20000227asaji

February 27: Drive around Oita,　　by Mie
	On the third day of Mr. Tsukamoto started with "Look Oita." We first came up to Kujyu highland. The wind was so strong and cold that we soon turned back to the car. "Kyushu is rather colder than I had expected", Mr. Tsukamoto put it. On the background is Kujyu mountain range under thick cloud covered with snow.
Green shop run by Taketa Farmers Group sells much kind of fresh agricultural products. He looks like to be surprised by the abundance of the special products. We got some of them for dinner, such as Japanese parsley, raw Shiitake mushroom, Kabosu citrus, and butterbur sprout. We also got piping hot sweet potato cakes and soon ate them in the car. The simple taste reminds us of dear old memories.
	Mr. Tsukamoto makes full use of the Internet to process his works and his old hobby is radio since his boyhood. He also runs a mailing list of radio. He once asked us to report on Radio Museum here in Asaji town.
He looks like to be interested in simple handmade radios rather than existing high-priced machine. He recalls his dear old days by looking parts. "I remember I had once contributed to this magazine. You can find it somewhere in them", he views through the series of the magazine.
Mr. Takanori Ojiro, a priest of Meisenji temple, made the Radio Museum. Unfortunately, he is out today. From the backyard of the temple, we see a grand vista of Kujyu mountain range shinning white in the blue sky.
Next stop is Fumio Asakura Memorial park. He was born here in Asaji town and became a great sculptor. His works such as statues of female, male, and cats are beautifully arranged in a wonderful-designed museum. All of them ease my mind together with green garden and blue sky. I felt the sign of early spring from the murmuring of a stream in the garden.
	The Museum is surrounded with quiet withered trees in winter. The calendar has already announced the arrival of spring, but the mountain valley of Oita is still in the cold wind.
Many single or double-flowered Ume trees already hold beautiful white and red blossoms, however.
In the park are the art works of Oita Asia Exhibition. This is a work by Yusuke Toda of Saitama prefecture titled "Can human leave God?" A huge metallic pipe is bound on a big rock. Inside of the pipe is painted red. I can see green forest and blue sky at the end of the pipe.
	Another work "Integration" by Mr. Kun Imagawa of Gifu prefecture features cylindrical rolls of black tiles.
"Growth" by Ramlan Abudullah of Malaysia, an onion-like body still continues to grow toward the heaven. To tell the truth, I am not good at such kind of abstractionism, but the work makes me very comfortable, anyway.
	A straw thatched cottage and old white Ume tree is really a Japanese-like shot.
In the garden is a ceramic art cottage. Some people were enjoying the art.
The final stop was, of course, a hot spring. Today, we dropped in Gozenyu of Nagayu Spa in Naoiri town. The spa features its atmosphere of Baden-Baden of Germany, a sister city of the town. On the entrance was a drinking spa fountain. The taste was sodium carbonate with a slight sour.
The hot spring is built along the Serikawa river. There are many old spas in the valley.
	A happy moment.
There's no place like home. The dinner was "Hot Sherbet pod" of natural ingredients of Oita. In a good timing, a parcel arrived. Yes, my husband won the prize of the first product from newly opened Sapporo Beer Hita factory. We soon drank toasts to the wonderful drive of the day and tasty foods such as grilled mushroom with Kabosu citrus, boiled butterbur sprouts with soybean paste, chopped and lightly boiled Japanese parsley, and fresh tofu using special natural water.
Sweet pea from the green shop in Taketa brought spring to the room. I hope Mr. Tsukamoto has enjoyed Oita.

February 28: See you again,　　　by Mie
	In front of the entrance.
At a souvenir shop in Oita railroad station. He got some souvenir for his family in New York. You are always welcome, Mr. Tsukamoto. Have a nice trip.

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