Tuesday May 20 Fukuoka to Kumamoto, Japan

We’re off on a tour to Mt Aso (yes, another volcano).  The tour was with Klook which is a big tour operator in Asia.

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First another castle.  Kumamoto Castle is one of three premier castles in Japan, Matsumoto is one too (see May 13th).  Remember castles are fortresses in Japan. Unlike Matsumoto Castle we didn’t have to take off our shoes because the interior has been redone to modern standards and it now houses displays and info on the castle.  There’s still plenty of work to be complete. 

It is originally from 1469, restored 1960 and still under repair from the 2016 earthquake.  There were a zillion people here because a cruise ship was in town. It was very crowded and uncomfortable in the castle.  Tiny staircases that were two-way that snaked throughout the building getting smaller as we ascended. Doesn’t that sound like fun.

Reflecting on visiting castles, I'm really glad we got to see Matsumoto Castle.  At Matsumoto we got to see the interior, the structure of it.  The beauty of the wood and how they were able to build something spectacular in 1594.

Next we drove about an hour up to Mt. Aso. The caldera is one of the world's largest.  This is made up of 5 mountains, Mt. Naka (Nakadake) is the most active.  They did tell us if volcanic activity is high we would not be able to visit it. Luckily activity was low.  But the Japanese take their emergency prep very seriously, note the little huts at the volcano.  I'm not sure how much they'd help us and it depended upon how far we hiked. Also we did not see Rodan (from Godzilla movies).

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The lake at Mt. Naka is an amazing color green.  It is due to the ferrous ions from the volcano.  From what I read, the lake just turned green again in April for the first time in 6 years.  I read that the lake turns green when the volcanic activity is low (which is good news for us).  The lake is 30 meters (98 ft) deep.  

Dinner was great. We found a small neighborhood restaurant that was excellent, the best pasta carbonara I’ve ever had!  We did order too much food though.  We found the servings are pretty small but we over compensated this time.