This weekend’s adventure took us to Onyujima 「大入島」 island. This is a small-ish island off of Saiki port, where some 500 people still live. It has it’s own traditions, the most notable is a style of hula imported in the 20’s from Hawaii that is still practiced in a small dance studio on the island.
There isn’t a bridge to get there, you have to take a ferry. And, if you want to drive around the island, there’s even a car ferry! It only takes about 10 minutes to get to the island, or about 15 if you want to go directly to Kangaroo Park on the island.
Wait… Kangaroo Park?
Onyujima has a connection with a city called Gladstone in Australia, which is why the park is called “Kangaroo Park.” There’s a statue of a lazing kangaroo by an Australian sculptor there, as well as poles with aboriginal art on them. The park is filled with trees native to Australia. There was even a consideration in the 60’s of bringing actual kangaroos to the island, but that got shot down once people realized how much of a pest they could be to the locals.
But before we headed to the island, though, we had to catch the ferry. And we got the times wrong, so we had about an hour to kill, so we ate lunch (the sushi and rolls in Saiki are absolutely amazingly fresh!) by the harbor, and then took a walk to a shrine near by.
For those of you who don’t know me well, shrines and temples in Japan are a sort of obsession of mine. I love the architecture and the sculpture that goes into them, as well as the history.
Ebisu Shrine
恵比須神社
Ebisu is the God of fishermen and luck, so obviously he’s huge here in Saiki. He’s also one of the Seven Lucky Gods and even has a delicious beer named after him!
This shrine is weird, in that it was once on the side of the mountain, but when a landslide took a chunk of it down, it was rebuilt, but still raised to the same height it was before, so it overlooks that part of the city!
To Onyujima We Go!
大入島に行きましょう！
After wandering around the harbor area for a while, we got on our ferry to the island! Unfortunately I don’t have many pictures from the small festival that was going on there, because I was streaming it to my family most of the time we were there. There was a umeboshi (pickled plum, like the kind you get in rice or onigiri) pit spitting contest, dancing, and a screaming contest. Oh Japan.
Here are some pictures to give you an idea of the island and how beautiful it is.
Around here, we’re facing the Pacific, and it’s semi-tropical, with really ridiculously clear blue green water. Also, because of the fisheries in the area, there are a ton of hawks everywhere in town, to the point that they’re a nuisance.
I hope you enjoyed this little blog entry of weekend excursions around inaka Japan!