Kyushu Trip: Unzen and Shimabara

The next stop on our around Kyushu trip was Kumamoto. To get there we went through Unzen and Shimabara and took in the sights.

The bus we took from Nagasaki to Unzen passed through one of the handful of towns around Japan that happen to be named “Obama”. It was quite a beautiful little town.

And you can see they are proud to share the name.

Unzen is near the top of the active volcano that created the Unzen peninsula. These particular hells are well known because a bunch of Christians were boiled to death back in the day.

Crystals around a gas vent.

Geothermal powered egg cooker.

Our next stop was the town of Shimabara. This is the moat and wall of Shimabara castle.

This is a local dish called Guzoni. It’s a soup that was invented to feed peasants and is very filling and tasty.

Shimabara is also known for the carp streams that run through town.

Shimabara-jo.

Cute train station, huh. On to Kumamoto.