Leading up to this trip, I knew that we’d be nearing the beginning of the Sakura cherry blossoms season in Japan. I’d check the peak blossom forecast every once in a while and it would look like they would be in full bloom at the end of our trip, then maybe not, then maybe yes again. It’s just really hard to nail down a date that’s weather dependent when you’re booking things 6 months out.
Joanna and I had a shopping list of things to get while in Japan for ourselves and our friends and family but didn’t want the hassle of carrying stuff from city to city. The plan was to use the final 2 days of the trip to stock up. The project manager in me tried to optimize our time by consolidating all the shops we needed to visit into groups so that we didn’t have to spend so much time moving from place to place.
Rice is planted around this time and harvested in October. Ryoko-san said that they like to plant their own rice later because it tastes better. They grow enough for themselves and their guests to eat. If there’s any extra, they’ll sell it locally. One rice stalk is the equivalent of one bowl of rice.
One of the must-do activities while in Miyazaki is to visit the Takachiho Gorge. I had mentioned this to Ryoko-san when we checked into our place where she mentioned that the boats needed to be reserved ahead of time. This totally saved our butts because Thursday was a local holiday so naturally all of the boat reservations were taken from 9am-5pm except ONE at 11am. SO LUCKY!
When we were driving down to Cape Toi yesterday, we stopped at a 7-11 to get snacks. As I was enjoying my onigiri rice ball while standing next to the car, I looked up at the street sign, saw monkeys on the sign, and made the executive decision to stop at Kojima Island. I asked Joanna if this was the equivalent of stopping at the Spam Museum or the World’s Largest Ball of Twine back in Minnesota.
Today wasn’t how I imagined our first full day was going to be in Miyazaki, it exceeded those expectations.
1 full day in Nagasaki wasn’t enough. Especially with the rainy weather slowing us down and reducing some of our activities, I wish we could have spent at least another full day here but our time is limited and we need to move onto the next place. Of course on the day we leave, it’s sunny and not freezing cold.
Being in southern Japan, I assumed it would be much warmer than in Tokyo. It’s basically the distance between Minneapolis and Tennessee. Weather today was on and off rain and around 45f so kind of chilly but there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing.
We’re proud to announce that we were able to get the 3 stamps on our onsen day pass yesterday plus I asked our ryokan if they would stamp it too as they also participate in the program. This is a nice little souvenir to bring home and put in a box that will never see the light of day.
Nothing really happened today which was totally by design. Out first time staying at a ryokan, I only booked us for 1 night and the whole experience was so rushed as we checked in at 5pm and were shooed out of there by 10am (Japanese efficiency). Now that I know better, stays at an onsen town must include at least a full day to take it slow, eat, and soak in hot springs.
