In the morning I found myself at Dejima Island Museum a tiny man-made island at the base of Nagasaki harbour which between 1641 and the 1850s was the only area in Japan that foreigners were allowed to live. It was run as a trading outpost by the Portugese followed by the Dutch (obviously the British tried to steal it) and all contact Japan had with the outside world came through the island.
From the latter part of the 19th Century, as Johnny Foreigner was allowed to move freely around Japan, it's use diminished and the area around it was reclaimed from the sea, built upon and the original island was lost.
Appalled that this historic landmark was being swallowed to progress, engineers are now busy. digging out the area around the old island to create an in-land island, in effect they are reclaiming a reclaimed island from the land.
Only in Japan could this happen.
I catch a late afternoon train to Kumamoto, and check-in at yet another Toyoko-Inn Hotel. I have stayed at this chain on eight out of the last 10 days, chiefly because it has one of the few websites I can find that not only works, but as an added bonus, displays words in English. The amazing thing about the chain is that the double rooms are exactly the same in every city I have been to, I don't mean similar, I mean exactly the same. Tonight I opted for an upgrade to the 'Double Panorama View Suite' which I should have guessed was exactly the same as every other room I have stayed in but on the 23rd floor. At least I know how to use the shower, air conditioner and coffee machine.
As Ciara and I were leaving the hotel in the evening, I caught the unmistakable delicious aroma of curry drifting from the kitchen. Maybe our plans for a meal in an expensive restaurant could be put on hold?
'How much is the curry' I ask the receptionist,
'It's free'.
What do you think we did?
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