On Boxing Day, Number 1 (my J-b/f) and I drove the three and a half hours down the Kyushu expressway from Fukuoka to Kagoshima. The trip was duel purpose; surfing for him and seeing the 'cranes' resting place' for me. The surf place was a beach popular with locals in a place called Akune and was beautifully empty. I spent a peaceful few hours walking with the best dog in the world the full length of the beach in the warm sunshine, soaking up the atmosphere and listening to the surf crashing on the shore.
The next morning we got up before
sunrise and went to Izumi, where up to 20,000 cranes or Tsuru come
from Siberia to spend the winter every year. The noise was amazing as the sky was filled with waking birds flying in hundreds of V-shaped formations and about 13,000 cranes gathered to be fed on the fallow rice paddies.
We decided for the trip back not to go all the way on the highway but to take a ferry from Nagashima, an island in northern Kagoshima prefecture, to Amakusa. Amakusa is an archipelago of more than 120 islands lying off the southwestern coast and belonging to Kumamoto prefecture. In the Edo period (17th to 19th century) Amakusa was an early center of Japanese Christianity and when Chris
tianity was banned and became illegal, Amakusa became a refuge for many practising Christians. These days the area is well-known for the beautiful scenery, pottery, 
fresh seafood and dolphin watching. The local economy is supported by vegetable and mandarin farming using the terrace system as the islands are like small mountains and pearl cultivation.
The Amakusa area is an incredibly beautiful place and just wonderful for sightseeing and taking in historic and local culture. I'll be returning there for sure and will keep you posted on whatever else I find.
I love Japan!
