Saying goodbye SL Hitoyoshi at Tosu Station

A happy new year to everyone.

The arrival of new year 2025🐍. Today I'm writing a memory of the last SL Hitoyoshi train running. 

On March 23, 2024, the steam locomotive🚂 was making the final run between Kumamoto and Hakata. I don't like crowded places, so I went to see it at Tosu Station🚉 in Saga Prefecture. 

The train comes here at 2:53 pm. I saw a lot of train fans want to see the last one😅

He comes to a halt and putting out black smoke😞 

At 2:55 pm, train engineers blew the train whistle when they left👏 And I say goodbye😊

Visiting Hikiyama Exhibition Hall, Karatsu

Last Sunday we had decided to take a drive🚙 to Hikiyama Exhibition Hall in Karatsu, Saga. I've been there many times before, but I'd never been to the exhibition museum, so I decided to go. 

Karatsu Kunchi is a Japanese matsuri festival that takes place between November 2 and 4 every year. On the first night of the festival called Yoiyama, the 14 decorated floats with lanterns for fall🍂 The gold, sliver and red lanterns🏮 are shining brightly with flashes of light⭐

The entrance of museum. I have to pay the 310 yen entrance fee💰 here.

Fourteen floats, called Yama (曳山), are lined up through the glass from the corridors on the first and second floors.

The floats, which have different designs for each area, such as demons and masks, are built between the late Edo and the early Meiji periods and still in existence today😊 

  

Visiting Aoi Aso Shrine, Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto

In the evening, we went to Aoi Aso Jinja (青井阿蘇神社), a Shinto shrine in Hitoyoshi. 

According to Wikipedia, five of the structures within the shrine such as Romon (楼門), Honden (本殿) are listed as National Treasures of Japan.

During the 2020 Kyushu Floods the shrine was flooded, but only parts of the bridge were destroyed.

The Ichi-no-torii gate at the shrine entrance. 

Misogi Bridge (禊橋 -Misogibashi), an arch bridge spanning the Hasuike pond. As I mentioned above, the bridge was collapsed during the flood. It took three years to complete😄

Let's take a walk to the shrine.

Aoi Aso Jinja's Romon (楼門, lit. tower gate).  A thatched roof made of straw during the Azuchi-Momoyama period.

Honden or the main shrine⛩

Visiting Izumi crane sanctuary

On December 10, we had decided to take a drive🚙 to see cranes in Izumi, Kagoshima. 

Every year from mid-October to December, Siberian cranes migrate to Izumi to spend the winter, remaining until around March. Today there are 10000 birds on the migration ground😁

Driving on National Route 3 from Minamata Interchange on Minami-Kyushu Expressway and passing the central Izumi, we came to the crane sanctuary. You need to pay a 1000 yen entrance fee when entering a parking lot💵

A close up view of the birds is like this.

After that we went to different places where cranes are kept🐦 

Visiting Bairin-ji Temple, Kurume

On Wednesday we had decided to take a drive🚙 Bairinji (梅林寺), a Rinzai temple in Kurume, Fukuoka. According to Wikipedia, the temple was the bodaiji of the Arima clan and originally located in Fukuchiyama in the Tanba Province, where it was called Zuigan-ji (瑞巌寺). In 1620, when Arima Toyoji was transferred from Fukuchiyama Domain to Kurume Domain in Chikugo Province, he relocated the temple to his new domain and named it Dairyu-ji (大龍寺). It was later renamed to Bairin-ji which is associated with his father Noriyuki's posthumous name, Bairin'in-den (梅林院殿) and became a mausoleum of the successive daimyo of the domain. 

The entrance gate of Bairin-ji.

Passing the temple gate, then go straight down the sando road to the main hall.

The Zen Hall of Bairin-ji🛕 It is always close because of young monks doing some practice😁 

The Kaizando (開山堂) founder's hall.

After that I went to the cemetery dedicated to the Arima family.

Autumn colors getting started around the garden🍂

The Chikugo River seen from the garden. Before the bridge was open in 1974, there was a ferry boat that connected the river from here to Nagatoishi-machi on the opposite bank. 

Visiting Bungo-Mori Roundhouse, Kusu, Oita

In the afternoon, we had decided to take a drive🚙 to Bungo-Mori Roundhouse Park in Kusu. It was built in 1934 when the Kyudai Main Line was fully opened. 

The loco shed🚂 Located to the east of Bungo-Mori Station🚉, it was a large roundhouse that kept 21 steam locomotives at its peak. 

The engine shed was in use until 1970 and could be up to 12 locomotives. 

A steam locomotive 9600 series used for coal transport in the Kyushu area such as Nagasaki and Karatsu during the working period. He was a brave hero that saved victims of the atomic bomb in Nagasaki👏 After the retirement in 1974, it was kept in Shime, Fukuoka for memories. But such a bad condition that the town council rejected the budget for maintenance repair, and it was waiting to be scrapped. However in 2015, Kusu Town bought for free of charge, and now on display😊     

 

Panoramic views of Kannawa Onsen from Yukemuri Viewpoint, Beppu

On the second day, we went to some sightseeing spots such as Bungo-Mori Locomotive Roundhouse🚂 in Kusu Town.

First, we went to Yukemuri Observatory in Beppu. From here, you can see the awesome view of the hot springs town♨ 😀　

Hot air and smoke rises from everywhere in the city. I think it's just amazing😄