Thursday, August 2, 2012

Place #4: Kumamoto! 4カ所目:熊本!

We had a whole day to explore Kumamoto and its wonders before taking the train, ferry and another train to our next destination- Nagasaki. Of course, we hit the Kumamoto Castle first. If you manage to see me in the above photo, that is how BIG it is. Really, really big.

熊本の魅力を探るのには、次の長崎まで電車とフェリーを乗り継ぐ前、ほぼ1日あった。もちろん、最初に行ったのは熊本城。上の写真の私が見えたら、このお城の大きさが分かるかも。本当に、本当に大きい。




As one of the three premier castles in Japan, Kumamoto castle impressed us with its size, but also their stone walls. You could just imagine how much energy or tactics it'd take for the enemy to even consider reaching into this castle.

日本三名城のなかに入る熊本城は、そのサイズだけでなく、頑丈でたくさんある石垣で私たちを圧倒した。このお城を襲うために、敵がどれだけの知恵やエネルギーが必要か想像するだけで大変。

We climbed up one of the side towers- original from back then, 1607. It was hard to believe that it had been there 400 years and only the surroundings had changed so much. We saw countless little holes in the walls that they used as peek holes to check the enemies' arrival, as well as holes that were used to put in the weapons. 

当時そのままの櫓にも登った:なんと1607年からの建物。400年も同じところに立ち続け、周りだけものすごく変わったんだろうと思うとびっくり。敵を見張るための穴や、鉄砲用の穴がどこもかしかしこもみえた。


Of course we climbed up the main castle tower as well (though that was reconstructed in 1960s). At the top was a gorgeous view overlooking the Kumamoto city and even the mountains far far away. It must have felt quite grand to be the daimyo and to overlook his territory. 

もちろん、メインの天守閣にも登った(こちらは、1960年代に復興されたもの)。
最上階からは、熊本の町のきれいな景色が見下ろせ、遠くには山々も見えた。
当時の大名は、こんなふうに自分の土地を見下ろしては、それはそれは誇りに思ったんだろうな〜と考える。








We also visited the Honmaru Goten, a beautiful palace where public administration was done and as well, people just lived the general life. The tatami rooms were huge and with a neat design- the rooms getting smaller and smaller the further one goes, but the ceiling getting higher and higher.

行政の場と生活空間として利用された、立派な本丸御殿も訪れた。畳が敷かれた大広間の迫力はすごくて、また仕組みも面白い。部屋が奥にいくにつれ小さくなるのだけれど、天井は、どんどん高くなるの。


 

These rooms led to the "Shokunno Ma", the most highly regarded room of all- everyone can see that just by looking at it. The ceilings and the walls were covered in gold with beautiful intricate drawings. 
この部屋たちをどんどん奥へと進んでたどり着くのが「昭君の間」、一番格式の高い部屋だ。そんなの誰が見ても分かるほど、天井も壁も金箔で覆われ、細やかな絵で成り立っていた。

As you can see, we were felt right at home at Kumamoto Castle! ↓
見ての通り、私たちは熊本城を気に入ってしまいました↓



After the morning at the castle, and lots of walking within the castle area, we enjoyed another local food- Karashi renkon korroke burger. Karashi is spicy mustard and renkon, a lotus root vegetable. The local Kumamoto food Karashi renkon, combines these two by filling the spicy mustard in the gaps of the lotus root.
The shop that specialized in karashirenkon had gone even further to create a recipe using this as an ingredient, karashirenkon croquette burger, to attract more young people and tourists to enjoy the local food.

お城での朝を終えると、またまたご当地グルメに挑戦:今回は、熊本のカラシ蓮根を使った、カラシ蓮根コロッケバーガー。
現地のカラシ蓮根専門店が、最近になって、若い人や観光客にも食べやすくしようと、考え抜いて作った一品だ。

And how was the taste? It was quite yummy- crunchy bits of spicy lotus in the potato mash in the croquette was interesting and definitely not something we had ever tasted before. But, it wasn't a jaw-dropper, like I'd die to eat one ever again.

味はというと?うん、結構美味しかった。カラシ蓮根のシャキシャキな歯ごたえがコロッケのじゃがいもの中に入ってるのは、今まで食べたことなかった。でも、死んでもいいからまた食べたい!!!っていうほどでもなかった。

What struck our chords more, touching our souls was the gift the hostel owner made for us. As we went to say goodbye, he handed us this little accessory for the phone. Made from a 5yen coin, called Go-en in Japanese, signifies also the other word Go-enご縁, meaning something like "meant to be" or "linked by fate". It was by fate that we arrived at his lovely japanese style hostel, and that we stayed there two nights. All over the place around this hostel there were little pieces of kindness, little pieces of his passion for the place, traveling and for his guests- and we sensed this strongly with just the 2 nights that we stayed there... looking back too, it was one of the loveliest places I have ever stayed in, and I am always reminded when I see this attached to my phone. It also leaves a new message from him- to treasure every person you meet, because you are "linked by fate" with them for some reason.

カラシ蓮根より私たちの胸をつかみ、心を動かしたのは、ホステルのオーナーさんが作ってくれた小さなプレゼント。ありがとうとさよならの挨拶をしにいくと、こんな携帯ストラップをくれた。五円で作られていて、ご縁を象徴している。私たちが、彼のホステルに行き着いたのも縁で、2泊したのも縁。彼のホステルのそこらじゅうには小さな心配りがあって、それは紛れもなくオーナーのホステルと旅行と旅行者に対しての情熱。2泊だけでもそれを強く感じられたから、本当に愛がいっぱいな場所。
旅を終えて考えても、今までで一番素敵な宿だったと思うし、それは携帯に着いてるこの5円をみると思い出す。出会う人一人一人を大事に思い、なんらかの理由で出会ったその縁に感謝することの大事さというオーナーの素敵な信念もまた思い出す。










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