22-Dec-2022
Our second rail day took us to Kumamoto, slightly less than half-way down the island. We rode the Shinkansen again.
Kumamon, Kumamoto's cuddly bear mascot
We started off with a long walk across town:
Hanaokayama, visible from the railway station
Alongside the Shirakawa River
We were aiming for the Suizenji Jojuen, a garden begun in 1632, and completed in 1671 by Tsunatoshi of the Hosokawa Clan. The name "Jojuen" derives from a Chinese poem by by Tao Yuan Ming: "The garden I stroll around every day is always tasteful." And it is, indeed, very tasteful.
The Izumi Shrine
The torii of the Inari Shrine
The winter colour is still superb
There are a number of monuments to Natsume Soseki in this garden. He taught English in Kumamoto for just over four years (starting April 1896), and loved the Suizenji Jojuen. Although this period preceded his novel-writing career, he composed more than 900 haiku here. This one talks about the spring water flowing from Mt Aso
Another Soseki haiku. This one is by the Noh stage. He took lessons in Noh song, and loved to watch performances
We had lunch at a pleasant, homely place near the park entrance:
Pork cutlets with Japanese curry and rice. This dish always takes me back to the days when I worked for a Japanese-owned higher education college in New Zealand
A bit more sight-seeing after lunch:
Kumamoto has cute trams, and we used one to short-cut back into town. It was the first outing for our multi-city IC transport cards. Luckily, a helpful English-speaking lady was able to show us what to do (touch on, touch off, and don't do any touching if the door's not open!)
Kumamoto Castle, knocked about a bit in the big earthquake of 2016
That same quake also damaged Soseki's former residence. You can't visit at the moment
Cold now, and threatening rain. Time for hot drinks:
The Coffee Gallery, which has views onto a pleasant garden
First-class matcha latte
Every railway station worth its salt, it seems, has an adjoining Amu Plaza, chock full of shops and cafes:
Not real snow...
Warming hojicha from Seattle's Best Coffee
It was the solstice today (just before we got on the train this morning, actually), and there has been an appropriately wintry but hopeful feel to the day. Here's to the return of the light...