I went to Kagoshima again this weekend again, this time by myself. Last week a local yet not Japanese dude recommended I come back to check out the Ohara festival. 20,000 people in the streets dressed up in traditional clothing and dancing is definitely worth an hour train ride. I was also able to get an eyeful of the Tsurumaru-jo Castle, see the monument to the loyal Shimazu lords during the Satsuma rebellion, and some other historical stuff. Kagoshima is a very special place because it was one of the first places to have contact with the West and Kyushu area is thought to be home to the first Japanese people. I ducked out of the festival for a bit and took a half hour hike up this path not knowing where it lead but I was happy to find an unbelievable view with an echo of festival noises. At the hostel I stayed at I met a Dutch women who was a banker that quit her job to travel around China and Russia for awhile, we decided to go check out this really famous onsen(hotspring) called Furusato the next day on Sakurajima (home of the feisty volcano). This is probably the coolest thing I've done in Japan so far. This hotspring is part of a shrine so you have to wear a yukatta, a sort of kimono looking thing, when you get into the water. Onsens have varying temperatures, depending on what area of hot water it is pipped into underground. I kept visualizing the volcano heating up and the water boiling with me in it., I visualized it like a cartoon though. Brooke stew. But the great thing about this onsen was that a) there was a sideways elevator to get to it b) It was outside overlooking the ocean c) It is part of a shrine d) There was a really beautiful indoor one as well just for women. Words can't describe this one. Hopefully pictures will do it a little justice. I can't think of anything more relaxing then this hotspring, tucked away on the back a quiet island. Oh yeah, it was strange coincidence the person that recommended I come to the festival happened to be at the onsen as well so I was able to meet his friends- some other Western English teachers. Here is a picture of some women making some fresh soybean treats. They were faster then ninjas. After the hotspring I hadn't eaten anything yet so I was starving and someone told us to go to this sushi place with a conveyer belt. I had the most amazing eggplant sushi. Yum. I laugh a lot at these sashimi boats. A little bit of raw fish venturing out into an unknown world. Good luck dear fish.