With rainy season over and that infernal cauldron which is summer upon us, perhaps you would like to flee Kumamoto for the relative coolness of the mountains. My wife’s family hails from Yabe (now referred to as Yamato-cho); family business took me there recently, and I drove the new trans-Kyushu expressway (Kyushu Oudan Kousokudorou 九州横断高速道路, photo below). Not only has it turned what was once a two-hour drive into a 45-minute one, it is a gorgeous, surprisingly straight road with few tunnels and many bridges from which tiny hamlets and rural scenery can be viewed. Yabe is most famous for its late-Edo era aqueduct bridge Tsujinkyo (通潤橋), which most people look at and promptly depart. Too bad as there is much more. To the right of the bridge is a stairway cut into a cliff which descends to the marvelous Gorō ga Taki waterfall (五郎ヶ滝). Though frowned upon, it is possible to swim to the side of the waterfall (hint: swim backwards as the ricocheting water comes like bullets), climb up a shelf on the cliff, and then move directly behind the waterfall. This is both refreshing and thrilling. The path continues through a gorge along a pathway suspended above the river, eventually leading to stairs which lead out of the gorge to rice paddies and back to the bridge. Note the different rock types on the gorge walls - this is due to the area being formed by two different eruptions of Mt Aso. The walk is only moderately strenuous: it is short but contains long flights of stairs. There are few dining options in Yabe (mom-n-pop ramen shops, a Joyfull), so you might want to pack a picnic, though the new highway may well change this by making Yabe more accessible. Finally, the expressway will eventually connect Kumamoto with Beppu, Oita, which has some excellent beaches. More about that later. - William