Visiting Kitakyushu Manga Museum

Last Saturday we had decided to take a drive to Kitakyushu Manga Museum. The museum is located on the fifth and sixth floors of Aruaru City shopping mall in Central Kokura. 

Just a short walk from the Kokura Station Shinkansen🚄 entrance, where there are bronze statues of Tetsuro, Maetel and Harlock from Galaxy Express 999, you'll soon see Kitakyushu's manga and anime hall of fame, Aruaru City (あるあるCity). 

Welcome to the world of anime and manga📚

The statue of Captain Harlock at the entrance. 

Watching the history of manga and anime in Japan, I decided to check out the bookshelf filled with a large number of manga😁 This anime can be read as much as you want while the museum is open, so if you pay the admission fees of 480 yen per person, you can do it anytime😊

And good news for residents in Japan🗾 The museum annual pass offers free access to library books. The price is ¥2400 per year. 

I bought pretty dragon dolls at Nagasaki Chinatown

In the evening, we went to Nagasaki Chinatown. As usual, we bought some "dragon"🐲 Chinese new year goods at Min-min boutique shop.  

We got here around 5:30. The Nagasaki Lantern festival was finished last week, and we can still see the lanterns in Chinatown😊

I bought two dragon🐉 toys, the bigger one and the smaller one. Both are very cute, I think the bigger one is the best😀

I got a good luck doll too.

After having dinner, I had a cup of cold bubble tea at a Taiwanese tea shop on the other side.

See you next year🐍

 

Walking around the spa town of Unzen, Nagasaki

After visiting the Old Onokiba Elementary School, we went to Unzen Onsen Hells (雲仙地獄 Unzen Jigoku). As the name suggests, this is a place where steam from hot spring blows out of the water. I've been there many times, but this is a must see place😁　

There are some way to go around the jigoku hot springs, but the first place I go was Hachiman Hell♨ The volcanic smoke had stopped rising, but it was buried by a landslide due to heavy rainfall in August 2021☔ The work is underway😔 

Walking down the main street, we went into the Seishichi Hell. 

Well... there's so much steam we were here😒 We can't see anything in front of our eyes😥

The Oito Hell. This is the sad story of a woman who punished in hell😭 Long ago, in Shimabara Castle, there was a woman named Oito (お糸) who lived a very wealthy life. But after having an affair, she killed her husband. This hell erupted around the time Oito was executed, and it is said that name was given to her to symbolize her warning that if you do bad things to others, you will fall down😨

Going up the stairs, we got another spot, the Daikyokan Hell. This is the area with the most active volcano in the hot spring, and is said to be the place where sinners who have lied during their lives fall. The name Daikyokan (大叫喚) comes from the fact that it sounds like a scream😱

The old Onokiba Elementary school, Nagasaki

In the afternoon, we had decided to take a drive🚙 to the old Onokiba Elementary school building in Minamishimabara. As I wrote in my blog before, I have the memories of the Mount Unzen eruption 30 years ago: On June 3, 1991, the building was engulfed by a pyroclastic surge caused by volcanic eruption, leaving 43 people died or missing, including members of the media and firefighters. 

I wanted to know about pyroclastic flows, so I visited the Mount Unzen Disaster Museum before. This time, I thought I would learn more about it, so I went to the old elementary school building affected by a pyroclastic flow. Currently, the school building damaged by the disaster is located here, and the Onokiba Mudslide Prevention Museum and Observatory is right next to it. 

The school building. The largest pyroclastic flow occurred on September 15, 1991, and the building was completely destroyed. But fortunately there were no casualties in the former Fukae town area😇

Mount Fugen can be seen in the background.

Playground. The iron bars and sandbox remain, but the shape of the bars has changed due to the hot air😨

A gingko tree with lush leaves🍃 It looks like burnt by a volcanic eruption, but come back to life with many leaves😊

The image is downloading from Chokologue's blog on fc2.

The Onokiba Mudslide Preservation Museum and Observatory. You can see photos, panels etc. of the disaster situation and recovery efforts. It's free of charge❗

Taking a lunch break at Roadside Station Himawari

After visiting the Mount Unzen Disaster Museum, we had a good rest at Michi-no-eki (=Roadside station) Himawari in Minamishimabara, Nagasaki. This is the only roadside station on the Shimabara Peninsula that has an exhibition hall shows about the history of the eruption disaster of Mount Unzen happened in 1991.

It's already half past 1 o'clock⌚ We were very hungry, my mother and I bought a cheeseburger🍔 set at Y's Sasebo burger shop inside😋 My mom had bad teeth, so she was given disposable chopsticks to eat with. 

We are going to the Damaged house preservation Park. The park has a small collection of houses damaged by the debris flow from Mt. Fugen in August 1992😨

Let's take a look inside🔍 Three buried houses🏠 are left in the park🏞

Look at the picture. All the first floor is covered with stones😲 Fortunately, there were no casualties and injuries were reported in the area; the people living in these houses had been evacuated from home when the evacuation advisory issued on May 15, 1991👏

Debris flow in disaster: It breaking through the wall and flowing inside the house❗ 

Visiting Mount Unzen Disaster Museum

Yesterday we had decided to take a drive to Mount Unzen Disaster Museum (雲仙岳災害記念館 Unzendake Saigai Kinenkan) in Shimabara, Nagasaki. The museum, also known as the Gamadasu Dome (がまだすドーム), is built on the new land that was created when the debris flow buried the Ariake bay😲 This is Japan's only "volcano experience museum" where you can learn in an easy-to-understand way while seeing, touching, and experiencing the experience.  

The entrance of museum. I have to pay the 1050 yen entrance fee💰here.

Do you know about the Mount Unzen eruption 30 years ago? 43 people were killed by the pyroclastic flow that occurred on June 3, 1991 during the eruption of Mt. Fugen lasted about five years starting in November 1990😭

The equipment used by reporters was brutally burnt by the heat of the pyroclastic flow🔥   

TV Asahi's television camera for news reporting📹 What did he or she take with this camera? I don't know anything now❓

A motorcycle🏍 caught in volcano eruption😱

Everyday utensils such as stoves and pots are burnt out😨  

After that I went to the observation deck on the third floor. From here, you can see the awesome view of Mount Unzen🌄  

The North-West area of Kumamoto city can be seen on the right side.

The new year is coming!

A happy new year to everyone🐲

I'm posting a picture of the restoration romon tower gate of Aso Jinja Shinto shrine taken last November📸 

The shrine's tower gate⛩ collapsed during the Kumamoto Earthquakes. It is a new one done the last month😊