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Miyakonojo Bonchi Matsuri
The Bonchi Matsuri is the largest festival in Miyakonojo, and a large section of the main road, Route 10, is closed to traffic to allow the large procession of dancers to march down, and also have sections for separate dance groups, and stages. It is held on the first weekend of August and the majority of performances consist of a large number of dances, both contemporary hip hop style, done by local groups (including many school groups), and also traditional style dances. I was fortunate to be invited to take part in the main local folk style dance, seen in the photo above, by the Miyakonojo International Association. For the…
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Riding the local train from Miyazaki to Miyakonojo.
The sky had been clear and blue during my stopover in Miyazaki, however as the train departed Miyazaki City, the sky had begun to cloud over.I had walked back to the station after seeing City Hall, however the train took me back past there and then over a river, Oyodo River, which runs from just within the prefectural border of Kagoshima near Miyakonojo, and ultimately empties into the Pacific Ocean at Miyazaki City. It’s of a decent width and is the main water body in Miyakonojo. In no time at all the train was click clacking through deep countryside. On the left is a smaller waterway, and, yes, in the…