Aso mountain is the general term referring to 5 mountains.
Nakadake (1592m) is one of them, and is the only one still active.
The photo above is the caldera, which can be seen if the weather and wind condition is all right.
The last large eruption happend 90,000 years ago.

This board tells gas condition, and whether or not you can go close to caldera.

When we say `Aso’, it includes the huge area including caldera. During harvest season, mountains are covered with golden pampas grass.

You can enjoy local food in Takamori Area.

Japanese people love to take souvenior photo.

On sunny days, Aso is a perfect touring route for motorbike riders.

Throughout Japan, you can find variety of softcreams, but this is something special!
(You can get this at Dai-Kan-Bo)

Beside pampas grass, what you can enjoy in this season (Oct-Nov) is cosmos flowers, and leaves starting to get color.

*To get to Kyushu Island, you can fly to Fukuoka Airport from Tokyo(1′45”)/Osaka(1′20”)/Nagoya(1′30”), or can take a Shinkansen Bullet Train, or fly from Asian countries such as Korea, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Philippines. From Fukuoka Airport, you can take express trains to variety of destinations. Kyushu express trains are unique and is very comfortable. The view from express trains is something amazing !!

Shooting date: June 21 2008

Address: 2859 Minamiusa, Oaza, Usa-shi, Oita-ken 872-0102 Japan
Telephone: 81 (0) 978 370202
Fax: 81 (0) 978 372748
Website: http://www.usa-kanko.jp/usa-jingu/
Proprietor: Usa-jingu Religious Authorities
Opening hours: 7am-6pm daily

Fukuoka, which already has a very good reputation among residents,
business people (especially Tanshin-Funin people* !), domestic tourists,
and also oversea visitors, first appeared in the latest MONOCLE magazine,
and introduced as the best shopping city, and the 16th livable place.

As a resident, Fukuoka is;
-Gourmet! Especially recommendable is ramen noodle, seafood, local shochu (distilled spirit).
-Friendly! People show welcome mood to visitors.
-Modern! Fukuoka has many beautiful architectures in city center area.
-Fashionable! You’ll know once you walk into Tenjin area, especially in the evening.
-Comfortable! 1.5 million population is just OK to make the city exciting, not too crowded.
-Clean. very clean and organized.
-On the sea! Beautiful beach is available within an hour drive from the city center.
-Convinient! Within a walking distance you can find almost everything there’s in Tokyo.
-Accessible! From Tokyo to Fukuoka = 2 hous’ flight. From Tokyo to Fukuoka= 1.5 hours’ flight
(because of the way wind blows. )
-Happy! Fuku means Blessing or Happiness, Oka means Hill. So Fukuoka is literally happy
-And lots more things you’ll find when you visit !!

Yatai food stalls are popular among tourists and local people.
Fukuoka is the perfect place to enjoy nightlife !

Another urban area named Momochi is about half an hour from Tenjin, which is a romantic dating spot.
234 meter Fukuoka Tower is amazingly beautiful at night.

FUKUOKA Related Posts
Try Maiko Makeup @ Yoji-ya
ICHIRAN Ramen Shop, special lunch box version @ Canal City Hakata !
ICHIRAN Ramen Shop @ Canal City Hakata, more photoes, English order sheet, and my recommendation
Antenna Shops of Hakata; foods, cup-sake, Glico @ Canal City Hakata

These are colors for your eyes and lips. Each is from Japanese traditional natural colors of flowers, fruits, snow, etc.
They may look unusual, but once you put them, you’ll find they fit beautifully.

Lip balm made of Yuzu (Japanese citrus), with relaxing sweet sour scent.
The woman illustrated on the cap is the cover girl of Yojiya’s Aburatorigami, facial oil blotting paper, a popular Kyoto souvenior among girls.

Original makeup tools. These brushes are made of goats’ hair.

Soap, Lotion…skin care items to make moistured skin.

Variety of high quality makeup brushes, all made in Japan.

Adding `red’ to eyelids and lips, `sakura (cherry blossom)’ to cheeks.

Snow-skin is essencial to Maiko makeup.
So finish with a light dusting of translucent snow white powder.

The great advantage of visiting counter is that you can get personal makeup advice face-to-face.
What I found out today is, this Maiko makeup is very cool (I mean not simply traditional), and I can put it on everyday. So please try :>

*Photographed and Reported at Yojiya @Daimaru, Fukuoka Tenjin.

頭の回転が遅い[あたまのかいてんがおそい, atama no kaiten ga osoi] be slow; be slow on the uptake; be dull or dimwitted

This expression is quite similar to atama ga warui except in my opinion, it’s a bit more colorful.

kaiten is spinning or turning. And in the case of a dull person, it just doesn’t spin fast enough.

The reverse is also said of someone who is pretty sharp - in that case,

頭の回転が速い[あたまのかいてんがはやい, atama no kaiten ga hayai] be quick; be quick on the uptake; be sharp

Which have you heard said about you? Sharp as a tack or dumber than a box of rocks?

頭が悪い[あたまがわるい, atama ga warui] be dumb; be slow

Yup, the Japanese can insult with the best of them.

When a person just doesn’t get it, can’t figure it out, can’t be taught, or is just plain slow to come around..s/he is said to have a bad (warui) head.

It’s different in the west. When a person is said to have a bad head, it means they are intent on doing wrong. They are evil. They can, in fact, be very sharp, just on the wrong side of the law.

It might be more of a testimony to what I don’t know than what I do, but these ten expressions never made it into any conversation that I was a part of.

Does that mean they are not useful?

It meant that to me.

Have you ever heard them used?

Have you ever tried using them?

足がつく[あしがつく, ashi ga tsuku] leave tracks

足が遠退く[あしがとおのく, ashi ga toonoku] be far away; keep away; visit less often

足が速める[あしがはやめる, ashi ga hayameru] pick up the pace; walk faster

足でまとい[あしでまとい, ashi de matoi] a drag; a person who is a burden

足止めをする[あしどめをする, ashidome o suru] slow down; stop

足並みをそろえ[あしなみをそろえて, ashinami o soroete] cooperate

足元に付け込む[あしもとにつけこむ, ashimoto ni tsukekomu] have a person at a disadvantage

足元の明るいうちに[あしもとのあかるいうちに, ashimoto no akarui uchi ni] a thing should be done before it is too late

足を奪われる[あしをうばわれる, ashi o ubawareru] be deprived of

足を出す[あしをだす, ashi o dasu] reveal a secret; let the cat out of the bag

Off the top of my head, I can think of a few things we Americans say with our feet -

Costs an arm and a leg = way too expensive.

Have a leg up on someone = be ahead of someone else in ability.

Pulling my leg = teasing me.

He has one foot in the grave = really old, almost dead.

He will foot the bill = he will pay for us.

Can you think of others?

I ran a business, fought with the auditors from the Tokyo Tax Bureau (IRS-types) and taught Japanese people about Japan in Japanese among other things. I learned the language. Not perfectly, mind you, but more than enough to just get by.

Here at Japan-Hopper, I’d like to share some of the lessons I learned, on the street

You got to start somewhere, so I will begin with Japanese body language, from the feet up.

足が遅い[あしがおそい, ashi ga osoi] be slow; be a slow walker; be slow on one’s feet

Easy enough to grasp, ashi = leg or foot and osoi is to be slow.

One’s legs are slow.

My Japanese friends and the parents of other kids I met at school undou kais (athletic festivals) used to say this about me when I participated in running races.

“We don’t have much chance of winning this race. Not with that big fellow our team. He runs slower than molasses.”

“Yeah, but I’ll bet he’ll be useful in the tug-o-war.”

Sure enough. They would just pounded me in the ground and tie a rope around my waist. Sometimes, we even won.

People from all over Japan visit Michizane-kou (it’s a way to call him friendly and with respect), and pray `Please let me (or let my son/ daughter) pass the entrance exam!’.

(If you know something about Japanese educational system, to enter good highschools and universities is very hard, and considerd to be crucial to decide future career. Usually, entrance exams are held from Jan. to early Feb., for school starts in April in Japan).

See? lots of people.

On your way to Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine from the parking or railway station, is the Sando street, which is a passway to the shrine. There’re many souvenior shops along the sando, and here in Dazaifu Tenmangu, one of the specialities is definitely…

Umegae-mochi, which is a special rice cake with pasted sweet beans inside. Ume means plum, and is the simbol of Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine, for several reasons.

(First, Michizane, the god of academy loved plum tree. Second, there’s a background story. When Michizane was sent away from Kyoto to Dazafu, it is said plum flower jumped from there, to follow Michizane, missing. The seed of the flower’s grown up to be a Jumping Plum Tree `Tobiume‘ , which you can see today, just next to the shrine building. Besides, Tobiume, here’re thousands of plum trees in Dazaifu which are in full broom and are magnificent in March. )

ACCESS

To go to Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine, from Nishitetsu Fukuoka Station (Tenjin), about half an hour by Nishitetsu railway (get off at Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine station).
By car, it’s about 20 to 25 minutes from Hakata or Tenjin, passing highway.

YOU CAN ENJOY DAY-TRIP IN DAZAIFU AREA!

Next to Dazaifu (you can visit on foot) is Kyushu National Museum, so you can enjoy a day trip in Dazaifu Area, enjoying culture and nature ! Dazaifu is blessed with beautiful nature, especially with flowers in each season !

Canal City Hakata has no new year holiday !

Shimekazari (decoration for welcoming New Year, fixed on the top of shops’ entrance) in Hakata is very unique.

These are very common in here.

*Kyushu Tourism Information Site will also help you discover the charms of Kyushu !