Recently in June 2024, our group visited Southern Japan. We explored two main areas: Kyushu and Okinawa. Kyushu is a rugged island with many volcanoes, and its people are proud of their heritage. We traveled to three cities in Kyushu: Nagasaki, Kumamoto, and Kagoshima. Then, we flew over the ocean to the island of Okinawa.

The first city in Kyushu we visited was Nagasaki, known for being the second city hit by an atomic bomb. We visited the Peace Memorial Museum in the northern part of Nagasaki, near where the bomb exploded. We also saw the Urakami Cathedral, where you can still see the fallen belfry. We tried local foods like castella cake and soupy champon. We visited Gunkanjima, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and were amazed at how good life was on the mining island 80-100 years ago. We went up Mt. Inasayama for a famous night view of the city’s lights.

We drove around the Unzen volcano, where we saw houses partly filled with volcanic ash and rocks from a past eruption of Mt. Unzen. After enjoying hot springs at Unzen, we visited a Disaster Museum and learned about the volcano’s past damage. We took a ferry to Kumamoto, where we saw Kumamoto Castle, a black castle built by a daimyo, Kato Kiyomasa, which is one of the top castles in Japan. It even repelled an attack led by the “last samurai,” Saigo Takamori. We stopped by a beautiful garden with a small Mt. Fuji by a pond and met the deaf owners of a café called Vanilla Bean.

In Kagoshima, a local deaf guide showed us around. We tried a ‘sand onsen,’ where we were covered in warm sand up to our necks. After sweating for 10 minutes, we enjoyed spinning soba noodles that go around in flowing water. Finally, we visited the Kamikaze Museum in Chiran to learn about the young Japanese pilots during World War II.

Next, we took a 1.5-hour flight to Okinawa. Our deaf guide, Megumi Kawakami, told us about the US occupation of Okinawa after WWII and the 30 US military bases there today. We visited the Himeyuri Museum and the Navy Underground Bunker, where fierce fighting occurred during WWII. Since it was summertime, we cooled down by eating crepes made by a deaf shop owner and artisan shaved ice. To finish our trip, we went swimming on a private beach with coral reefs and saw schools of fish swimming around us.

Overall, our trip was full of learning about history and culture, having fun, trying new foods, and experiencing new things—a perfect trip!