Monday, January 15, 1990
Today being a national holiday (seijin no hi), JQS and I both have the day off from school, Tonai-sensei invites us to go to see the famous shrine at Usa. We drive the now familiar drive north past Hiji through the rice fields. Tonai-sensei has given up trying to chat and drive, so we listen to his wife's cassette (Tomita), each lost in our own thoughts.
The shrine at Usa is unusual for its bright orange-red color. "Chinese-style," says Tonai-sensei. Today it is even more colorful than usual as the grounds are filled with furisode-dressed twenty-year-olds paying their Coming of Age visit.
There is a horse which all the children, including JQS, pet. I don't know if the horse is always in residence, or just here because it is the Year of the Horse.
Fuki-ji
We go to lunch at Tonai-sensei's wife's brother's house and they give me a present of two wooden masks. Then we go to the oldest wooden structure on Kyushu, Fuki-ji. Although designated as a national treasure, there is absolutely no security. We walk into the building, wander around, look at things, touch things. No one else is there.
Since Mrs. Tonai enjoyed the mulled wine at the Epiphany party last week. I gave her a bottle of it and the recipe.
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- Jonathon Delacour on Made in USA
Posted by M Sinclair Stevens
January 15, 1990
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Tourist brochure of Bungo Takada featuring Fuki-ji on the front cover.