This road was really narrow, and also got dangerously steep...
Kaori was getting really worried driving on such a strange path, and Charlie commented that it really seemed about the size of a walking path, not a road. I was personally really grateful that I wasn't the one driving, but was curious as to what we would do if someone came up from the other direction. (The construction workers, we found out later, had radios with which to prevent this from happening) Fortunately, we made it alive to Cape Toi, the Cape of Horses!
Um, thanks for the welcome, but could you please get out of the way?
Um, thanks for the welcome, but could you please get out of the way?
At Cape Toi, we went to the horse museum, which was a sort of natural history exhibition that explained the effect of the horses on the ecosystem. According to Kaori, the horses were probably brought to Cape Toi by samurai in the past three hundred years or so who were using them for war, but no longer needed them. Ever since, the horses have just kind of stayed there.
Two of my favorite things at the museum were the deer mystery, and the folktales. The deer mystery is that there's one male deer who lives in the cape among the horses, who seems to think he is a horse. Nobody knows how he get there, since there aren't really any deer in the area, so the most likely theory is that he somehow swam there. The horses have for the most part accepted him into the community, fortunately. There were some really cute pictures, but I didn't take any pictures in the museum, since I'm not sure if that's okay or not.
The other really fascinating the was the folktales. My favorite one was about when the gods were deciding the lifespan of the various beings on earth. The short story is that when the gods asked horses how long of a life they wanted, they turned down the initial 40 years offered to them, saying that 40 year is too long of a life for a horse, since they work so hard. They settled on 20, and that's why horses live such short lives. Next was the dog, who also didn't want a really long life, saying that with old age comes suffering - they didn't want to have problems with being sickly or immobile, so they would have a short life of only 10 years. Finally, came humans, who, when offered 40 years to live, complained that that wasn't enough time for them to do everything they wanted to do. So, the gods decided that they would give humans the extra years that the other animals didn't want, but at a price. They decided that when humans turn 30, they need to work as hard a horse, since they were taking the years that the horse turned down, and when they turned 60, they would suffer from their bodies debilitating, since they were taking the years the dog had turned down.
Or something like that. I might be a bit off on the numbers, but I really liked the story.
Oops... poor lighting! Due to contact issues, I had to don my glasses. Luckily for Jill, her hat didn't run away during the boat ride!
Two of my favorite things at the museum were the deer mystery, and the folktales. The deer mystery is that there's one male deer who lives in the cape among the horses, who seems to think he is a horse. Nobody knows how he get there, since there aren't really any deer in the area, so the most likely theory is that he somehow swam there. The horses have for the most part accepted him into the community, fortunately. There were some really cute pictures, but I didn't take any pictures in the museum, since I'm not sure if that's okay or not.
The other really fascinating the was the folktales. My favorite one was about when the gods were deciding the lifespan of the various beings on earth. The short story is that when the gods asked horses how long of a life they wanted, they turned down the initial 40 years offered to them, saying that 40 year is too long of a life for a horse, since they work so hard. They settled on 20, and that's why horses live such short lives. Next was the dog, who also didn't want a really long life, saying that with old age comes suffering - they didn't want to have problems with being sickly or immobile, so they would have a short life of only 10 years. Finally, came humans, who, when offered 40 years to live, complained that that wasn't enough time for them to do everything they wanted to do. So, the gods decided that they would give humans the extra years that the other animals didn't want, but at a price. They decided that when humans turn 30, they need to work as hard a horse, since they were taking the years that the horse turned down, and when they turned 60, they would suffer from their bodies debilitating, since they were taking the years the dog had turned down.
Or something like that. I might be a bit off on the numbers, but I really liked the story.
Oops... poor lighting! Due to contact issues, I had to don my glasses. Luckily for Jill, her hat didn't run away during the boat ride!
After the museum, we all started to get pretty hungry, since we hadn't really eaten at all that day. (Jill had brought some chocobread, but it can only go so far!) Still, we had a lot of things that we wanted to see before heading back, which was unfortunate since there's not a whole lot of civilization, and thus not a lot of food, out on the cape. What was worse, I was having some problems with my contract lenses, and eventually ended up just trashing them for lack of supplies. (My fault)
We made a quick visit to a little shrine in an odd spot on a cliff, and once again, I saw a tiny path, and got curious - finding another mini secret shrine in the wilderness!
Okay, it's not much of a shrine, but still an interesting find!
Kaori and Charlie demonstrating the presence of the wind
Jill, Kaori, Charlie and I preparing to feast on the roasted flesh of various animals. (Apparently, one of the things we ate were cow's ears... I had no idea!)
We made a quick visit to a little shrine in an odd spot on a cliff, and once again, I saw a tiny path, and got curious - finding another mini secret shrine in the wilderness!
Okay, it's not much of a shrine, but still an interesting find!
Next up we stopped by the Cape Toi lighthouse, where we were grateful to find a small omiyage shop. Fortunately for us, where there's omiyage (souvenirs) there's food! Granted, it was just snacks like dried fruit and things, but still delicious and satisfying! Once we were sated, we made our way up the hill to the lighthouse.
Cape Toi Lighthouse
I'm actually a pretty big fan of lighthouses, despite not knowing all that much about them. On a field trip along the Olympic Peninsula with my American Literature class last year, we were supposed to visit some, but I got hopelessly lost in the woods instead. (Whoops) This one, while small, was still pretty neat, and had an amazing view!
The view from the lighthouse - isn't is beautiful?
The view from the lighthouse - isn't is beautiful?
Throughout the day Charlie had commented on how he couldn't believe it was February with the amazing weather we'd been having. Of course, it was a little windy since we were so close to the sea, but the sun was shining brightly and the sky and water were both so clear that it was hard to complain.
Kaori and Charlie demonstrating the presence of the wind
After a quick visit to the mini-lighthouse museum on the top of the hill, (Lots of information about the development of lighthouses in Japan, and some pictures and examples of the inventors and their lightbulbs) we began the journey back to Miyazaki. Not a moment to soon, too, 'cause we were all starving! Kaori and Charlie took the opportunity to catch up a bit while Jill and I snoozed in the back of the car. Thanks to Kaori, we were able to make it back over that treacherous narrow road once again, although I was able to sleep through the terror of traveling over it this time.
When we got back - yakinikku! Oh my goodness, was it amazing. We had to call it an early night, since Jillian was going to be leaving at 8:30 the next morning for her field trip, but while she slept Charlie and I watched The Taste of Tea, which felt kind of like a cross between I Heart Huckabees and Little Miss Sunshine, except that I think Tea came first, and was like, ten times better than the other two combined. (Don't get me wrong, both of the American movies were great, but this movie totally floored me. I actually cried!)
When we got back - yakinikku! Oh my goodness, was it amazing. We had to call it an early night, since Jillian was going to be leaving at 8:30 the next morning for her field trip, but while she slept Charlie and I watched The Taste of Tea, which felt kind of like a cross between I Heart Huckabees and Little Miss Sunshine, except that I think Tea came first, and was like, ten times better than the other two combined. (Don't get me wrong, both of the American movies were great, but this movie totally floored me. I actually cried!)
Jill, Kaori, Charlie and I preparing to feast on the roasted flesh of various animals. (Apparently, one of the things we ate were cow's ears... I had no idea!)So, yes. Whew... almost caught up. I've got to finish posting before Jill gets back! Type type type the day away...
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