Japanese

November 20, 2001: Aya town in Miyazaki
	There hang many dried persimmons under the eve of this private hotel in Nishi-Mera village.
Deep fog shrouds the landscape. The host said, "The road ahead is paved but was really narrow and winding, please drive very carefully." We started at 8:00 in the morning.
	Steep, narrow, and winding pass brings me up to a height that provides a wonderful view of the "Sea of cloud" that shroud the whole valley of Nishi-Mera village.
The autumnal tints are fading gradually. The narrow trail-like road was too thrilling for me to take even a glance of the landscape, however. The terrible narrow road is named as "Autumnal tints road" and barely allows single car to pass.
	We came down to a dam site. Steam rises from the surface of the lake. After crossing the bridge, we turned left to head Aya town. The road was also narrow and dangerous enough that I always had sweat in my palm and kept my legs stiff in the assistant driver's seat.
I was relieved to escape from the bad road and drove down to Aya town. I was surprised to find the full bloom of sunflower.
This flower clock is the largest in the world, they say. There is a rope tower and we climbed it, feeling like a child again.
	This is restored Aya Castle. Feudal lord Hosokawa, one of vassal of Takauji Ashikaga, built the original castle in 14th century. The exhibits in the castle tell the history of the area.
The rulers changed many times, but what remained unchanged is the life of people and the art of manufacturing goods. The art of "making things" has long been handed down in the village until today. This is one of them, a dyeing house.
	There are many beautiful dyeing, clothing, and other crafts. Those are the cocoon flowers.
We then drove up the narrow road for a while and came up to "Great Suspension Bridge."
"The World No.1 suspension bridge for pedestrian only", the stone monument reads. The span is 240 meters and the highest point from the valley bottom is 142 meters. It requires some braveness to look down through the grid provided on the bridge. The massive and thick evergreen forest is one of the features of the area, No.1 in Japan, they say.
Next stop was "Forest of Fountain of Liquor", or Aya Winery. We soon tasted the wine.
	We took smorgasbord lunch at a restaurant run by a beer brewery. It was very good to enjoy the dish by looking brewery equipment. My poor husband didn't drink, because he was a driver today.
That is why he bought a bottle of Shouchu liquor at Unkai (sea of cloud) shop.
	Around 2 p.m, we headed to home. The painstaking long drive through route 10 along the sea of Hyuga brings us north.
Southern county-like street continues for a while.
	In the dusk, we entered Oita prefecture. This is "Quarrel Song Bridge" in Ume town. After passing Mie-machi town, we were caught in a traffic jam and got home safely at seven at last.
We first intended to make a short round drive, but the weather was so beautiful, we stretched our feet to many unusual places. We have had a good two-day drive.