I’ll be taking a group of university students to Minamata for an overnight trip next weekend (July 15th to 16th). It’s a mixed group of Japanese students and exchange students from various countries. I’m posting about it here because I would like to invite interested university students (any university in the area and, of course, students of any nationality) to join us. We already have about 20 people but it would be nice to have a few more.
On Saturday, the 15th, after lunch at Fukuda Noen (located on a mountain by the sea; see second picture for a sample of the view) we’ll visit Hot House, a facility in which people with congenital Minamata disease work (first picture). I’ve gone there almost every year for quite some time now and it’s always very interesting and enlightening to actually meet people whose lives have been deeply affected by mercury poisoning, not just hear a lecture about them. We’ll also tour various points related to the history of Minamata disease.
Saturday night we’ll stay in an onsen ryokan (hot spring inn) in the Yunotsuru area, a picturesque village in the mountains near Minamata that is famous for its hot springs and terraced rice paddies. Sunday we’ll have fun visiting a “roller luge” facility in Ashikita and going to the beach in Otachimisaki (third picture). If you are interested, please fill out the following form:
Costs including transportation, meals, entrance fess, etc. will be slightly over 10,000 yen (relatively cheap as such overnight trips go). If more people want to go than we have room for, people will be accepted on a first come, first serve basis.
If you have any questions, please go ahead and fill out the form, check the “not sure” option, and type in your question. I’ll get back to you by e-mail.
– Kirk