A Weekend Trip to Nagasaki Part 1 - Kyushu National Museum and Mifuneyama Rakuen

Last semester we took a lot of school trips with JTW around Kyushu to see and learn more about the area. The last trip that semester was to Nagasaki. I had been longing to go there because I wanted to visit the former Dutch traders island of Dejima and see some of the Dutch influences left around the city. Unfortunately we didn't go there.

Before we went to the city of Nagasaki we dropped by the Kyushu National Museum and later at Mifuneyama-rakuen. The National Museum of Kyushu is located in Dazaifu, near Fukuoka. The building is very big with striking architecture and when we were there a Balinese musical performance was being held in the spacious entrance hall. The permanent museum collection itself is not too big though. I don't think you will need a lot of time looking around. The collection is called a 'Cultural Exchange Exhibition' and is not just about Japanese or Kyushu history, but the history of Asian cultural exchange. The interesting parts for me were the Dutch collection, the 'Hidden Christians' (kakure kirishitan) artifacts and a Chinese painting which had the same set up as one of the paintings we studied for the East-Asian Arts course back in Leuven. Sadly I forgot my camera during this trip so I only had my iPhone at disposal. So I am also using some pictures taking by my friend Kim :)

By Kim

As I said the collection isn't too big so within an hour we had seen everything and headed to our next destination Mifuneyama Rakuen. It is a big 'stroll garden' designed by a painter from Kyoto and completed in 1845. It has gorgeous views with every season or every month offering a unique view. It is supposed to have beautiful autumn foliage, but sadly when we were there most leaves had already fallen down. It is still a nice garden with a small mountain and many azalea bushes, so I can imagine how impressive it most be when these are in bloom (which is actually around the time that I am writing/posting this article). How I wish I could go there right now to see the azaleas. I have fallen in love with those flowers since I first saw them blooming a few weeks ago. I saw them for the first time in my live and can't get over how bright and colorful they are.

A bare garden without the autumn leaves or spring/summer flowers.

Still found some red leaves!

So the garden was really nice but it just wasn't the right timing to go because there was no autumn leaves and no flowers blooming either. Instead we just fooled around, chatted and took a lot of photos. When we were finished I really wanted to buy a hot chocolate at the little coffee stand outside the garden, but when we got back it was already closed. Too bad. But it was time to head to our inn. The Nakamasu ryokan we were staying at was really luxurious with big rooms, onsen in the building and a luxurious dinner. I can't believe we only paid 300 yen for this trip. JTW sometimes really amazes me. The funny thing is that the outside didn't look like a ryokan at all, and the hallways and stairs looked like they had had their best times, but the rooms, the onsen and the dinner were so nice.

By Kim

By Kim

After the amazing dinner some people went to soak in the hot springs. I went out to buy some drinks and snacks and decided to take a nice warm soak in our big private bath to eliminate the winter cold from my body. To city of Takeo where to ryokan is located isn't to big but there was a gorgeous illuminated red gate and some other nice views which made a stroll around the city a good idea. I decided to skip because I wanted to stay warm and cosy inside. When everybody did their strolls, took a bath and put on a yukata we all gathered in one of the guys' rooms to play games and drink together. It was such a fun and cosy night, and a nice way to enjoy our last trip of the first semester.

Next time I will be sharing part two of this post which is about us actually going to Nagasaki where we visited the Atomic Bomb Museum and Glover Garden.