Travel, bugs, power rangers, and more

A lot has happened in these past few weeks. This past weekend I decided it was time to travel, even though I had only been in Kurume for less than 3 days, and so on saturday I went on a shopping excursion with my fellow JETs, Jessica and Alexis, to Youme town (pronounced you - me (as in MAY)), the new immense shopping mall in town. It was daunting. we were the only western faces in a sea of several thousand Japanese, all headed to the mall to do their weekend shopping. While there I saw several random things which can only be attributed to Japan, the first of which being the rhinocerous beetle (カブト虫) . This hideous beetle (also called the hercules beetle as it can lift up to 750 times its own weight - 65 tons or so if it was the size of a human) is about the size of one's palm and looks like something out of the movie creep show or some other horror movie, but is in fact a children's pet in Asia. Apparently it's a plant eater, clean, easy to maintain and only lives during the summer and so it's a good for children, but I know that if I saw one on the street I wouldn't hesitate and crushing it. I did however see several mammoth examples of the beetle at both a pet store and in Toys R' us of all places, lending credence to their popularity.

Also, after buying a couch (which im currently sitting on) and some cushions, I stumbled upon a gathering of children and their parents, who were all sitting on several blue tarps staring at a stage in the middle of the mall. I expected a clown or something of that sort to appear, but was surprised (but not totally so) when two guys in power rangers costumes came running onto the stage and then proceded to battle each other. It was hilarious and the kids loved it, with each character posing with the children for photos after the 'show'. What a wacky country but i suppose we have the same sort of stuff.

On Sunday, while it was sweltering outside, with temperatures in the high 90's and humid as hell, I felt I should explore, and so I took a trip to Dazaifu. In the 1800's, Daizaifu was the Fukuoka prefectural capital. However, at the beginning of the Meiji restoration, the capital was moved to Fukuoka city and so the town is now known for its temples (although one can see the ruins of the government buildings- I did not, it was too hot). I did, however, go to the biggest temple in the area, Tengu-ji. Dedicated to the scholar god, Tengu-ji was established after a famous academic was exiled from fukuoka city to Dazaifu city, where he died in exile. Promptly realizing their mistake, the Japanese decided to dedicate a shrine to him and now students go there to pray for good luck. After viewing the shrine, I looked on the local map and saw that there were some smaller temples, one with the oldest bell in Japan (dating from 746 ad), nearby so i decided to walk the mile or so and check them out. Well the heat was blistering and i probably got sunburn but I made it. The temple was basically deserted in the middle of a rice field. Next to it, there was a monastery as well as a temple hall that housed some gigantic buddhas from the 10th-13th century or so. Photos to come. I also checked out an even smaller temple that was in the middle of a neighborhood but it was more for praying and less for show. Good stuff.