Middle of Nowhere...Nowhere

After two nights at Tensui, we have finally departed Amagase and journeyed yet again to places unexplored. After packing our bags and having a tearful goodbye from Manager-san and the great staff at Tensui. We took the local train from Amagase Station and arrived back at Kurume Station and from there we went even further south into the great unknown.

The journey will have us going south for 5 more hours with only 30 minutes being on the Shinkansen. To the little known city of Hitoyoshi.

Now if you were keeping track you would know that the distance that I have traveled from Tokyo to Hitoyoshi is roughly 1300 kilometers, give or take a few dozen kms depending on the route. Now one would ask why would we decide to go so south? The simple answer is one wouldn't.

While it is true that the area is known for its natural hot springs but due to it being so far out it has yet to have fully developed city and tourist industry like that in Hakone. At the same time the city has a history far enough that much of the local environment has been developed so it doesn't have the natural beauty that Amagase has.

The reason we traveled this far was at the "request" of some of the members of our merry band. Where they insisted on visiting the town which their most favourite anime takes place in. Being the kind hearted man Matt is, he decide to indulge in their desires. So there you have it. The reason we
are in the middle of nowhere...nowhere is due to the desires of a few overly obsessive fangirls.

Still I guess the city has its merits. It has a Castle...ruins where it's castle use to stand. It has a large river that runs through its city, which is filled with brown water. Maybe the local cuisine is to note? It is unagi (eel)...but we have dinner prepared for us at the ryokan already. sigh

The biggest highlight I had today was that there was a bunch of samurai armor sets at the castle ruins. I guess the local shrine was alright as well. Although its key feature was only how old the structure was. Our ryokan room (the guys) is pretty big and roomy I guess, but it smells like old tatami.

I think I am just going to sit in the onsen (hotsprings) for a bit and hope tonight will pass by quickly and without too much boredom. Hey if anything I can be judgemental over how much food the others don't like to eat. That's always fun 😝