Kyushu

May 1999

Kyushu is the southernmost of Japan's four "main" islands (the smaller islands leading southwest to Okinawa are further south).  Nagasaki, the other city besides  Hiroshima to have the atomic bomb dropped on it, lies on Kyushu.  Fukuoka is Kyushu's largest city and the southern terminus of the shinkansen line from Tokyo.  I paid a visit to a friend of mine from San Francisco, Jon Drake, who at the time was living in the small town of Miyakonojo in Miyazaki prefecture.
 

My friend Jon Drake, who I was visiting, posing with Sakurajima volcano in the background.	Smoke and ash spew out of the Miname-daki cone of Sakurajima.	What appears to be a Japanese warship in Kinko-wan Bay on the way to Sakurajima.
At the foot of Sakurajima is Furusato Onsen, right along the sea.  One of the truly great pleasures of Japan is soaking in one of these natural, volcanic hot springs.
On the road between the Jon's home in Miyakonojo and the city of Kagoshima, across from Sakurajima.
Looking out over Miyakonojo, Miyazaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu from Jon's apartment.