Visiting the Rengein Tanjo-ji main temple, Tamana, Kumamoto

After finishing the Okunoin branch temple visit, we went to the main temple in downtown Tamana. My mom already went there, so I was decided to take a walk by myself.

Let's start from the Nandaimon (南大門) gate. The brand new wooden gate was completed in 2011. Hideteru Kawahara, the 3rd chief priest, bought the Aomori (青森) hiba tree by himself. And it's used for Japanese nails made from local sand iron.

Passing the Nandaimon gate, then go straight down the sando road to the main hall. The time was already past 5 o'clock, I didn't see nobody else.

The five-story pagoda next to the main hall. The wooden building, nicknamed as the Heisei five-storied towers, was completed in 1997. Like the above-mentioned the Nandaimon gate, it was made up of Aomori hiba tree.

Visiting Rengein Tanjo-ji Okunoin, Tamana, Kumamoto

Taking a short break in Yame-Fukushima, we went to Rengein Tanjo-ji Okunoin (蓮華院誕生寺奥之院), a Rinzai temple in Tamana, Kumamoto. As name suggests this temple is a branch of the Rengein Tanjo-ji main temple, located in the heart of the city.

It's a big temple with restaurant and a resting place in front of the entrance. Oddly enough, the gate at the entrance has changed a little to make it a circle. It seems to be called the heart gate (心経門 shinkyomon in Japanese) and was carved with the Buddha's general cardiac.

Passing the above-mentioned Shinkyomon gate, pay an admission fee (200 yen per person) to go into the temple. The time was already 4:30, 30 minutes before closing time. I ask a female staff who sells an admission ticket for entry into the temple. She said "You must see the big Buddha statue first, then go other places such as the five-story pagoda and the bell tower".

Before going to the Buddha statue, I took a picture of the five-story pagoda and Niomon gate. This is a very beautiful pagoda, with a height of 51.5 meters which is the third largest in Japan.

The big Koen Daibosatsu (皇円大菩薩) Buddha statue.

A view of the entire temple from the Buddha statue. The Niomon gate where we visited before, can be seen in the center picture.

Going back to the Niomon gate, then we saw the bell tower. The bell tower, called Hiryu-no-kane (飛龍の鐘), is considered to be the world's biggest bell. It was first made in Kyoto and finally came here in May 1977 by way of the Seto Inland Sea.

Visiting Izumi-Fumoto's old samurai village

Finally, we visited to the Izumi-Fumoto old samurai village (出水麓武家屋敷群 -buke yashiki gun) in Izumi. Among with Chiran and Iriki, the village is known as one of the three major samurai residences of Shimazu clan.

There are many houses still living in their daily life, therefore we can only visit two places, Saishotei (税所邸) and Takezoetei (竹添邸) that are open to the public. The latter was used for NHK's taiga drama shooting which was aired "Atsuhime" (篤姫) in 2008.

It was already half past four, so we decided to go only one place, Saishotei.

A typical Japanese-style living room with Samurai sword sets and Chinese landscape paintings are on display.

A view of Japanese garden from the living room.

Walking Kusano, a historical place in Kurume

On December 6, we made a day trip to Kusano (草野), a district located at the foot of the Minou (耳納) Mountain Ranges in the east of Kurume city, Fukuoka. It's little far from the central Kurume, and it takes about 40 minutes by car.

The Kusano area has been developed as a castle town of the Kusano clan between Heian and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. In the Edo era, it was crowded as a post town on the Bungo-kaido old highway leading to Hita from Kurume. Today there are not only many shrines and temples but also some Japanese and Western buildings were built between Meiji and Taisho periods, and creating a traditional townscape of Japan.

The Kusano Historical Museum (草野歴史博物館 -rekishi hakubutsukan). It was first built as the Kusano Bank head office in 1911 and was used as the Bank of Fukuoka Kusano branch after the war. The city bought and refurbished in 1984 and opened as a fork museum to the public. In the museum, you can see the history of Kusano region and its surroundings and ancient documents dedicated to the clan.

The Yamabenomichi Culture Hall (山辺道文化館 -bunkakan) is a resting facility for tourists. Built in 1914, it has been designated as the Registered Tangible Cultural Properties of Japan by the government.

Visiting a Chinese-style garden in Kagoshima

Next we were going to Kangakuen (冠嶽園), a Chinese-style garden in Ichikikushikino, Kagoshima. The garden was open in April 1992. It is said that it was made with the wishes of friendship exchange with Xu Fu's hometown, China which together with honoring the master Xu Fu at the site of Choho-in.

Let's take a tour of the beautiful sansui landscape garden.

A pavilion seems from the garden. There are some display items such as paintings, landscape pictures and so on. And it's free!

The style of the garden is the natural style sansui garden, it is modeled on the shape of the garden near Suzhou, China where is the mecca of the Chinese gardens. Most of them were built during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

We left the garden and headed to Hanagawa Sabou Park (花川砂防公園 -koen) where located the Bogakutei (望嶽亭) pavilion. The park was all built in the Chinese style, and we came here for a moment we feel like China.

Visiting Iriki-Fumoto's old samurai village

On the second day, we went around the northern part of Kagoshima Prefecture, such as Iriki (入来) in Satsumasendai city.

Taking on Prefectural Route 50, National Highways 504 and 328 and passing on a typical Japanese countryside, we arrived to Iriki-Fumoto old samurai village (入来麓武家屋敷群 -buke yashiki gun). Among with Chiran and Izumi-Fumoto, the village is known as one of the three major samurai residences of Shimazu clan.

The old samurai village divided by a stone wall made of cobblestone stones. This is the old national highway; from here several stone wall paths extend to the left and right.

The Kayabukimon (茅葺門) Gate is a symbol of Iriki's old samurai street. The gate itself was broken by typhoon gomi in August 2015, but it was repaired now.

The Old Masuda Family Residence (旧増田家住宅 kyu masuda-ke jyutaku). It is a samurai style house with thatched roof, but it was used to be a dentist's home built in the Meiji era. The two buildings are orthogonal and become consecutive buildings. The house at the back is a normal living space with dirt floor and the next one is only allowed to use the master, the eldest son and for their guests such as the feudal lord of Shimazu. There is a floor with veranda.

The stone walls that make up the fence build up a cobblestone. The preservation of this samurai village is focused on the fence, and each house is often rebuilt according to the modern life.

What did we see on the way

Here, I'll tell you the places we went on the way to Kirishima. We stayed at Kirishima Iwasaki Hotel (霧島いわさきホテル), located in Kirishima hot springs in Kagoshima Prefecture.

Let's start uploading.

First, we stopped at Hatozu Beach (波当津海岸 -kaigan) in Saiki, Oita. This is a beautiful beach located in the southernmost part of the prefecture. It has been chosen for hakusa-seisho hyaku-sen (白砂青松百選) or the best 100 beach in Japan.

Next, we went to the Sea of Cross (クルスの海 kurusu-no-umi), a scenic spot in Hyuga, Miyazaki. The columnar rock is split over 200 meters between east nad west, 220 meters between north and south and 10 meters in height due to erosion of waves, and it looks like a cross. There's a small rocky place outside the rock broken into crosses, and when it is combined together it looks like the letter wish (叶う kanau in Japanese). Peoples say make a wish to come true when praying for healing. 

The time is already 5. We really want to go to the nearby attraction called Umagase (馬ヶ背), but we don't have enough time to visit. We'll go there next time.

Before going back to Hyuga Interchnage on the Higashi-Kyushu Super Highway, I took pictures of sunset at Oguragahama Beach. I saw one guy very enjoyed windsurfing.

After that we were going straight to Kirishima on the super highway. But we made a great mistake on the way, we got off the highway at Kiyotake in the suburbs of Miyazaki city! Fortunately, there is a gas station at the corner of the interchange. Filling up the tank and refreshing our minds, we were going to the hotel again. We took National Highway 269 until Yamanokuchi Station, then follow the prefectural roads to the hotel. We arrived at there at about 8 o'clock.

Tsurumisaki lighthouse, Saiki, Oita

We went to Oita, Miyazaki and Kagoshima for 2 days on November 15 and 16.

First, we had visited to the Cape Tsurumisaki Lighthouse (鶴御崎灯台 -doudai) in Saiki, Oita. The lighthouse at the easternmost end of Kyushu stands at a cliff of about 200 meters above sea level which is built in the former site of Tsurumisaki Battery. There are sea cliffs with a height between 50 and 200 meters at the tipping point. These are being maintained as a theme park, so called as Museum Park Tsurumisaki such as the World Camellia Park and a panorama viewing bridge. From the bridge, you can see the scenic view overlooking the lighthouse below your eyes and the Bungo Channel (豊後水道 Bungo-suido) that extends beyond.

Driving on National Routes 217/388 and Oita Prefectral Routes 615/604 from Saiki Interchange on Higashi-Kyushu Expressway and passing some gentle curves, we'll get to the tip of the Peninsula. Although there are some narrow roads along the way, it was easier to run as many roads on one side as one lane.

We arrived there at 1:15 pm. We stopped our car in the parking lot first, then walked through a sidewalk to the lighthouse viewpoint. From here, you can see a view of the Shikoku Island far away on sunny days.

A day trip to Raizan Sennyo-ji Temple

On October 26, we made a short trip to Raizan Sennyo-ji (雷山千如寺), a Shingon temple in Itoshima, Fukuoka. Previously there were about 300 temples existed in this area, now there were still remaining this temple.

Passing the nearest gate from parking lot, pay an admission fee (400 yen per person) to go into the temple. You'll see the big maple trees immediately after going through the gate. Big trees, which has been designated as a natural monument of Fukuoka prefecture, has been said to be planted by Tsugitakata Kuroda, the 6th feudal lord of Kuroda clan.

After taking pictures of the maple trees, we were going to the main hall where the Buddha statue is located. There are both way to go to the main hall, the one is going up the long wooden stairways from the priest's lodge, and the other one is climbing the stone stairs from the prescient. How did we get there? We got into the main hall while looking at the beautiful landscape of garden and climbing up the stairs from the prayer hall or kannon-do (観音堂). It's the easiest way to go there.

Looking down the Shinji Garden from a veranda.

Going down the wooden stairs from the main hall, we went into the Shinji Garden. The tree which is curved on the right of the photo below is named juniper. It has been a quite long time in history, with an age of 600 years old.

Going back to the main hall, we saw a big Buddha. The 4.8 meter wooden Buddha statue is the work of Kamakura period.

The big maple tree standing alone in the garden.

The last Jetstar Asia flight from Fukuoka/ジェットスター・アジア航空福岡便ラストフライト

As I mentioned on my blog before, I took pictures of the Singaporean based budget airline, Jetstar Asia Airways flight 3K510 to Singapore via Bangkok last Saturday. This day was the last Jetstar Asia flight to Fukuoka, so I want to take pictures of it. I left home at 9, and headed off to the International Terminal. It only took 40 minutes by bicycle. When I arrived there, a Jetstar plane was already coming at Gate 51.
先週の土曜日（10月1日）はシンガポールのLCC・ジェットスター・アジア航空のバンコク経由シンガポール行き3K510便のラストフライトを撮影しに行きました。朝9時に家を出て自転車で向かい、40分ほどで国際線ターミナルへ。着いたとき飛行機がすでに51番ゲートに停まっていたのでとてもラッキーでした。

A Cathay Pacific A330-300 plane stopping at the next gate 50. This flight goes to Hong Kong on the way to Taipei.
隣の50番ゲートにはキャセイパシフィック航空の台北経由香港行きCX511便（A330-300）が停まっていました。

A few minutes after, a Tiger Air Taiwan flight from Taipei arrived at gate 52. I was so lucky to see three planes lined up at the same time.
数分後に台北からのタイガーエア台湾便がゲート52へ到着。3機が同時に並んでいる姿が見れてとてもラッキーでした。

Then I moved to the usual spot on the end of runway 16 and kept taking my photo works.
And a runway change was done to the opposite side, 34 from about half past ten.
その後いつもの滑走路16エンド隣へ移動し撮影を続けました。そして10時30分ごろから反対側の34へ滑走路変更。

The plane was started push back at 10:38 am. The aircraft registration number 9V-JSP was used for flight of the day.
飛行機は午前10時38分にプッシュバックを開始。機体番号は9V-JSPでした。

The plane was taking off at 11:09 am. 
飛行機は午前11時09分に離陸。

When I was looking at the plane, I'd like to say thank you for serving for two years and three months.
離陸する飛行機を見ながら「2年間本当にありがとう」と思いました。

The last V Air flight from Fukuoka/Vエア福岡便ラストフライト

I took pictures of the last V Air flight to Fukuoka yesterday. As I mentioned on my blog before, the Taiwanese based budget airline will stop all the flights on this day, so I want to take pictures of it. I left home at 5, and my mam pick me up to the airport. I got off from a car near the north runway 16. First I tried to take a landing scene from there, but I can't. Then I thought that I have to go to another place, the observation deck on the third floor of International Terminal. You know, it's the best way to take pictures of planes. When I went to there, a V Air plane was stopping at Gate 52. I was so lucky to see a lovely plane with a cute Taiwanese black bear logo drawing up in the tail.  
昨日（9月30日）は台湾のLCC・Vエアの福岡便ラストフライトを撮影しに行きました。同社はこの日で全便運航停止となるのでぜひ写真を撮りたいと思い、夕方5時ごろ空港へ向かいました。天気はあいにくの雨だったので母が空港まで乗せてくれました。最初は絶好の撮影スポットである北側滑走路16のところから着陸シーンを撮ろうと試みたのですが、ぼやけてしまい失敗。どうしても今日が最後のフライトなので絶対に写真を撮りたいと思い、歩いて国際線ターミナルへ。着いたときVエアの飛行機が52番ゲートに停まっていたのでとてもラッキーと思い、あわてて写真を撮りました。

The plane was started push back at 7:13 pm. The aircraft registration number B-22316 was used for flight of the day. She was coming to Fukuoka for a couple of days, on Tuesday and Wednesday. That day was a strong typhoon named Megi which hit in Taiwan so that all flights from Taipei greatly affected by severe weather; most of them were cancelled and some were made schedule changes.
飛行機は午後7時13分にプッシュバックを開始。機体番号はB-22316で当機は去る27日から28日にかけて台湾を直撃した台風17号にともなうスケジュール変更のときに2日続けてやってきました。

The plane was taking off on Rwy 16 at 7:25 pm. I'd like to say thank you and hope to come back again.
飛行機は午後7時25分に滑走路16から離陸。また戻ってきてね、Vエア。

Good-bye V air, and Trans Asia Airways welcomes to Fukuoka

The V air announced that will stop flying on September 30. The Taiwanese based budget airline was determined that closed for one year on the following day and to be considered for the future. After the all flight stopped in October, Trans Asia Airways, the parent company of V air, will be taken over their Fukuoka and Chiang Mai routes. The airline makes a formal route application in the near future, but the date of start flying is still unknown.

Jetstar Asia discontinue flights to Fukuoka

The Jetstar Asia Airways announced that will be discontinued the Singapore - Fukuoka route via Bangkok on October 2. The Singaporean based budget airline began operating a scheduled service to Fukuoka on June 27, 2014. This route is currently operated 5 flights per week, on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. It is using Airbus a320-200 aircraft on the route.