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 th
e 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.
e 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!!
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!!
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