Hita

We’re on the afternoon bus to Hita, a city of 65,000,

72km southeast of Fukuoka.

Locals call it the "Kyoto of Kyushu,” a smaller version of Kyoto, Japan’s former capital,

and Kyushu

being the third-largest of Japan’s five main islands.

Having recently watched the Netflix series “Age of Samurai”,

Pa and I know something of Hita’s history.

The warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi

captured Hita in 1593,

and fortified it,

establishing Hita as his base for conquering all of Kyushu,

crucial to unifying Japan in the aftermath of 100 years of civil war.

In 1603, Hideyoshi passed Hita on to Tokugawa,

the first shogun of the Edo Period.

Two years later, Tokugawa “resigned” in favor of his son Hidetada,

but continued to “rule from the shadows like many a shōgun of old” as they used to say.

For the next 260 years, the Tokugawa clan

ruled Japan,

closing it off from the outside world until 1850.

Dejima, an artificial island in Nagasaki harbor,

being the only exception.

Tokugawa, Hidetada and the rest of the family allowed Dutch traders

to live on Dejima under close scrutiny, deeming the Dutch to be more about trade than conquest or conversion.

To which Pa concurs.

Other than that, Pa and I know little else of Hita other than its clean mountain water

is said to be responsible for some of Japan’s best beer.

We’ll find out.

LATER ON

We checked into our room with a view,

took a nap, then a walk at dusk.

It’s a nice place.