Our last day in Yakushima had come, and I actually got a bit emotional knowing I had to leave when really I just wanted to stay forever. Breakfast helped ease my sadness - another super buffet style meal although no amazing banana pastry this morning. When we had finished checking out all the staff currently in the resort came out to the front of the building to bid us farewell, forming a line out the front and bowing in unison, and the head chef of Ayana gave us some pastries he had baked that morning as a gift. We were taken by buggy to our rental car and said another sad farewell, this time to Tomo who had been our absolutely amazing butler during our stay. You know you have experienced great service at a hotel when you feel like you are saying goodbye to a group of friends!
In an absolutely miserable mood we drove out, past the Anbo River we had paddled down, past the driveway that led to the wonderful Morinokokage Cottages, past the laundromat we had to use for our drenched clothes, past the abandoned sheds we had nicknamed the 'slaughterhouses' (they did look scary at night!), past the road that led to the incredible Shiritani forest, past bush after bush of hydrangeas until finally we were back at the car rental place and then the departing lounge for the Jetfoil. As the Jetfoil took off we looked back at the island and knew that one day we would have to go back there. Japan has made it hard for me though, as there are so many places that I 'one day have to go back to', but at this stage Yakushima is on the top of that list.
And so we arrived back at Kagoshima where we started our long journey to Sasebo. Bus to Kagoshima station, train from Kagoshima to Hakata, and then another train from Hakata to Sasebo, totalling over 6 hours of travel time.
Driving past the beautiful mountains..
When we finally arrived in Sasebo it was already late afternoon, so we decided to find the hotel straight away, check in and then wander around a bit and get dinner. As we were walking down the street towards the hotel I felt a bit weird. Every day of every trip I had been in Japan I have always felt comfortable (except for maybe my godzilla moment in '09) and people have always been exceptionally friendly, but here in Sasebo it all felt very.. different. I noticed that the old ladies weren't smiling at me as usual, but were actually scowling. Locals looked at us with suspicion in their eyes, and it all felt very awkward. After a few minutes it slowly dawned on me; Sasebo is the location of a US Naval Base and here I was walking around with a tall white man. Sasebo has been a major Japanese Naval Base for a very long time and at the end of WWII the US took over a section of the Naval Base as their own and continue to run fleet activities there to this day.
It started to become very obvious that although the US Base had been here for over 60 years, and the city had lived with its american counterparts this entire time, the relationship between the two wasn't exactly a positive one. While walking around looking for somewhere to eat we passed a few starbucks filled to the brim with men sporting buzzcuts and glaring out of the windows, meek japanese browsing in shops while the navy officers yelled obnoxiously over the top of them, shop owners staring out of their doors while groups of young navy men & women in super revealing clothing stumbled drunkedly along the street yelling obscenities. We witnessed some lovely men struggling to walk while loudly proclaiming 'I'm ok now! I had a spew I'll be ok'.
Now, before I seem like a prude - I live in Australia and I live in a pretty rowdy suburb. I see junkies and drunks all the time. It is almost the norm for me here, but seeing this behaviour in Japan was quite embarrassing and horrifying. I can imagine after being cooped up in a ship for a long time you would want to let loose a bit, but it was all a bit sad to see. The younger generations of Japanese here also seemed to be heavily influenced by it all and the inner city just came off as sleazy. There were a lot of young sleazy looking Japanese girls, tons of bars, nightclubs and other things capitalising on the Navy presence.
Despite all this we did manage to find a great place to eat. We wandered up and down the streets for a bit before our noses led us to a Yakiniku restaurant (the smell filled the entire street!) which didn't look like much from the outside but once we opened the doors we knew we were onto something as the entire place was packed, and we were the only tourists there.
They had an english menu which explained the restaurant was called Suzume no Su 'Sparrow House', and it was a very old & popular haunt with the locals. It was certainly lively inside, and the food was simple yakiniku style and yummy. A couple of tipsy Japanese men & women sat down at the counter next to us and we spent the rest of the night laughing along with them as they called me 'Number 1 Beauty' and my boyfriend 'Braddu Pittu!'. It was a great place to eat and spend time with the locals in there who were so jovial and friendly. We were happy and smug as we headed back to the hotel bellies full, smelling of smoky meat while walking past packed burger joints full of scowling navy people.
The outside of Suzume no su in the daytime.
Super friendly local sporting a beatles bowlcut.
Location map of the restaurant in the menu & some skewers.
Accommodation
Hotel: Chisun Grand Sasebo
Price: ¥9,700 for Executive Double 2 people
Location: 5-24, Minatomachi, Sasebo-shi, , Nagasaki 857-0055
Web: http://www.solarehotels.com/english/chisun/grand-sasebo/guestroom/detail.html
Booking: We booked through the hotel website http://www.solarehotels.com/english/chisun/grand-sasebo/guestroom/detail.html.
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