We went on a 6 day adventure in Oita Prefecture. There were 7 of us in the group, 5 women and 2 men. To start this adventure we all met at Haneda airport. Even though it was a cold, dark and rainy morning we were all in good spirits and looking forward to visiting Oita. After we arrived at Oita airport we took a shuttle to Nippon Rental Car and picked up a black Honda Step Van. It didn't look big enough for all of us but surprisingly all of us plus our luggage fit comfortably inside. Well, the people fit comfortably inside, Jon (the other male member beside myself) had to fit the luggage in like a jigsaw puzzle. Anyway, it was time to hit the road!
So, where is the first place a group like us needs to visit? A restaurant for lunch!
We ate lunch here and the food was terrific! BTW, that's our step van parked in front.
While Emi went to find our volunteer tour guide the rest of us visited a senbei factory.
Once we connected with our tour guide we headed to the Stone Buddha site.
The area of the Usuki Stone Buddhas is beautiful and very peaceful.
We have arrived at the first set of Stone Buddhas.
This is Amida-San-Son-Zou (I think).
BTW, wherever one goes in Japan there are always a bunch of steps to climb; this place is no different.
This is our volunteer guide. She was very knowledgeable about the Stone Buddhas and seemed to really enjoy sharing her knowledge with us.
Some people think that if you've seen one stone Buddha you've seen them all...
Not true! Everyone is different.
We are lucky, we are the only visitors here at the moment.
Everyplace is clean and well protected from the elements.
This picture should help give an idea as to how big the Buddhas are.
The way these stone Buddhas are protected from the weather they should last forever.
As we are guided from one group of Buddhas to another we walk past tall bamboo that adds to the peaceful atmosphere.
Sometimes the guide stops us and gives us extra background information on this site. She puts a lot of effort into her work; it's hard to believe she's a volunteer.
We have arrived at the last group of Stone Buddhas.
Furuzono-Sekibutsu
The biggest Buddha in the center is regarded as the finest stone Buddha in Japan.
In the past the big Buddhas head fell off during an earthquake. In 1993 his head was put back on his shoulders.
Just looking around the area surrounding the Usuki Stone Buddhas. This area is a national treasure.
Now it's time to head to our Inn for the night.
This is my room. It is also the party room! 😃
And, this is where I'll be sleeping.
That night we went to one of the fanciest restaurants I've ever been to. Kirakuan Restaurant
We had a special gourmet meal and Fugu (blowfish) was the main dish. We were told that we couldn't take pictures of some of the dishes because they were so special they didn't want anyone who was not a customer to see them... wow! I took these pictures of the outside of the restaurant the next morning
Next day, time for breakfast! The Inn served us an incredible breakfast using many local ingredients. They showed us many of those local foods and told us where we could buy them for ourselves if we were interested. It seemed to me like the girls were very interested; they were especially interested in the miso used in the miso soup.
After breakfast we walked to a nearby Castle site.
The castle is gone but the site is like a nice park. The site is on top of a hill. We took the steps to get to the top, people with a bicycle can use this loop bridge.
Some local people have gathered here to play gate ball.
Small shrine.
Time to head back down the hill through these torii gates and head back to the Inn.
The way back to the Inn.
Of course we took a group picture In front of the Inn's entrance before getting in the step van and continuing our adventure.
Part 2 is coming soon!
Thanks for stopping by!
Mike
Bonus shots!
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