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onsen

Festivals Japan Kyushu Miyazaki Onsen

The Nishimera Gibier Festival

February 6, 2017

“You ate what?” Maria-san asked with surprise.
“Wild boar and deer.”
She scrunched up her nose in disgust, “Urgh…really?”
“Yeah, it was delicious!”
“Oh no,” she frowned unconvinced, “I’ve never tried it.”

Maria is the co-owner-co-chef of one of my favourite restaurants in Miyazaki, which made her reaction that much more amusing. It’s not an uncommon one in Japan though, where game meat seems to have a pretty poor reputation. As my one colleague explained it, “most people are put off by the smell.”

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Japan Kyushu Oita Onsen Quick Guides

A Quick Guide to Yufuin Onsen Town

November 21, 2016

In Japan, you’d be hard-pressed to find a city or town that doesn’t have at least one onsen (温泉). Thanks to abundant geothermal activity on the archipelago, there are thousands of these natural hot springs scattered throughout each of the prefectures. Not to be confused with bathhouses, or sentō, in which heated tap water is used, onsen must contain at least one of 19 specified minerals and have a natural temperature higher than 25 ºC (77 ºF) to be officially designated as such. For hundreds of years, people have enjoyed soaking in their healing waters to relax, unwind, and cure stress-related ailments.

Onsen don’t only differ in their mineral content; there are outdoor and indoor baths, public and private baths, and baths for mixed and gender-separate bathing. A popular way to enjoy different kinds of baths is to visit an onsen resort, a hot spring area or town with its own hotels, restaurants, souvenir shops and amusement facilities.

One of Japan’s top onsen resorts is located in Oita prefecture, which also boasts the highest number of hot spring locations and the highest annual yield of hot spring water in the country. Yufuin (由布院) is located just a 35 min drive from its popular neighbour Beppu, in a small valley beneath the impressive Mount Yufu.

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Japan Kagoshima Kyushu

Volcanic Island Sakurajima

February 10, 2015

I have never seen an active volcano in real life before, so when John reminded me that there was one just a 15 minute ferry ride away from where we would be spending the weekend, of course we had to go. Andrea had invited us to her birthday party in Kagoshima City on the Saturday night, so John flew down early on that morning and I drove down from Miyazaki to fetch him.

Just 40 minutes drive from Kagoshima Airport, Sakurajima (桜島)  is one of three volcanoes under a Level 3 alert by the JMA. At regular intervals, large amounts of ash and stones spew from its southern peak.

We navigated our way down to the parking lot of the ferry, and realised we had driven straight on to the boat! It was positively freezing up on deck, but we braved the wind long enough to snap a few photos. Fifteen minutes later, we were driving out the other end.

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