Cool stuff in Kyushu

The Sumo tournament had brought us to Fukuoka, described as the "the gateway to Kyushu". It is  a modern not too interesting city (In my Japanese transformation, "ugly" is no longer part of my vocabulary). The interesting part of Fukuoka is the food stalls, mentioned in Marcel's last entry. Kyushu happens to be a wonderful place to visit. It is the most southerly and the third largest of the four main islands of Japan. Rail and car tunnels connect it to Honshu, the main island of Japan. It took us 6 hours by 2 trains from Tokyo, Honshu, to Fukuoka, Kyushu. Kyushu is famous for its natural beauty, volcanic ranges and for its Onsen, or spas that are built directly above hot spring sources.
My 2 main interests in Kyushu were a visit to hot spring resort, and a tour of Arita, the birthplace of Japanese ceramic and porcelain (brought to Japan from China and Korea).
Most tourists searching for hot-spring resorts in Japan tend to visit Beppu, Japan most popular hot-spring resort. But since we were aiming for the less traveled road, I searched for another destination. Again, my "beauty pilates" buddies were a wonderful source of information: I had been told of paradise on earth:Kurokawa Onsen. It is a gorgeous small mountain village nested in the mountains of Kyushu. It is hardly a village, but ryokans (small Japanese inns) and beautiful outdoor baths built on hot springs. Driving is challenging so we chose to take public transportation, meaning: One express train, followed by 2 local trains, then a bus.. We gave up on the bus and from the last train station we took an hour cab ride, definitely the most exciting beautiful taxi ride of our lives! The local trains were somehow intimidating, no word or sign of English, but my limited Japanese appeared to be useful. There is an announcement before each stop, so all I had to understand was something like: "Tsigi wa Aso Desu" the next stop is Aso.
After my visit to Kurokawa Onsen, ( and also after attending a Tea ceremony in Tokyo) I finally understand my deep attraction to Japan, it is about learning to stay in the present, fully experience and use all 5 senses. Staying in our ryokan, walking in the mountains I see the beauty of trees and flowers, I hear birds and waterfalls, I smell the sulphur of the hot springs, I touch leaves, branches and rocks, and , of course, taste of the wonderful food: Dinner in the Ryokan is a feast to eyes and palate. We could not read the Japanese menu, but we counted 12 courses, small, colourful portions, in exquisite dishes.
We could not communicate much with the staff at the ryokan. I mastered enough Japanese to say: Denwa (telephone), Taxi, Ashita (tomorrow) Aso eki (Aso train station) but there was wonderful communication of greetings, smiles, warmth and hospitality.

On our way back to Aso eki, our taxi driver received what seemed to be an urgent call from the ryokan. He turned to us and kept saying something like cado, kedi. After some tiring process of non verbal communication I finally understood: Kagi! keys! I realized I took the 2 room keys with me. I felt so embarrassed, gave the keys to the driver, who "said" that he would return to keys to the ryokan.
I am sure that my psychotherapists friends can see here an unconscious hope. I still have the keys, I will come back "home' one day...
Pnina

PS Here is a photo of the Gourmet stall restaurant.