More Kagoshima Adventures!!

Also in Chiran, Japan there is a Peace Museum For Kamikaze Pilots during World War II. We had to go!! It's always interesting for us to learn history of another country. However, this time we were a part of the history!! The musuem is filled with pictures, relics, and fighter planes that were used during that time.
I think those pilots were brave just to ride in the airplanes!! There wasn't much to them!

A LITTLE HISTORY: In 1945 the war situation became serious and Chiran, Japan became the southernmost airbase for Kamikaze. These pilots were trained to fly on Kamikaze missions which involved steering their airplanes carrying bombs head-on into enemy ships or other targets during the decisive battle for Okinawa at the end of the war. The number of young pilots died during the Kamikaze operation of Okinawa was 1036. All departed knowing there was no chance of return. One of the pictures above shows the soldier's sleeping barracs for the night before their mission. This was the place that they wrote good-bye letters to their families. After the war, Japan agreed that they would never start a war or resort to military force to solve an international dispute, but that the country had not given up the right to defend itself. Thus, the Self-Defense Force was born in 1954. Although the SDF consists of ground, maritime, and air self-defense forces, has fighter planes, tanks and surface-to-air missiles, it is not actually referred to as a military organization.

In a country with so much history, we've only scratched the surface! We haven't yet visited Hiroshima or Nagasaki. As a child Angie was able to visit Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. It's very interesting to learn about both sides of the story.

THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES....

As all of us continued to travel through the southern part of Japan, we saw a lot of farm land! If you know Angie's family at all, then you know this was right up their ally. Angie's dad is a 3rd generation fruit farmer and her brother is the 4th! So, it was hard for us not to stop and take pictures.

We finally got a chance to see where all that Japanes Green Tea comes from. Green Tea is all the rage in the states right now. However, Japanese Green Tea has been around for centuries. It's the beverage that is served to guests when visiting any Japanese home. There are also special "tea times" that are often held after gatherings of sorts. It tastes a lot different than Lypton Green Tea. If you ask Angie's brother, he says it tastes like grass! Of course, it's healthy! That must be the reason that coffee is starting to take the place of many Japanese "tea times." When Nick's mom comes for a visit we'll have the opportunity to experience a Japanese Tea Ceremony. I'll definitely post some pictures for you!

The pictures to the right have green tea bushes in the front and drying out in the background is a vegetable called Dikon. Dikon is a large Japanese radish. It's average size in length is about 2 feet. This pecular radish can be made into every kind of pickle known to man! Also, radish salads are very popular here....just add dressing! I've never eaten so much radish in my life!!

Kagoshima Adventure!! (You Tube)

When Angie's family was here in January we traveled to the most Southern Tip of Kyushu, the island we live on. Angie's brother, Shawn, ran in the Nanohana Marathon. Remember the Nanohana Flower from last week's blog? The fields of bright yellow flowers?
Anyway, it was the first marathon experience for all of us except Shawn. He's the runner in the picture on the right, by the way.
It was wild to see so many runners!

There were 15,000 people signed up to run and I think that more
than that showed up. There were more runners than street to run in.
Runners filled the street and the side walks of the street! Everyone was so close together they couldn't even move!! For the first few minutes everyone just stood still until the runners in the front got moving. We were surprised to see that Shawn was not the only foreigner. He did a great job running a full marathon 26 miles in 4hours!! That's the reason He's sticking his feet in a hotspring while we're waiting on a train. The rest of us don't have an excuse!

The marathon was not our only adventure in Kagoshima! We were able to visit an original Samurai Village in Chiran, Japan. Family members still live in the old Samurai houses. The village is considered a preservation of the Samurai way of life. The upkeep of the houses is amazing. There is no telling how old some of the houses are. The thatched roofing is quite impressive and thick!! One lady allowed us to come inside of her home. We entered a room with pictures on the wall of generations of Samurai in her family. Another house in the village had a room set up for a meal for the Samurai. Of course, they're eating on tables that are placed on the floor. Sitting on the tatami floor and eating at low tables is still a large practice among Japanese families today.

The village is also famous for their Japanese gardens. Traditional Japanese gardens are groomed very well with the sculpting of bushes and trees. Don't forget the placement of the rocks!! I'll show you some more garden pictures later. In this garden picture has our friends Junko Fukuda and her son Akira. They went with us on our trip to help with translating. Junko is a member at our church in Kitakyushu and her son spends a lot of time with Nick whenever he comes home from college. It was truly a blessing to have them on this trip with us!! We had a great time touring the ancient streets of this Samurai Village. Stay tuned for more adventures that we had in Kagoshima!!

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=-vV6Mq6r1yE&feature=user

Spring Time In Japan!! (You Tube)

Spring time in Japan is beautiful!! The Japanese love to plant fields of their favorite flowers each season. In the fall you can see fields of Sunflowers and Cosmos along with brightly colored Japanese Maple trees. Now, in the Spring, you can see fields of yellow Nanohana and Tulips along with many Cherry Blossom trees. So, we've been getting our fill of these lovely sights! See if you can find Nick.

Recently, we went with our friends Mr. and Mrs. Kumeno to see these Yellow Nanohana flowers. We drive two hours each Tuesday to a city called Nakatsu. We spend all day teaching English in a small church there. Mr. and Mrs. Kumeno lead the church in Nakatsu. If we have time during the day, we take small adventures together. They love showing us Japan!!


Cherry Blossoms!! Japan is famous for them. However, they don't produce any cherries. The popular thing to do is to have picnics with your friends and look at them....this is called "cherry blossom viewing." These trees are scattered throughout cities and parks in Japan. It's really hard to capture their beauty, but we gave it a try.













Don't forget the Tulips! Each year there is a Tulip festival along a river close to where we live. Volunteers in the community have worked very hard to plant thousands of Tulip bulbs. It's really a sight to see! Here we are with our friends Morio and Yukiko Shiraishi. We've had many adventures with these two since coming to Japan! We hope to share more of our adventures with them soon!!

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=RDakpyTNtTY&feature=user