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A brief stop in Miyazaki City, on the way to my new home Miyakonojo.
My journey from Fukuoka to my new home of Miyakonojo had me transferring through Miyazaki city, where I needed to change trains. I had some time to fill in between trains, so I went for a bit of a wander. Immediately in front of the station was a lovely garden area with a fountain. Palm trees, colourful flowers, blue skies, I could get used to this.I’m already used to this. I was born for this.I continued on, passing by the fountain. Before long I found myself on a lovely green, leafy boulevard. I should mention that I arrived in Japan in June. This particular day was June 18. Summertime. Which…
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Brief life in Fukuoka, and a trip to Dazaifu.
Starting with the prosaic, I found Rainbow Plaza (in the IMS building in Tenjin) to be a useful place for general information and internet access. This was also where I got introduced to the website dpreview.com by a random guy, after I mentioned I wanted to buy a camera. I loved the fact that catching the train home from Tenjin station meant that I departed from a terminus, with a giant sign board overhead with lines, destinations and times, and trains waiting to depart. The visible possibilities of places to go to, places to explore. Hardly surprising then really, that I had studied Aviation Management (which had a fascinating mix…
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Arrival in Osaka, bullet train to Fukuoka, initial training.
I flew into Kansai/Osaka airport. I was too busy following the instructions I’d been given on how to get to and onto the bullet train, thinking three steps ahead, and double checking everything to make sure I didn’t make any mistakes to notice much around me. Even years later though, what remains vivid is that the thing that made the largest impression on me travelling on the bullet train from Osaka down to Fukuoka was the number of tunnels and the experience of going through them at such speed. Sunlight, green and blue, black—–. Sunlight, green and blue, black——–. Sunlight, green and blue, black——. Along with the distinctive sound changes…