Dazaifu Walk

Today I went on a walk in Dazaifu with Drummond, James, Felicity and Lauma. James and I missed the connecting train from Futsukaichi when we got caught up in a mob of women with hiking sticks. Still, we made it in time.

The first thing the man said to me was "cuuute", and then went into more detail about how he thought my nose was like that of a doll. Great. At least we didn't go round with him. We had some other people to show us round who were lovely. They were volunteers (or "blonteers" as they say) who spoke a little English from around the area.

First we went to the Kyushu National Museum (which we got into for free). This was like a mosh-pit or stampeding ground as the exhibition had only opened recently and wasn't on for long. Thus the normally sedate and polite Japanese were pushing and shoving their way roudn this museum. There were some nice exhibits but nothing that was overly jaw-dropping. I did like the old calligraphy and writings, though, as you can see how the writing system has developed over the centuries.

We decided not to visit the fourth floor exhibit as it is a permanent display and we thought it might be better coming back when there were fewer people. Plus we can use our tickets again, so it won't cost us anything extra.

Afterwards we had lunch near an old house. Bento boxes, though these are very hit and miss. I think today's was a miss. We were made to sit with people other than our friends, though only Drummond and I ended up on in totally foreign groups (you like the pun?). Chatted about nothing much, with me mainly not understanding. I found I'd provide the catalyst for conversation, saying something and then getting left behind in the ensuing blabber.

Tuesday is Shigosan (literally 'seven-five-three'), a day when boys aged three or seven and girls aged three or five dress up in kimonos and go to their local shrines to 'drive out evil sprit', i.e. have fun. However, Tuesday is not a national holiday so families tend to go on the closest holiday to it, which was today. Hence there were all these cute little kids dressed up in kimonos wandering around, oblivious to what was going on. Kids get given sweets called chitoseame (千歳飴), which is a bit like a stick of rock, but much more sticky and not quite so sweet. We got given these along with our bentos along with suitable warning regarding our teeth. I got two for some reason as there were extra ones.

After lunch James and Lauma left to go to a concert and the group seemed to disintegrate. The remaining three of us were shown round the local Buddhist temple by three Japanese volunteers, which was nice. It's got a couple of nice gardens: a stone one at the front, and a moss and sand one at the back that is really peaceful. We even went into the place where they put the bones of the dead. There were loads of little memorials to each person. All very peaceful.

That was the end of the tour. Walking back we were invited to the volunteers' houses whenever we want and I got given a buisness card (meishi). Drummond expressed his desire to do calligraphy and by chance (tama tama) one of the ladies had a licence to teach it and invited him to her house.