Travel day to Fukuoka

I took the Shinkansen to the island of Kyushu yesterday. It is always such a pleasure to take a clean, fast ride.

Between food shopping, some personal business, and moving hotels, I didn’t get a lot of sightseeing done.

Here’s what I saw

Okayama’s mascot is called Peach Boy. Here he is being a firefighter

Hilariously large curry tonkotsu. It’s plastic and all, but i would absolutely try to eat this if it was real

At the local shrine. This is a Mikoshi, and its carried around the neighborhood on festival days.

Ohori Park. It’s the perfect size for a walk-around and a coffee

Naoshima Island

Nice day trip to an island that’s been overrun by artists. It’s still a fishing village, but the locals have managed to revitalize the economy. Respect. So many small towns have just up and died.

Id been wanting to see the big pumpkin for a while. The artist is one of my favorites.

The café is literally the living room lol

This is Doria, rice with meat sauce. The top is a murderous amount of cheese. Delicious.

I wish I had the space in my bag. This stuff was cool

At the station. These fishing floats are all made into cute animals

I desperately wanted so much of this used stuff. A lot of the smaller islands have these free reuse shops

Naoshima Island

Nice day trip to an island that’s been overrun by artists. It’s still a fishing village, but the locals have managed to revitalize the economy. Respect. So many small towns have just up and died.

Okayama

The “reason” i came to Japan this time was to finally see the three famous gardens of Japan. Today I saw the first one, here in okayama.

Tbh, I was kinda underwhelmed. It was big, and well maintained, and just kinda meh. I guess I expected fireworks and a marching band or something. It’s very pretty, just the same.

I love Okayama, though. It feels a lot like Portland. Lots of artsy fartsy stuff.

I was surprised to discover that I’d booked myself into a regular hotel. Past me must have known that I was ready for some privacy.

Also I can see the castle at night from my window.