streets remind us of winding along the castle walls.
Our first shinkansen ride — Kokura shinkansen terminal, Kyushu. Our trip had to come to an end, so we caught a ride on our first shinkansen -- the bullet train. It took about 5 hours to return to Tokyo. To be honest, M was a bit disappointed by the experience. There was more leg room than an airplane, but the seats were no nicer, the ride was more "turbulent" and bumpy than an airplane, there was no movie or in-flight entertainment, no free drinks, and it didn't cost much less than an airplane. You might hope that we got to see more of the country side, but it turns out that a huge portion of the track runs through tunnels so that the train can speed along without too many twists and turns. But, that train sure does look sleek as it rolls into the station!
