Well . . . what to say about Fukuoka! It was all about the Sumo really!

We stayed in a really lovely traditional Ryokan complete with it's own onsen, but mostly we were just excited about the sumo! Particularly when on our way to buy the tickets we came across two wrestlers on their way home. We figured they can't have been very good ones because a) it was only 3pm and they were already finished and b) they were walking home! The wrestling fans were waiting outside the arena to cheer them in - it was cool!

Although we were in the cheap seats at the back we had a great view (and on reflection we were rather glad we weren't at the front - they got landed on quite a few times!). We didn't really get a great deal about what was going on, or who was who, but, man, there were some fat dudes there! Though, surprisingly, they nearly always lost to the littler guys. There also seems to be an influx of wrestlers from Mongolia and Eastern Europe - they didn't seem terribly popular and looked a little bit hairy and pasty compared to the proper guys! From what we could make out it was all about getting a few b****-slaps to the face, preferably dislodging the top-knot, before the other guy gets hold of your pants! It was brilliant - but there is still something every so slightly wrong about big fat men wearing what basically amounts to a cross between a thong and a nappy . . . !

We tried to do a few leg stamps ourselves when we got back to our room, after which we were really quite surprised at how high some of them can lift their legs! Respect to the fat men!

And that pretty much sums up what we did in Fukuoka really!

We've been in Nagasaki a couple of days and I think it's fair to say we're a little unimpressed with it! Perhaps it's got a lot to do with the weather which has turned cold and grey, but it seems quite an unloved place and there's not a busting lot to see or do here. We went to the A-Bomb museum, which was (perhaps not surprisingly) fairly similar to the one in Hiroshima, and we've been on a wander through a few parks and gardens (see the pic - rather a lot of very big fish. Sorry Dad and Dan, but in comparison yours are mere tadpoles!). That's about it really! We're off now back to our rather strict hostel - the room with a view - (See the pic) - Strictly no eating or drinking in the room, you've got to be out by 10am (she was knocking on the door at 10.06 wondering what we were still doing there!) and can't come back until 4pm - we're looking forward to moving on tomorrow to Kagoshima - ash umbrella at the ready!