In Kumamoto

We are staying with Asami but decided to travel a little bit in Kyushu. It's the third largest island of Japan and Fukuoka is its largest and the most vibrant city. Today we took a bullet train (called in Japanese "Shinkansen") to a town called Kumamoto, 92 km outside of Fukuoka. Shinkansens are amazing! Extremely comfortable and quick, they can travel up to 320 km per hour.

Kumamoto is famous for its castle that looks like a big shrine and is surrounded by many gardens. We spent a couple of hours in the castle and the gardens and then we came back to Fukuoka.

Kumamoto Castle

Fausto made tagliatelle with tuna, olives, garlic and courgettes for dinner. Asami was taking notes on how to make it, Fausto was in his element. We had a nice dinner and a good conversation with Asami, we learned quite a lot of things about Japan from her, including some rules of Japanese writing.
We also watched Japanese TV. We don't understand the language but we are fascinated by the programmes which talk about Japan, and generally we understand what they are about.
In the pictures: Kumamoto Castle and Fausto cooking dinner.