Only a few days after our visit to Nagasaki, we were in Hiroshima and spent a day walking the sites at Peace Park. Hiroshima was the first city to be razed by an atomic bomb, and the story of their suffering has its own shape and place. The lasting impression from the Hiroshima museum was the immense suffering and death among innocent children. At the time of the bomb, children were clearing fire lanes because the Japanese were anticipating a...

Our last stop on Kyushu island was Nagasaki, and we spent nearly our whole time at the Atomic Bomb Museum. Nothing could have prepared us for the visit to the emotional and thoughtful museum. The museum begins with a small room with glimpses of the city before the bomb. A small room is next with two facing walls – one that houses a number of television screens showing chilling US video of the explosion of the atomic bomb from the sky,...

Kumamoto sits at the crossroads of Kyushu island, making it an easy day trip between Fukuoka, Aso, and Kagoshima. The city makes it even easier by offering a day pass for unlimited rides on their streetcar and sightseeing loop bus as well as discounts on their most popular attractions. We began our day with their famous Suizenji Garden. It’s a very small place, but easy to get to via streetcar, and wonderfully quiet in the morning. The...

september 26 – kurodake

september 25 – asahikawa

september 24 – hakodate

september 23 – sapporo

september 22 – sapporo

september 21 – aomori

september 20 – senjojiki