One of the interesting things about traveling is (are) the unexpected things you stumble on. A short ride from the main road, this was the site of a oddly shaped rock that appeared to be an ancient fertility symbol - in case you didn't get the point, so to speak, they had more graphic illustrations like the one at left, in addition to long explanations of the history and religious significance of the site. I think they took it a bit far, though; one tract insisted that the rock had existed "before the earth began." And when I walked into the tiny old shop to see if they had any film for sale, a young woman dressed in traditional costume stopped playing her shamisen (stringed instrument) and invited me in to sit and have tea and "chat." Ordinarily I would have been glad to accept; in this case, though, I sensed I was about to receive a religious cult sales pitch. So I declined politely and pedaled on.

After a night of exploring Miyazaki's surprisingly active night life, I set out in the early morning along a river road traveled mainly by students on bicycles - and managed to stumble onto a bikepath that led to this town, with one of the more unusual hilltop castles I've ever seen. The town itself if much less distinctive; it's primarily a farming community that seems to be trying very hard to market itself as a tourist destination; from what I saw, they've got their work cut out for them.