Guide introducing a plane

Barracks where pilots wrote their last letters, partly under ground

Entrance (photographing inside is forbidden)

🧵21/ Chiran Peace Museum teaches WW2 history about #MinamiKyushu and kamikaze pilots. Interesting, it features barracks, pilots' letters/testaments… but its English texts/audio lack the emotions and familial impact well conveyed at Bansei Tokko Peace Museum (start your #Nansatsu #HistoryTour there).

🧵20/ Resuming #FoodTourism, we lunched healthily at #MinamiKyushu Shunshun Terrace, which serves steamed local seasonal vegetables with 8-grain rice, miso soup, and pickles. Options: wagyu beef, black pork… with salt, a ponzu citrus-based sauce, and a sesame sauce. #Nansatsu

At Iwaya park, with grass and a river in the foreground, and a cliff topped by trees in the background

Carving of Amithaba Buddha on a cliff, with vegetation below and above

Carving of a 11-headed Kannon, with small colourful offerings at its feet, and grass at the bottom

🧵19/ Our guide at #MinamiKyushu Iwaya Park extended our #Nansatsu #HistoryTour with Kiyomizu Magaibutsu, ±200 #Buddhist carvings on a 20x400m cliff, including a 12m-tall Heian-period (794-1185) carving. These Sanskrit characters are reputedly Japan's best for size & beauty. How did they do???

Beach on the left, sea on the right, Mount Kaimon on the horizon slightly on the left, under clouds

🧵18/ While driving during our #HistoryTour, we stopped at a spot in #MinamiKyushu matching Japanese #WW2 pilots' view when flying towards Okinawa for their last (suicide) mission, saying goodbye at Mount Kaimon. You may find it poignant after visiting #Nansatsu peace museums…

Volcanic pond with a dark walkable path in the foreground, sea then Mount Kaimon in the background, under a cloudy sky

Tree house

Another tree house

🧵17/ #MinamiKyushu Bandpark naturally fits in #GreenTourism around #Nansatsu: conservation of seahorses (local victims of the climate crisis), camping up in trees, kayaking in a volcanic pond reputedly leading to an underwater Dragon Palace… You may also enjoy coffee (no time for me to taste it).

At the red gate of Kamafuta Shrine, my colleague (left) and I (right) walk with a big lid on our heads

Red and white Kamafuta Shrine, with a grey path in the foreground and green trees in the background

Rock with a crack looking like a smile, surrounded by offerings, under a rope and paper zigzags (Shinto symbols)

🧵16/ Athletes (WW2: soldiers) pray god Susanoo (slayer of a 8-headed serpent) for strength at #MinamiKyushu Kamafuta Shrine. You may also pray a laughing rock or walk with a lid on your head from the gate to the building (we tried…) to make a wish come true. #Nansatsu #CulturalTourism #HistoryTour

Owner introducing her green tea fields

Young tea field with protections against typhoons

Tea I just picked to chew for comparative tasting

Bowl containing tea leaves after brewing, to be eaten with chopsticks

🧵11/ #Nansatsu region produces most Japanese #tea 🍵 #MinamiKyushu Marukawa Farm welcomed us in its 20-species fields, some organic 🌿 Comparative chewing, drinking naturally-sweet cold/hot #Chiran tea, discussing typhoons… was fun! Great for #FoodTourism and #GreenTourism, with #VeganJapan lunch 👍

Genie's AI Garbage Sorting Feature Implemented in Minamikyushu City, Kagoshima Genie's newly launched AI garbage sorting feature helps residents in Minamikyushu City accurately categorize waste, streamlining municipal operations.

Genie's AI Garbage Sorting Feature Implemented in Minamikyushu City, Kagoshima #Japan #GENIEE_SEARCH #Genie's_AI #Minamikyushu_City #Minamikyushu

Stark challenge: #Nansatsu population halved since 1950! Its 4 cities are #Ibusuki 67,977→39,011, #Makurazaki 34,480→20,033, #MinamiKyushu 82,021→33,080, and #MinamiSatsuma 89,852→32,887. Officials thus strive to attract some of Japan's foreign tourists (37 millions in 2024 maybe 40 in 2025?). 🧵 2/