Don’t Rush the Land of the Rising Sun

Time simply doesn’t stop. I’ve learned this already in life; but I have to keep reminding myself how important it is to enjoy the moment. Moments are special, but they are just that. No matter how hard you try it is almost impossible to make a moment last. So enjoy it and don’t rush. The sun rises to its established time table and nothing we can do will change that. We hurry from one thing to the next, worried about what we are doing or if we are wasting time. How can we make certain events happen sooner? There is peace in allowing the world to flow around you. Easy to say when I’m not faced with any deadlines in the next few months, right?

I sat in Kagoshima, planning out the next phases of my trip with some friends. Each one was trying to figure out where to go, trying to make the most out of the time he or she had left. Klaus, my new Austrian acquaintance with whom I shared another exceptional bowl of Ramen, was actually leaving in two days and trying to make the most of every second. All of them hurriedly tried to reach the biggest and most well known cities they could find. I took a different approach. I looked at the map and went in the opposite direction of the largest groupings of people and ended up booking in Aoshima on the eastern coast of the island of Kyushu. It paid off.

Aoshima is a little town with quiet streets that meander toward sandy beaches. No signs, no commericalism, just quiet roads. My abode turned out to be beautiful. A house which has been decked out in traditional japanese decor. You can see the tatami mat floors, the shouji doors of rice paper and the beautiful simplicity.

Dropping off my baggage I went straight toward the main attraction I had read about in Aoshima. The Ogre’s Washboard. This is an incredible natural phenomenon where the ocean’s waves have eroded the lava rock into perfect lines of rock stretching out like a peninsula into the ocean. Depending on the tide you can wander out onto them from an island bridge looking at the pools of water with fish, crabs, and sea sponges. A few local fishermen had traversed to the outer extent, casting their lines into the deeper pools on the otherside. For someone who loves the ocean, nature, and science, it was a perfect moment to spend the afternoon.

The hostel owner, a hippie surfer, told me the sunrises are fantastic. I, however, found myself sleeping in a bit and then making my way by an old train to a rural city in the mountains to the south. Obi. I didn’t realize how synergetic my decisions were going to turn out to be. As you pull up into the train station you immediately recognize the difference in the homes sitting near the train stop. The half bamboo pipe style roofs set my realization off immediately. This town was not only old but it was traditionally a samurai village from centuries before. The Obi clan is oneof the more famous clans of samurai. Before long I walked streets and entered historic homes of samurai families and villagers before making my final stop at the Obi Castle. There is a simplistic beauty with the way they arranged their homes. My favorite part of the castle, however, were the training grounds above in a quiet grove of giant trees with a lime green moss as a forest floor.

My time in Aoshima was a quiet one. I did end up making one friend, a japanese student traveling the countryside. We spent the evening chatting and eating before I prepared to leave. Ironically I was going to forego seeing the sunrise for a few extra minutes of sleep, but it would have been a waste of that perfect moment. Too worried about sleep, too worried about time. Go enjoy the sunrise. I’ve attached links to the videos. Interesting to me is that most of the photos I take turn out to be fair depictions of the beauty of my surroundings, but no video or picture I am qualified to take comes even close to the grandeur of the sunrise on an island of rocks on the edge of the ocean.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oXigfD4hHdc

火 is the kanji symbol for fire. This element is the overwhelming insignia for the last four or five days of my journey in Kyushu. From the pummeling smoke to a deep red sun, my experience has been one of heat, even in the midst of colder weather.

I made my way to Aso. Yes, this is pronounced exactly like the stereotypical phrase you have heard before from Japanese movies (Private Eyes with Knotts is a perfect example). Aso and other towns along with five mountain peaks sit in a giant caldera formed thousands of years ago by a collapsing volcano. As you enter the valley you are surrounded by perfectly straight mountain side, like a giant tub. It really was another natural marvel, but that is quickly trumped by the peaks standing near you with pummeling smoke shooting out of one.

Nakadake is the peak with an active crater. The crater started smoking in August of 2014 and it is currently under Level 2 warning for eruption. You cannot go within 1 km of the crater. So instead I hiked two of the closest peaks to get the closest I possibly could. Looking down into some of the extinct craters and realizing I was standing atop an old volcano was exciting. I imagine myself in a another time among a series of active events we call natural disasters, but they are cyclical and a part of what happens. I realized standing there that if this volcano erupts, I am dead. There is nothing I could really do. I’m sure the blast would send some type of wave of heat that would scorch me or send rocks shooting like bullets. I don’t know, I’m not a vulcan. Anyway, it was interesting for someone that has always been fascinated with geology.

I’m turning more and more Japanese. I fell asleep on the train on my way back from Obi for 45 minutes only to wake up immediately before my stop. This is exactly what my Japanese neighbors do everyday. It is interesting to watch. They will be nodding and falling over asleep, but they always seem to wake up and walk off the train the moment their stop comes. I won’t be applying for citizenship or anything but at least I am at peace enough with my place in Japan.