The origin of the bear - Kumamoto

After regretfully leaving a prefecture and town we were falling in love with, we have arrived back in Kumamoto-ken, only this time we are seeing a whole new side of it.  Kumamoto-ken includes the beautiful islands of Amakusa we previously visited, but it is also home to ANOTHER active scary volcano, and its surrounding `geological park`.

Mt Aso is a HUGE volcanic crater about 25km across which was formed when four large volcanoes erupted, then the resulting void between filled with water to form a lake.  Eventually, from this lake, a HUGE volcano erupted creating a feature that is now somewhat akin to one of those awesome Thai curry pots with the candle underneath, or a donut.  Hard to describe so I have found you a picture.



We stayed in a home-run guesthouse in South Aso - the bottom half of the donut - but chose to camp in the yard to save money and enjoy the views.  We spent most of our time climbing from the lowlands up to the central peaks and volcanic region.  Then soaking in onsens.  The volcano, we are told, is often closed for visitors due to sulfur content in the air reaching 5ppm.  We were lucky enough to be there on a good day, and spent almost an hour around the crater.  However, visitors the next day were showered in acidic rain and emergency bells forced them down the mountain as fast as possible.

From the sulphourous lower valleys

Up to Kusa-sen-ri, a large flat grassy plateau amongst the peaks

We emerged out of the fores to face Naka-dake, the active component of the Mt Aso peaks.

Numerous volcano shelters are a stark reminder of the eruption that killed numerous people on this very summit in 1979.

We then escaped the charming guesthouse to somewhere with fewer children, and more bars - Kumamoto.  Kumamoto is famed for its castle, which played important roles in numerous historical events and is one of the best restored in Japan.  Kumamoto particularly interested us after spending so much time in Kagoshima, as it is an important site for the Satsuma Rebellion.  Most of the structures were burnt to the ground during this event, however some towers and orginal features survived, and thanks to photographs of the castle taken when the camera was first introduced to Japan in the Meiji Kumamoto prefecture were able to restore the exterior of the castle to its original state.

It is also an amazing time to be at the castle as the Sakura season is starting to kick off.  So everyone is in the park, eating Bento and drinking beer and gawking at blossoms.  I admit, I did my fair share of gawking!

The hostel we are staying in is unassuming from the front, but has been decorated immaculately with kitchy Japanese decorations and hand-died textiles.  The owners run dying workshops using traditional Japanese techniques, but unfortunately we do not have enough time to partake.

So tomorrow we will finish up our sightseeing in Kumamoto, then meander over to Beppu for some soaking in some of Japans finest onsens.