I retire at the end of March 2024. During my current position, I have been blogging and documenting my laboratory for about 20 years. From April, I will start to introduce Kumamoto City and its suburbs by writing this blog with photos and videos I took during my walks. April 1, my first day of retirement, was a beautiful sunny day. I took my grandchildren to Mt.Kinpo-san. Location of Mt.Kinpo: 32.813766575749796, 130.63864097027087 Many people climb the mountain on foot, but since we had small grandchildren with us, we drove to the top of the mountain. There are parking spaces for about 20 cars near the summit. View from the summit. Clear skies. Unzen Fugendake could be seen over the Ariake Sea. I have been using peanuts to interact with (wild) small birds. It was more than 20 years ago that I learned that the small birds on Mt. Kinpo-san perch on human hands for peanuts. Today, the little birds came again. In the photo, can you see the little bird trying to get the peanut on my h...
Kumamoto Station Location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/65HRgN6fP84jRymw6 There were Tanabata decorations at the entrance to Kumamoto Station. Tanabata is a Japanese festival held on July 7th. It celebrates the meeting of two stars, Orihime and Hikoboshi, who can meet only once a year. People write wishes on paper strips and hang them on bamboo branches. The kindergarten children gathered at the entrance and began singing Tanabata songs together. Usually, the station is only filled with tourists and business travelers. It is a rare sight to see kindergarten children, so many people (including me) stopped to listen to the children's singing. I took the Shinkansen "Tsubame" for work at Fukuoka University. There were Tanabata decorations in Hakata Station as well, but the ones in Kumamoto Station were a little more impressive. However, outside the station, the situation was reversed. A magnificently decorated Yamakasa float was set up. Location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/CU...
On my first walking course, I met a cat standing on a fence. Location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/N8cKqM6FvqjwvAbr6 This cat looked as if it wanted to say, “I Am a Cat." He looked at me and said, “Don't bother me.” He seemed to be enjoying the sun while smelling the fragrance of magnolias. This fence, whose house is it? On the far right of the photo, a Japanese information board can be seen at the entrance to this house. Let's get closer. This is the house in Kumamoto City where the novelist Soseki Natsume (1867–1916) once lived. Do they have cats here? Or is it a stray cat? Still, it was a surprise to encounter a cat at Soseki Natsume's former residence. Camellias were beautiful.