(I am still updating this post but decided I would post while I continue to work....I probably will not finish today)

     Well it is now nearing the end of September and I have almost spent my first year here in Japan (September 30th I arrived). It still does not feel like I have been in japan for a year.  While I feel that  I have been able to see and do many things at the same time I feel that my Japanese is not as good as it should be for a person who has stayed in Japan for a year. Am I missing America? Yes, but not because of American culture or the need for familiarity, but for my family (and some food) but I can wait another year to see them in person. Along with my first year this was my first real summer in Japan and I believe I spent my summer here wisely.

     Between the end of July (30th) till the middle of August (22nd) I traveled all over Japan. A friend of mine, a fellow missionary in japan, told be about a special ticket for the summer that lets you travel as long as you want by local trains for about 25 American dollars a day. The only down sides are you have to ride only local, slow trains and buy tickets in packs of 5. Starting out in the southern area of Kyushu in Kumamoto where I live and slowly took local trains around a third of Japan over the duration of 7 days that ended in Osaka. Then I headed back to kumamoto for a friends birthday and to prepare for the next leg of my summer trip. where I took a nigh buss from Kumamoto to Osaka and then a day buss from Osaka to Tokyo.  I stayed in Tokyo for roughly 7 days and then traveled up to Sendai and surrounding area for 2 days. I returned to Tokyo for a few more days before taking a plane ride down to Kumamoto.

Map of Japan.
Yellow - First trip: Kumamoto, Fukuoka, Nagasaiki, Miyajima, Hiroshima, Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto
Blue - Second trip: Tokyo Yokohama, Chiba, Utsunomiya, Fukushima (just the train station), Sendai and Matsushima

     As you can tell just by that brief description and map I had a busy summer. Here are some of the plethora of images that I took and a little more information about my trip. The first leg of my trip started in Kumamoto (where I live). Form here I took local trains 2 hours to Fukuoka and then 4-5 hours more to Nagasaki. This town you most likely know from WW2 as being one of the two atomic bomb drop sites. However I was only in Nagasaki long enough to do one major thing after arriving around 11:30pm besides sleeping. I was able to spend about 5 hours the next day in town before having to head out.  knowing it is the closest city to Kumamoto and that I can easily go back to visit the atomic bomb museum and park I decided to visit the 26 martyrs museum instead on this trip.

The Twenty six Martyrs of Japan Museum (日本二十六聖人) Nihon Nijūroku Seijin refers to a group of Christians who were executed by crucifixion on February 5, 1597 in Nagasaki.

An artist rendition  of the 26 martyrs, a mixture of native Japanese Christians and European priests (20 Japanese, four Spaniards, one Mexican and one Indian) had been arrested in Kyoto and Osaka on the order of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the national ruler, for preaching Christianity. They were imprisoned and later marched through the snow to Nagasaki almost 400 miles to Nagasaki, so that their execution might serve as a deterrent to Nagasaki's large Christian population. Hung up on 26 crosses with chains and ropes, the Christians were lanced to death in front of a large crowd on Nishizaka Hill.

Sword guards that show Christian images and themes on display in the museum.

Interior of the Twenty six Martyrs of Japan Museum in Nagasaki.The cross depicts Saint Paulo Miki in last moments of life as he preached from his cross (below I have written his sermon)

     Before I went to the Museum I heard that it was a great museum to see while in Nagasaki but I took it as hyped up. I can gladly say this was a great museum. Not only because I am Christian but it was full of historical artifacts and stories on the lives of the martyrs and Christianity in Japan.The displays are arranged chronologically into three periods: the early Christian propagation, the martyrdoms, and the persistence of Christianity underground during the persecution. Mostly the stories of two martyrs are told: St Francis Xavier( Jesuit priest from Spain) and Paulo Miki (One year short of becoming a priest, Miki preached his last sermon from the cross. It is widely known that he forgave his executioners. He was born and raised in Japan). Here is Saint Paulo Miki's final sermon from the cross in English.

"All of you who are here, please, listen to me. I did not come from the Philippines, I am a Japanese by birth, and a brother of the Society of Jesus. I have committed no crime, and the only reason why I am put to death is that I have been teaching the doctrine of Our Lord Jesus Christ. I am very happy to die for such a cause, and see my death as a great blessing from the Lord. At this critical time, when, you can rest assured that I will not try to deceive you, I want to stress and make it unmistakably clear that man can find no way to salvation other than the Christian way. The Christian religion tells us to forgive our enemies and those who do harm us, and so I say that I forgive the king and those responsible for my death. I have no hatred for the king; indeed, I wish that he and all the Japanese would become Christians." 

-Saint Paulo Miki (From Luis Frois's Martyrs Records, 1597)

If you ever find yourself in Nagasaki I highly recommend this museum. If you would like to see more pictures or research this is the museum's webpage http://www.26martyrs.com/

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  After visiting the museum in Nagasaki and grabbing a quick convenience store lunch I headed off to Hiroshima and Miyajima. First stop was Hiroshima where I arrived after being on a train for about 8-9 hours. It had been a long day and it was time to crash so my friend and I found a capsule hotel. He had been to one before but this was my first experience.

My first capsule hotel experience was in Hiroshima, Japan. It was bigger then I expected actually. The capsules were staked in twos and ran the length of a hall. Besides the capsule there were large shared baths, common social area and a relaxation room with recliners and personal TVs. I have been to other capsule hotels since this one but none have been as nice. this one was 2800 yen for the night, around 32 American dollars.  

actually inside the capsule. The big box with the black stripe was the tv. Also in the room was a clock, radio, light and mirror. Only down side is there were no electronic plugs.

     After a great nights rest in my first Capsule hotel with an amazing onsen (giant shared hot bath) and relaxation room my friend and I decided to head toward the atomic bomb museum. We stopped at the atomic bomb epicenter that has now been turned into a memorial piece peace park. Hiroshima was the sight of the first ever atomic bomb. Strategically attacking Hiroshima was a wise move in WW2 since it was the headquarters to much of Japan's military strength and had a large weapons factory. However The factory was full of children that were forced into making said weaponry. Besides this fact, and many other reasons, the atomic bomb should never have been used, let alone created in the first place.

The first thing that stood in the epicenter/ memorial peace park that I saw was what is now called the A-bomb Dome. This dome was the closest building to the bomb when it exploded. It was directly under the atomic bomb once the bomb exploded the impact came down on this building. This building was once the prefecture hall and would have been known and recognized by all people in the city. The building has remained standing since the atomic bomb was dropped but has been structurally enhanced so that the building will not fall. The repairs and enhancements were made with minimal changes to the look of the building. It is amazing to stand next to this building. It makes you feel how real the atomic bomb is. It is not just a statistic or fact in a history book, you can still see the real devastation.

The A-bomb Dome

Close up of the A-bomb Dome

One of the plaques that I thought were amazing, read this carefully...

Inside the museum there was a plethora of items from the tragedy. Ranging from items people owned, photos, hair, skin, medical journals, pieces of walls stained in black acid rain,  stair cases with black stains from where people died on the spot after the flash, diagrams etc. This is one of the less graphic images. A small child's bicycle. A child was riding it when the bomb hit. The family could not find the child's body so they buried what they could find...his helmet and bike. It was dug up 30 years latter.

Sadako was one of many children who were not killed by the direct impact of the bomb but died slow and painful deaths from the effects of the radiation. There is a chinese saying that if you create a 1,000 paper cranes and make a wish it will come true...

Some of the many cranes that Sadako created while see lay dieing for months.

After Sado reached her goal of 1,000 cranes she decided that it was more important to make one amazing crane and infuse it with her wish to live.

The atomic bomb clock.

Do you remember Sado's cranes? This is the children's memorial in Hiroshima for all the children that died from the effects of the atomic bomb.

All around Sado's memorial sit large boxes that are full with cranes made with the wish for peace, and that there will never be another atomic bombing.

After spending the day in Hiroshima I felt sad but I was very grateful for learning about the lives and stories of the lives of people effected by the bombing. .

 I took the trolly down about 30 minutes to Miyajima and stayed at a hostel for the night. The next morning I took a ferry from mainland Miyajima to the island of Miyajimaguchi and visited Itsukushima shrine. This shrine is famous for the giant gate that stands in front of it and it is said to be one of the top 3 places in Japan to visit. It was definitely amazing.

Deer or "Shika" in Japanese chilling out under a tree in Miyajimaguchi. There were probably 8 or 9 deer walking or siting near the building where the ferry dropped me off. The friend I was with decided that this was the cutest one lol. I think she looks annoyed personally.

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the multitude of Buddha statues...I thought they were cute and cool but everyone I have shown this image to says its scary looking.

After walking around the island, climbing up a mountain and making my way back to the ferry I saw that low tide had made it possible to go out to the Torii Gate...

A few Japanese people and other tourists who, like me, decided that it was an awesome idea to go out to the Torii gate.

Posing under the Miyajima Torii Gate during low tide..

My lunch after all the excitement of killing my electronics >.<'
On a happy note, lunch was amazing. Curry and breaded pork over a noodle soup called udon.

One of the manhole covers in Kobe.

One of the largest China Towns in Japan. This is China Town Kobe.

Part of the Kobe Tower in...Kobe lol.

Prepared mountain for the fire festival. The empty space on the mountain is Kanji and was going to be lit on fire 3 days after I was leaving Osaka/Kyoto/Kobe.

The very beautiful and stunning Gold Temple in Kyoto.

Posing at the Gold Temple in Kyoto. 

Ticket and prayer from the Silver Temple.

The less shiny Silver Temple. It may not look as stunning as the Gold Temple BUT this is the original building while the Gold Temple has been reconstructed at least 3 times.

Small shrine next to the Silver Temple.

Eagle that was painted onto one of the sliding wooden doors at the silver temple. 

The sun set just before the fireworks display in Osaka.

Fireworks viewed between the buildings in Osaka.

Gone...sorry

Hello all,

You may be wondering where I have ben and why I have not been posting lately. Multiple reasons but the biggest is that I have no internet at my apartment or working computer. At the moment I am staying after work to type and post on my blog.

Since I have been gone almost 3 months now there are tons or pictures and stories to tell but I think I will only share a few pictures and then talk about the most recent event.

A few weeks ago Kumamon was downtown handing out fans.

Goofing around with one of the awesome students from Luther. This is Takuya, or Taki for short.

My elbow was given a clean bill of health, but my elbow does have pain moving in certain directions. Also a little bit of cracking or locking up.

My first baseball game in Japan. It was a blast! You are constantly cheering and banging sticks to make noise. Sadly my school lost 2 to 1.

The past few weeks have been semi hectic and at times a little scary. If you were unaware Kumamoto and the southern half of Japan was hit with record breaking rain and flooding. Here in Kumamoto the whole average rain fall for the month of July fell in 1 day. The rain Reached 90cm to 100cm an hour (30-40 inches of rain per hour) raining for a day and a half strait. If I remember correctly the measured rainfall was between 580cm to 640cm. That’s 228inches to 251inches or 19 to 21 feet of rain. What made matters worse was that the rain also fell to the north of Kumamoto on a mountain causing mudslides. Overall the death count is currently set at 28 and some people are still missing.

A block away from my apartment people were cleaning the side streets after they had been flooded.

About 2  blocks away from my apartment this intersection is on a major road and was flooded out.

Same intersection as above. This is part of a taxi depot that was under about a foot of water.

This is the same street going in the oposit direction of my apartment.

This is a piller for a new brige being built in the midle of the Shiragawa river. As you can tell the water is abover the 7 mark. Normaly the river is at 2 or less.

Water from side streets being pumped back into the Shiragawa river.

The flooded Shiragawa river. Normaly where the box is there is land and a palm tree. You can also see the stair case on the right side that is barely visable.

A road completly flooded out next to the large river about a 7 minute walk from my apartment.

After a day and a half of hard rain there was alot of destruction. One of the pasters in the area was going to go volunteer and I descided I would do the same. We arived at the house and you can see for yourself the damage...

Dirt and ash from the volcano (Mount Aso) traveled down the Shiragawa river to Kumamoto. This home and place of buisness was covered with a good foot or more of dirt. The car is now totaled. 

You can see just how deep the dirt and ash was.

When my group started cleaning you could see nothing but black. The floor is still very dirty but this is allot better then when we started.

Allot of what you are looking at has been destroyed by the flooding. This was a printing building so hundreds of dollars in paper alone was destroyed.

Another angle, look at where the ground is and then where the pile of garbage is.....oh and it started raining again.

 Well Sorry this is relitivly short for my normal posts but I want to go home beofre it rains again. The sky looks a little dark. Anyway, Hope you are all well and please keep the family and friends of those that have died in your prayers.

-Patrick