6.a 2 to 6 Mar – From Amami-Oshima to north of Nagasaki

Between WWOOF 2 and WWOOF 3 we did a bit of sightseeing.

First across Amami-Oshima to Naze, where we took a night ferry to Kagoshima (on Kyushu main island).

Then we rented a car from Kagoshima and went up north along the coast to take a car-ferry to Amakusa’s main island (Shimoshima), overnighting at Amakusa-Shi (Hondo).

Next day slowly progressing north with another car-ferry brought us to Shimabara peninsula. A first overnight up on volcano slope at Unzen.

Then from Unzen to Shimabara-Shi, another night.

And finally from Shimabara to Isahaya, and a train to Omura (northeast from Nagasaki).

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Overall the two most interesting features during that short trip were the volcano at Mt Unzen with major eruption from 1991 to 1995 which created a new summit but also destroyed many lives, and the historical importance of that region in relation to the persecution of Catholics, the Shimabara Rebellion in mid 17th and later the role in Japan’s opening to occident and industrial revolution.

Shimabara Rebellion & Opening to the west

No photos to cover this topic, as we were visiting museums. Still, let’s point out that this region had the highest percentage of Catholic’s and most likely even so nowadays. A Collegio (seminary) was even opened in Amakusa to educate missionaries from 1591 through 1597.

The Shimabara rebellion (1637-1638) although in direct relation with persecution of Catholics (~ 1600-1800) was likely also about peasant rebelling against too high taxes which they had to pay to their lord.

Catholic’s had to practice their religion under cover. Still, some of the western culture transpired in the process: music and musical instruments (sometimes with local adaptations, like the bamboo pipe organ), a Gutenberg printing press – which is said to have printed more copies of “Aesop’s Fables”, etc.

Mt Unzen volcano, and new Mt Heisei-Shinzan

Hard to believe we would do a walk on a mountain younger than us!!

Well with vulcanoes this is possible.

Vegetation does grow on volcanoes, even just after it was active… but it takes a long long time to get a full forest cover.

We then continued our walk around different summits of Mt Unzen’s calderas.

We had to review definitions of pyroclastic flow & lahar, the two phenomena that caused destruction during the 1991-1995 eruption.

• lahar: a moving fluid mass composed of volcanic debris and water
• pyroclastic flow: in a volcanic eruption, a fluidized mixture of hot rock fragments, hot gasses, and entrapped air, that moves at high speed in thick, gray-to-black, turbulent clouds that hug the ground. The temperature of the volcanic gases can reach about 600 to 700 °C. The velocity of a flow often exceeds 100 km (60 miles) per hour.