Islands
Prefectures
Kumamoto Prefecture
Yamaga
Yamaga is a quiet rural town with a population of about 55,617. It is spread out over a few towns that were absorbed into Yamaga about ten years ago. The area is famous for a few things. Kyushu is a very volcanic island, and so many prefectures have a lot of natural hot springs, called onsen. Yamaga is no different, and there are many onsen right in the center of town.
Yamaga also has a very famous kabuki theater, Yachiyoaza. Built in 1910, it was the first kabuki theater in Kyushu. Even today you can go and watch traditional kabuki plays or a host of other modern musical and other performances. Kumamoto has a few hundred ancient burial mounds, called kofun. And Yamaga is host to the Kumamoto Prefectural Ancient Burial Mound Museum. You can check out my post about my visit to the museum here (writing it soon, sorry). The town is also very famous for the annual Yamaga Lantern Festival in August. The highlight being the One Thousand Lantern Dance where hundreds of women in yukata dance with glowing lanterns on their head. You can also read about my experience at this year's festival as well.
On the flip side, it is still a very rural town. To give you an example, the teachers bathrooms only have ONE western style toilet. The rest are all squat toilets. You know, these...
Climate
A lot of people ask me about the climate in Yamaga. Well, I generally say Kyushu is very similar to Florida. It's hot, humid, rains a lot, and the bugs are HUGE.
In Closing
Yamaga is a pretty interesting town with a lot of farm land, old buildings, and very interesting plants and animals. I hope you guys will stay tuned to learn more about Yamaga as I experience it myself If you have any questions, please feel free to drop a comment below!