Honestly, there was nothing spectacular about the temples close to our hostel. Unless the temple has something special to claim, most look the exact same. Each temple has a different history though, so sometimes that can be interesting.
Close to the temples, Banshee and I found a cemetery that lined the side of a large hill. For no reason at all, we started climbing the stairs up the hill to find out what was on the top.
It seemed to go on forever. We had not adequately prepared for a climb. By the time I had figured this out, we were about halfway up, so we kept truckin’.
Once we reached the top, we drank some Aquarius (grapefruit-flavored sports drink) and looked over the distance we just climbed. Quite remarkable. The view of Nagasaki was beautiful. We saw a small grass hill at the top so we pushed a little further.
It turns out, this was a famous mountain (who’s name I can’t seem to find) with a statue of Sakamoto Ryoma. We were happy to stumble upon such a cool site!
What made the top EVEN cooler were the sakura blossoms. Families were having their spring picnics among the Sakura (called a Hanami). Japan really is gorgeous in the springtime.
On the way down the other side of the mountain, we found an Inari shrine. You can tell that it’s an Inari shrine because of the fox statues and use of the color, orange. Compare Fushimi Inari and this shrine and you’ll notice the relationship.
Our last place to visit was Sofukuji Temple. “Founded by the Buddhist priest Chonen in 1629, Sofukuji remains a rare example of Ming architecture with its vermillion lacquer panels, belonging to one of Japan’s oldest Zen sects, the Obaku sect.” It was very pretty.
Our train left from Nagasaki Station at 3PM, so we ate some lunch and said goodbye to Kyushu soon after!
I can't begin to describe how retarded you look with rolled up jeans! I am ashamed you kept those pictures but even more so that you posted them on the internet. Oh Josh, why do you disgrace yourself thusly?
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