#Kiyomasa│IC Status

[crystal-in-nagasaki]

the great kyushu road trip of 2023, part 1: kumamoto

During summer break of 2023, I had some time to kill and was itching to visit a new place, so I decided to take a road trip with my friends to the remaining Kyushu prefectures that I had yet to visit, which were Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures (and Kumamoto, which I had been to before.) Since these places are known for their natural beauty and are relatively close to each other, we decided to drive between each location in a big loop over about 5 days. Here's a map of Kyushu for reference:

On the first day, we drove down through the Shimabara peninsula and took my car over on the ferry to Kumamoto city, where we planned to stay for just one night.

After arriving, we first drove a bit north of the city to visit Unganzenji Temple.

At the top of the hill by the parking lot of Unganzenji was a statue of Miyamoto Musashi, a legendary Japanese swordsman, alive in the 1600s who was born and lived in Kumamoto prefecture. He created the technique of using two swords and the swordsmanship philoshophy of Niten Ichiryu, and is said to have never lost a duel. He wrote the famous book, Gorin no Sho, the Book of Five Rings, which contains his philosophy behind both swordsmanship and the art of war. (source)

Next we visited the temple itself. We walked along a scenic path lined with hundreds of stone monk statues. It was very peaceful and beautiful.

At the end of the path was a small cave, where the goddess Iwato Kanon is enshrined. It is said that Miyamoto Musashi used to meditate in this cave while writing the Book of Five Rings.

As we were heading out, we saw this cat drinking out of a shrine offering cup. Of course cats are not informed of the sanctity of certain religious customs and will do as they please.

Before leaving the temple grounds, we went down one last path which took us to an overlook of the valley. Since it was in the middle of summer, the greenery and sky were a brilliant color and it was very beautiful.

We were sweating a ton in the August heat, so we stopped next at a roadside shop called Fruits Marche UFO for some rest in the air conditioning. The shop was on a fruit farm where you could also enjoy fruit picking throughout the year for a fee. I got some ice cream made from the fresh fruits of the farm.

After our rest, we headed back into Kumamoto city to Kumamoto castle. Outside the castle grounds was a statue of Kato Kiyomasa, a distant cousin of the Shogun Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Kato Kiyomasa first ordered the contruction of Kumamoto castle and was its first lord. He developed the area's agriculture and economy and is still well-loved in Kumamoto today. (source)

Below the castle area, we explored a small shopping quarter called Sakura no Baba Josaien. It's meant to create a small taste of an old-fashioned bustling shopping street below the castle. We stopped here for lunch and shopping, and I snapped a photo with Kumamoto's famous bear mascot, Kumamon. Kumamon is one of the most popular and well-known characters in Japan. The design of Kumamon is not restricted, so companies can use him as they like in their products and advertising. The total sales of Kumamon merchandise reaches almost $1.5 billion (USD) each year.

We stopped for lunch at a ramen shop in Sakura no Baba Josaien and I ordered "Kumamoto ramen," which from what I understand is almost the same as tonkotsu ramen, but a bit milder and with charred garlic on top. I love tonkotsu ramen, so it was really tasty.

After enjoying our food and contributing to the Kumamon Souvenir Industrial Complex, we finally headed up to Kumamoto castle.

In 2016, a large earthquake hit Kumamoto and caused a lot of damage to the castle. It has mostly finished reconstruction, but they are putting a lot of time and care into the job, so there are still some parts of the castle that are being fixed. But the main castle building is good as new, and features six floors filled with exhibits and information about the castle. There were also some interactive screens where you could take a quiz about the castle and play a simulation in which you are a ninja trying to infiltrate the castle. No matter which route you take, you will always lose, because Kumamoto castle is known to be virtually impenetrable.

On the upper floors, you can enjoy a view of the city, framed by the Aso mountain range in the back.

Kato Kiyomasa had a very distinct set of samurai armor with a tall and imposing helmet, which you could see earlier in his statue. Therefore outside of the castle, they had a recreation of his armor so you could pose with the castle for a fun souvenir photo. Here's me making my best scary samurai face:

As the day wound down, my friends and I went to a mall for dinner and shopping. We also saw the Barbie movie since it just came out that day in Japan (which is why I was wearing a hot pink shirt all day.) On the terrace of the mall was a large Kumamon statue, lit up in the dark looking like lord of the underworld, which we naturally took pictures of. Then we stopped at Starbucks to get the newest seasonal drink, which was a watermelon frappuccino. It was super refreshing and perfect for summertime.

After this, we headed to our hotel for the night. The next morning we packed up the car again and headed out to another shrine, called Kamishikimi Kumanoimasu shrine. You can reach this shrine by following a long stairway through the forest, lined on both sides by almost one hundred lanterns. After visiting the shrine building itself, you can continue farther up to a large rock with a cave underneath.

According to Wikipedia, the history of this shrine is largely unknown, but it's said to be a shrine to the creation gods Izanami and Izanagi. According to Japanese mythology, the huge opening beneath the rock was created when it was kicked by a follower of the god Takeiwatsu called Kihatsu. Many people come to pray at the cave because it's said to bring victory and success in study. The shrine was also the setting for a popular anime film called Hotarubi no Mori e, Into the Forest of Fireflies Light.

The shrine was very beautiful and deep in nature, which is my favorite kind of shrine to visit.

After this, we got back in my car and headed into Miyazaki prefecture for more adventures, which I'll cover next post in part two! Thanks for reading, and stay tuned :)

[tigerstrategist]

Kiyomasa tag drop !

[tragedestined-a]

❛❛ I must ask that you please refrain from idolizing me. For there is nothing I have done that is worth even the slightest amount of praise... ❜❜

❛❛ Oh, don’t be like that. Sure, being called a god is a little much, but it does have its perks, you know ? ❜❜

[tragedestined-a]

Trust me, I’m a strategic genius. (Kiyomasa tag drop)