Kumamoto day 4: Ichifusa Dam
September 25th, 21:30
(Yes, I wrote my notes for this day while I was on the plane home... ^^;)
On this last day I got up at 6 to pack my luggage (well, my one bag...) and get breakfast at 6:30. I'm so thankful the old lady at the ryokan was willing to get up early too and make me breakfast at that time! I think she was running the whole inn by herself, since while I did see two or three other guests during my stay, I never saw any other staff. So she must do all the cooking, cleaning and other work by herself (unless she had some kitchen hands hidden away somewhere, but I sure didn't see or hear any...)
Breakfast~ =3
Walking to the station for the last time... It was harder to leave than I'd expected. T_T
Waiting for the train... Did I ever mention how blue the water of the Kuma river was? If I didn't... It's really blue!
I took a train earlier than before, at 7:24, to make sure I could finish my hike, catch the train back and also catch my flight in the evening. Turns out I didn't have to hurry that much though. While the train had been really empty on previous days, this time it was filled with a big group of people, all wearing matching sports clothing, like they belonged to some kind of club. So I asked them if there was anything going on today, and they told me they were a local marathon club, and they were going to run 100 kilometers along the Kuma river O_O Good luck !
Since I was stuck on the train with them until Hitoyoshi, we talked for a bit, and of course they asked where I was going, noticing I was wearing running shoes too. So I said I was going to Yunomae station, to go hiking to Ichifusa Dam before taking the train to Kumamoto, and then the bus to the airport. Then one man told me that there was a bus to the airport from Yatsushiro station too, which is a lot closer to Hitoyoshi (I passed it when I first came). It's a tiny bus that's relatively unknown, but it's faster and cheaper than traveling via Kumamoto station. He even pulled up the schedule on his phone, and so I found out that if I used that, I would still make it to the airport in time, even if I caught a later train from Yunomae. So that would give me a lot more time to finish my hike, yay!
For the train to Yunomae, I bought this special Natsume Yuujinchou collaboration ticket! I knew it existed, since Kusanagi Mizuho-sensei, the mangaka of Akatsuki no Yona had tweeted about it a few days earlier. (So she's been on the same train as me not too long ago, omg!) But when I'd looked it up, it said that it was limited to 2000 people, and they'd been on sale since August, so I figured it might be sold out by now... But it wasn't at all, it turned out that I got the 380th ticket. (Kusanagi-sensei had ticket 301 =O ) I'm surprised that not more people have used it! The ticket allows you to freely travel on the Kumagawa Tetsudou line for a day, while a one-way ticket to Yunomae would almost be the same price as this ticket. So even if you're only going there and back, it's a lot cheaper!
Tiny train again...
With fancy seats. =O
Views~ Seriously, I could probably ride around on the trains in this area all day, just looking out of the window, and not get bored.
At Yunomae, it was rather easy to find my way out of the town, which was my biggest concern. But at the station, I found a map which showed some of the landmarks int he town, and which way the dam was, so I just exited the down there and soon found myself on the Kyuushuu Nature Trail that I'd looked up before. Or rather, I found signs pointing to an onsen that's located along the trail, near the dam, but I knew I could just follow those signs to get where I wanted to go, which was nice.
Signs~
This way~
On the way out of the town I came across a very familiar-looking bridge. I'm not sure if this bridge actually appears in Natsume Yuujinchou, but if it doesn't, it's very similar to those that do! It reminded me the most of the bridge to Tanuma's house, and also a bit of the stone arch bridge Natsume walks over in one of the openings.
But I know for sure that it's neither of those, because I looked them up, and both were too far away to visit. Tanuma's bridge is actually rather close to the dam, but still about 4km further than how far I planned to walk, and I wasn't sure of the exact location either (I just found that it's in Mizukami village, but no details) so I gave up on that. u.u Didn't wanna risk getting lost in a village about 12km away from any train station ^^;
This one was really pretty too though!
After getting out of the town, the trail led me though some farming villages, and mostly over small paths, and one road that was closed to cars for construction.
Shrine entrance... Didn't check it out though, 'cause I had a long way to go. (One-way was about 8km, and then I had to get back too, carrying my heavy luggage all the while...)
Bamboo grove...
Nice view~
I think this is part of the nature trail? It's very... natural xD
On one of the small mountain roads I found these giant chestnuts lying on the ground! And they were everywhere! It looked as if people were farming them, because there were entire orchards of chestnut trees in the area. But there were also trees outside of the orchards, just standing free in the forest, and nuts that had fallen onto the road, so I figured nobody would get angry if I picked up a handful there. They were huge!
I kinda wish I had picked up more (but I didn't 'cause they were pretty heavy ^^;) , because they can be used to make chestnut rice, a local speciality from Hitoyoshi. In one of the Natsume Yuujinchou episodes, Nishimura was talking about how the bentou at Hitoyoshi station are really good, and what they sell there are in fact chestnut rice bentou, I saw! It doesn't seem that hard to make, so I'm definitely gonna try it at home. (note: I did! and it was so tasty! Gonna make another batch tonight =3)
Crossing a dam... But not THE dam yet... >w<
The sound of the water coming out was deafening here...
Doesn't this look like the place where Tanuma and Natsume always part ways with Nishimura and Kitamoto after school？ Not exactly the same, but really similar atmosphere！
More mysterious stairs...
After walking though the countryside and Mizukami village for a while, I found this weird looping bridge, which I'd seen on the map, indicating that I was almost at the dam. So I went up there (not over the loop, there was a little road for pedestrians to bypass it), and then...
Before I arrived at the dam, I ran into this worn-down park and playground, which had obviously seen better days... One of the things there, was this cave, with a slide going right down into it! =O Even when shining a flashlight into it, I couldn't really see what was inside. I didn't quite have the courage to get on the slide and take the plunge, but I decided to take the stairs and see what's in there.
Once I'd descended the stairs, I found myself standing in front of a tunnel with stairs, going upwards again. I could see the end of the tunnel, and according to my sense of direction, it should get me though this hill and land me right in front of the dam. So I moved on, but... There were so many bats inside the tunnel! And I'd been listening to Natsume Yuujinchou soundtracks on shuffle, and just as the bats appeared, this track came on! OMG, that was seriously creepy!
Anyways, despite the bats flying all around my head in there, I made it though, and was greeted with this view, from the top of a hill overviewing the dam.
It's Futaba / Ichifusa Dam!
And the view the other way was nice too~
I could see the other dam I'd passed before.
Crossing the dam...
The lake... It's so blue/green! =O I didn't see anybody fishing there though, like Natsume and his friends were going to do... I wonder if it's allowed?
Probably the closest I can get to how it's shown in the anime... It's actually shown from the opposite side of the lake, but I didn't feel like walking ALL the way around just to take a picture from the right angle. ^^;
I took a break there enjoying the views. Then I noticed that even with all the detours I took, it'd only taken me about 2 hours to get there (I'd gotten off the train at 9am and it was about 11), so even if went back at a leisurely pace, I'd probably still catch my originally planned train at 1pm. So I got the idea to go back early, and visit an onsen somewhere to wash up before heading to the airport, because it was really hot again and I was all sweaty from hiking.
Heading back...
I walked back not via the nature trail, but along the regular road for cars. The views were still stunning though. The only downside was it being really hot, because there were barely any trees along the road, and it was in the middle of the day. Though the prospect of an onsen visit made me stop caring about the heat and the sweat; I'd just change clothes after washing up. =3
This way... It was easy enough to follow these signs.
On the way back to the station, a pair of bikers stopped besides me, and I was totally expecting them to ask where I was going and offer me a ride or give me directions, but no, instead they asked ME for directions. "Do you know how to get to Ichifusa dam from here?" WTF!? Do I look like someone who's familiar with the area or something? =P Oh well, since I just happened to have visited the dam, I was able to give them directions just fine... But it was weird. =S
I also ran into Matoba's grave. Seriously.
Or at least, the grave of a member of the Matoba family. xD I can't find any info online on who 的場士体 was (or how to read the first name), but the board explains he was a warrior in the Sengoku period. =O
Almost back at the station...
I arrived at the station about half an hour before the train, so I relaxed with a cold drink from a vending machine, and looked up what the closest onsen were. Despite being called "Yunomae" ("In front of the baths") there weren't actually any onsen within walking distance from the train station. But on the way there, I'd seen an onsen facility from the window of the train, right besides Taragi station, so on the way back I decided to get off there, and use the two hours or so until the next train to take a nice long bath there.
It was such a nice onsen, and it only cost 300 yen! I didn't even have to buy a towel, since I still had the one I bought at Hitoyoshi onsen yesterday. (I was carrying all my luggage at this point, since I wouldn't be back at the inn) But for that price, they didn't just have regular natural spring water, but also baths with massage jets, a sauna and cold bath, and even several outside baths; warm, cold, and a long waist-deep 'pool' for walking in. (though I couldn't resist swimming in it for a bit when nobody else was there, because it was so big. *^^*)
The outdoor baths were really scenic too, with natural rocks and a little garden. That was really something I missed on the trip so far, all the onsen I'd visited so far looked like plain old bathrooms with regular bathroom tiles, despite using natural spring water. But the atmosphere is just so different when the bath's made out of natural rocks. ^o^ So I'm really glad I chose to go here, even though I had no idea what to expect! There's some pictures on the website here, though it doesn't show how big the place really was, and how many baths there are.
There were so many old ladies there though, it almost seemed like their local social gathering or something. And most of them spoke Kyuushuu dialect, which I had quite a bit of trouble understanding. But we had fun trying to talk to each other despite that. xD All I know about Kyuushu dialect is that you just say "bai" a lot, so whenever I didn't understand something, I could just say "wakaranbai", lol. They tried teaching me some other phrases too, but I can't say I remember them ^^;
I got out of the bath, dried myself off and changed into a clean set of clothes just in time before the train to Hitoyoshi. There, I had about half and hour wait until the train to Yatsushiro, so I thought I'd get one of the famous station bento... Sadly the chestnut rice ones were sold out, since it wasn't really lunch time anymore (about 3:30 pm) but I got another one with onigiri and fish instead.
Then I took the Hisatsu line to Yatsushiro...
Kuma river, for the last time... T_T I tried listening to some soundtracks on the train too, but I couldn't anymore because just listening to them made me cry ^^;
The way back went just according to plan~ Well, according to my new plan. xD The bus at Yatsushiro was really hard to find, apparently it departed from a tiny bus stop on the opposite side of the street from the station. But luckily the station staff knew about it, so they told me where it was after I asked.
Hello again, Yatsushiro station.
The bus to the airport really was tiny! I think it had about ten seats at most, and besides me, there was only one other person on it, a local businessman I think. But it really did take me to the airport in just an hour, while traveling via Kumamoto station would've taken me closer to two hours! The bus stop actually advertised that the bus went to the airport in "only 50 minutes!!" but apparently some roads which were damaged in the earthquake were still being fixed, so they had to drive slower for a good portion of the ride, and it was a little bumpy. ^^; It was already dark out though, so I couldn't really see outside the window how bad the damage was. But when I checked the map on my phone, apparently we'd driven right past the town where the epicenter was, so it's no wonder the roads are still a bit rough there.
I arrived at Kumamoto airport a little less than an hour before my flight, but as I'd learned on the way there, that proved to be plenty of time to check in and get through security. The landing in Tokyo was kinda rough, but other than that it was fairly uneventful. I listened to some Natsume Yuujinchou drama CDs on the bus and the plane, which was really relaxing, though for some reason I had a really hard time holding back my tears.
Especially the "Kimi, Sarishi Ato" story got to me... First of all, I realized that Sano Yuuto, the relative who Natsume is staying with during this story, is voiced by Takahiro Sakurai, who also voices the main character in my company's main game franchise. So it was really surprising to suddenly hear a voice that I've heard so often during work in such an unexpected place.
I also realized... This is totally a BL drama, isn't it!? The whole story is basically that Yuuto gets so distracted by Natsume's presence that he practially starts stalking him to try and find out more about him, and can't focus on his own studies anymore, and then they have to part ways due to a tragic incident and family issues... It's just such a stereotypical BL story if you think about it, lol. Takahiro Sakurai x Kamiya Hiroshi, anyone? I'm pretty sure those two have done some actual BL dramas together before. =O
Anyways, for the rest of my flight and the train ride home from Haneda airport, I couldn't listen to any Natsume stuff anymore without bursting out in tears in public, so I had to stop listening to them... ^^; I got home at about midnight, only to go to work immediately the next morning. It was really hard to go back to reality, as if I was rudely awoken from a long and pleasant dream... If not for the photos, I'd find it hard to believe that I actually visited Hitoyoshi, and all by myself too, and that everything went perfectly!
I think I've recovered a little by now though... Now, I'm mostly just excited for the anime screening event on Saturday tomorrow, omg! ...And stressed with how I'm going to handle my next big project at work... @_@ Hopefully the new anime will help me get though the rest of the year...!
And maybe it'll introduce some new real-life locations in Hitoyoshi, which means that I will have to visit them some day... It would make a good excuse, at least... >w< I really want to rewatch all the old episodes too now, just so I can recognize all the places that I visited... If only I had the time to re-watch everything... >w<
(Yes, I wrote my notes for this day while I was on the plane home... ^^;)
On this last day I got up at 6 to pack my luggage (well, my one bag...) and get breakfast at 6:30. I'm so thankful the old lady at the ryokan was willing to get up early too and make me breakfast at that time! I think she was running the whole inn by herself, since while I did see two or three other guests during my stay, I never saw any other staff. So she must do all the cooking, cleaning and other work by herself (unless she had some kitchen hands hidden away somewhere, but I sure didn't see or hear any...)
Breakfast~ =3
Walking to the station for the last time... It was harder to leave than I'd expected. T_T
Waiting for the train... Did I ever mention how blue the water of the Kuma river was? If I didn't... It's really blue!
I took a train earlier than before, at 7:24, to make sure I could finish my hike, catch the train back and also catch my flight in the evening. Turns out I didn't have to hurry that much though. While the train had been really empty on previous days, this time it was filled with a big group of people, all wearing matching sports clothing, like they belonged to some kind of club. So I asked them if there was anything going on today, and they told me they were a local marathon club, and they were going to run 100 kilometers along the Kuma river O_O Good luck !
Since I was stuck on the train with them until Hitoyoshi, we talked for a bit, and of course they asked where I was going, noticing I was wearing running shoes too. So I said I was going to Yunomae station, to go hiking to Ichifusa Dam before taking the train to Kumamoto, and then the bus to the airport. Then one man told me that there was a bus to the airport from Yatsushiro station too, which is a lot closer to Hitoyoshi (I passed it when I first came). It's a tiny bus that's relatively unknown, but it's faster and cheaper than traveling via Kumamoto station. He even pulled up the schedule on his phone, and so I found out that if I used that, I would still make it to the airport in time, even if I caught a later train from Yunomae. So that would give me a lot more time to finish my hike, yay!
For the train to Yunomae, I bought this special Natsume Yuujinchou collaboration ticket! I knew it existed, since Kusanagi Mizuho-sensei, the mangaka of Akatsuki no Yona had tweeted about it a few days earlier. (So she's been on the same train as me not too long ago, omg!) But when I'd looked it up, it said that it was limited to 2000 people, and they'd been on sale since August, so I figured it might be sold out by now... But it wasn't at all, it turned out that I got the 380th ticket. (Kusanagi-sensei had ticket 301 =O ) I'm surprised that not more people have used it! The ticket allows you to freely travel on the Kumagawa Tetsudou line for a day, while a one-way ticket to Yunomae would almost be the same price as this ticket. So even if you're only going there and back, it's a lot cheaper!
Tiny train again...
With fancy seats. =O
Views~ Seriously, I could probably ride around on the trains in this area all day, just looking out of the window, and not get bored.
At Yunomae, it was rather easy to find my way out of the town, which was my biggest concern. But at the station, I found a map which showed some of the landmarks int he town, and which way the dam was, so I just exited the down there and soon found myself on the Kyuushuu Nature Trail that I'd looked up before. Or rather, I found signs pointing to an onsen that's located along the trail, near the dam, but I knew I could just follow those signs to get where I wanted to go, which was nice.
Signs~
This way~
On the way out of the town I came across a very familiar-looking bridge. I'm not sure if this bridge actually appears in Natsume Yuujinchou, but if it doesn't, it's very similar to those that do! It reminded me the most of the bridge to Tanuma's house, and also a bit of the stone arch bridge Natsume walks over in one of the openings.
But I know for sure that it's neither of those, because I looked them up, and both were too far away to visit. Tanuma's bridge is actually rather close to the dam, but still about 4km further than how far I planned to walk, and I wasn't sure of the exact location either (I just found that it's in Mizukami village, but no details) so I gave up on that. u.u Didn't wanna risk getting lost in a village about 12km away from any train station ^^;
This one was really pretty too though!
After getting out of the town, the trail led me though some farming villages, and mostly over small paths, and one road that was closed to cars for construction.
Shrine entrance... Didn't check it out though, 'cause I had a long way to go. (One-way was about 8km, and then I had to get back too, carrying my heavy luggage all the while...)
Bamboo grove...
Nice view~
I think this is part of the nature trail? It's very... natural xD
On one of the small mountain roads I found these giant chestnuts lying on the ground! And they were everywhere! It looked as if people were farming them, because there were entire orchards of chestnut trees in the area. But there were also trees outside of the orchards, just standing free in the forest, and nuts that had fallen onto the road, so I figured nobody would get angry if I picked up a handful there. They were huge!
I kinda wish I had picked up more (but I didn't 'cause they were pretty heavy ^^;) , because they can be used to make chestnut rice, a local speciality from Hitoyoshi. In one of the Natsume Yuujinchou episodes, Nishimura was talking about how the bentou at Hitoyoshi station are really good, and what they sell there are in fact chestnut rice bentou, I saw! It doesn't seem that hard to make, so I'm definitely gonna try it at home. (note: I did! and it was so tasty! Gonna make another batch tonight =3)
Crossing a dam... But not THE dam yet... >w<
The sound of the water coming out was deafening here...
Doesn't this look like the place where Tanuma and Natsume always part ways with Nishimura and Kitamoto after school？ Not exactly the same, but really similar atmosphere！
More mysterious stairs...
After walking though the countryside and Mizukami village for a while, I found this weird looping bridge, which I'd seen on the map, indicating that I was almost at the dam. So I went up there (not over the loop, there was a little road for pedestrians to bypass it), and then...
Before I arrived at the dam, I ran into this worn-down park and playground, which had obviously seen better days... One of the things there, was this cave, with a slide going right down into it! =O Even when shining a flashlight into it, I couldn't really see what was inside. I didn't quite have the courage to get on the slide and take the plunge, but I decided to take the stairs and see what's in there.
Once I'd descended the stairs, I found myself standing in front of a tunnel with stairs, going upwards again. I could see the end of the tunnel, and according to my sense of direction, it should get me though this hill and land me right in front of the dam. So I moved on, but... There were so many bats inside the tunnel! And I'd been listening to Natsume Yuujinchou soundtracks on shuffle, and just as the bats appeared, this track came on! OMG, that was seriously creepy!
Anyways, despite the bats flying all around my head in there, I made it though, and was greeted with this view, from the top of a hill overviewing the dam.
It's Futaba / Ichifusa Dam!
And the view the other way was nice too~
I could see the other dam I'd passed before.
Crossing the dam...
The lake... It's so blue/green! =O I didn't see anybody fishing there though, like Natsume and his friends were going to do... I wonder if it's allowed?
Probably the closest I can get to how it's shown in the anime... It's actually shown from the opposite side of the lake, but I didn't feel like walking ALL the way around just to take a picture from the right angle. ^^;
I took a break there enjoying the views. Then I noticed that even with all the detours I took, it'd only taken me about 2 hours to get there (I'd gotten off the train at 9am and it was about 11), so even if went back at a leisurely pace, I'd probably still catch my originally planned train at 1pm. So I got the idea to go back early, and visit an onsen somewhere to wash up before heading to the airport, because it was really hot again and I was all sweaty from hiking.
Heading back...
I walked back not via the nature trail, but along the regular road for cars. The views were still stunning though. The only downside was it being really hot, because there were barely any trees along the road, and it was in the middle of the day. Though the prospect of an onsen visit made me stop caring about the heat and the sweat; I'd just change clothes after washing up. =3
This way... It was easy enough to follow these signs.
On the way back to the station, a pair of bikers stopped besides me, and I was totally expecting them to ask where I was going and offer me a ride or give me directions, but no, instead they asked ME for directions. "Do you know how to get to Ichifusa dam from here?" WTF!? Do I look like someone who's familiar with the area or something? =P Oh well, since I just happened to have visited the dam, I was able to give them directions just fine... But it was weird. =S
I also ran into Matoba's grave. Seriously.
Or at least, the grave of a member of the Matoba family. xD I can't find any info online on who 的場士体 was (or how to read the first name), but the board explains he was a warrior in the Sengoku period. =O
Almost back at the station...
I arrived at the station about half an hour before the train, so I relaxed with a cold drink from a vending machine, and looked up what the closest onsen were. Despite being called "Yunomae" ("In front of the baths") there weren't actually any onsen within walking distance from the train station. But on the way there, I'd seen an onsen facility from the window of the train, right besides Taragi station, so on the way back I decided to get off there, and use the two hours or so until the next train to take a nice long bath there.
It was such a nice onsen, and it only cost 300 yen! I didn't even have to buy a towel, since I still had the one I bought at Hitoyoshi onsen yesterday. (I was carrying all my luggage at this point, since I wouldn't be back at the inn) But for that price, they didn't just have regular natural spring water, but also baths with massage jets, a sauna and cold bath, and even several outside baths; warm, cold, and a long waist-deep 'pool' for walking in. (though I couldn't resist swimming in it for a bit when nobody else was there, because it was so big. *^^*)
The outdoor baths were really scenic too, with natural rocks and a little garden. That was really something I missed on the trip so far, all the onsen I'd visited so far looked like plain old bathrooms with regular bathroom tiles, despite using natural spring water. But the atmosphere is just so different when the bath's made out of natural rocks. ^o^ So I'm really glad I chose to go here, even though I had no idea what to expect! There's some pictures on the website here, though it doesn't show how big the place really was, and how many baths there are.
There were so many old ladies there though, it almost seemed like their local social gathering or something. And most of them spoke Kyuushuu dialect, which I had quite a bit of trouble understanding. But we had fun trying to talk to each other despite that. xD All I know about Kyuushu dialect is that you just say "bai" a lot, so whenever I didn't understand something, I could just say "wakaranbai", lol. They tried teaching me some other phrases too, but I can't say I remember them ^^;
I got out of the bath, dried myself off and changed into a clean set of clothes just in time before the train to Hitoyoshi. There, I had about half and hour wait until the train to Yatsushiro, so I thought I'd get one of the famous station bento... Sadly the chestnut rice ones were sold out, since it wasn't really lunch time anymore (about 3:30 pm) but I got another one with onigiri and fish instead.
Then I took the Hisatsu line to Yatsushiro...
Kuma river, for the last time... T_T I tried listening to some soundtracks on the train too, but I couldn't anymore because just listening to them made me cry ^^;
The way back went just according to plan~ Well, according to my new plan. xD The bus at Yatsushiro was really hard to find, apparently it departed from a tiny bus stop on the opposite side of the street from the station. But luckily the station staff knew about it, so they told me where it was after I asked.
Hello again, Yatsushiro station.
The bus to the airport really was tiny! I think it had about ten seats at most, and besides me, there was only one other person on it, a local businessman I think. But it really did take me to the airport in just an hour, while traveling via Kumamoto station would've taken me closer to two hours! The bus stop actually advertised that the bus went to the airport in "only 50 minutes!!" but apparently some roads which were damaged in the earthquake were still being fixed, so they had to drive slower for a good portion of the ride, and it was a little bumpy. ^^; It was already dark out though, so I couldn't really see outside the window how bad the damage was. But when I checked the map on my phone, apparently we'd driven right past the town where the epicenter was, so it's no wonder the roads are still a bit rough there.
I arrived at Kumamoto airport a little less than an hour before my flight, but as I'd learned on the way there, that proved to be plenty of time to check in and get through security. The landing in Tokyo was kinda rough, but other than that it was fairly uneventful. I listened to some Natsume Yuujinchou drama CDs on the bus and the plane, which was really relaxing, though for some reason I had a really hard time holding back my tears.
Especially the "Kimi, Sarishi Ato" story got to me... First of all, I realized that Sano Yuuto, the relative who Natsume is staying with during this story, is voiced by Takahiro Sakurai, who also voices the main character in my company's main game franchise. So it was really surprising to suddenly hear a voice that I've heard so often during work in such an unexpected place.
I also realized... This is totally a BL drama, isn't it!? The whole story is basically that Yuuto gets so distracted by Natsume's presence that he practially starts stalking him to try and find out more about him, and can't focus on his own studies anymore, and then they have to part ways due to a tragic incident and family issues... It's just such a stereotypical BL story if you think about it, lol. Takahiro Sakurai x Kamiya Hiroshi, anyone? I'm pretty sure those two have done some actual BL dramas together before. =O
Anyways, for the rest of my flight and the train ride home from Haneda airport, I couldn't listen to any Natsume stuff anymore without bursting out in tears in public, so I had to stop listening to them... ^^; I got home at about midnight, only to go to work immediately the next morning. It was really hard to go back to reality, as if I was rudely awoken from a long and pleasant dream... If not for the photos, I'd find it hard to believe that I actually visited Hitoyoshi, and all by myself too, and that everything went perfectly!
I think I've recovered a little by now though... Now, I'm mostly just excited for the anime screening event on Saturday tomorrow, omg! ...And stressed with how I'm going to handle my next big project at work... @_@ Hopefully the new anime will help me get though the rest of the year...!
And maybe it'll introduce some new real-life locations in Hitoyoshi, which means that I will have to visit them some day... It would make a good excuse, at least... >w< I really want to rewatch all the old episodes too now, just so I can recognize all the places that I visited... If only I had the time to re-watch everything... >w<