Ikitsuki

Last Saturday, Jill CJ and I all went to the island that CJ lives on for a bit of a tour. Earlier that day, CJ and I had checked out an abandoned factory and it ended up being perfect weather for sight seeing.

Ikitsuki's name is composed of two kanji: Iki or 生 which means life , and tsuki or 月 which means moon. Put them together and Ikitsuki's name figuratively means "Breath of the Moon". I think that is one of the coolest meanings for the name of a place. Incidentally, Fukushima means: Fuku or 福, and Shima 島 or -Hence "Good Luck Island".

Because Ikitsuki is pretty much on the other side of the world, we didn't actually get into Ikitsuki until about 2:30 or so. I can't imagine how CJ managed to get out to Imari so early in the morning. When we got there, we immediately headed out for the west shore. Now, growing up in NC, I was used to fairly big waves. When I got to Japan, I was actually quite surprised how calm the water was. I guess this is mostly because there are a lot of barriers (man-made and natural) which keep things pretty calm. Well this day on Ikitsuki was like being back home. The west side is right on the ocean, so the waves were very big, (good enough for surfing I'd reckon). It seems like every island in Japan is slightly different. Even ones in the same prefecture like Fukushima and Ikitsuki. Whereas Fukushima is very forested and mountainous, Ikitsuki seems to have a lot more open fields and shrubbery. It is also known for its cliffs which run along the western shore. Sadly, these cliffs become a very attractive place for people to come from all over Japan to commit suicide.

Unfortunately we only got about 3 hours of exploring in before the sun went down. Once it did, we headed over to Allee's in Himosahi for "martinis and gangster films". Neither of these things really happened, though. The girls decided to organize the party with the theme, but after actually trying a martini and watching the first 20 minutes of Scarface, they turned things over to more delicious and lighter material (burgers and Aqua Teen Hunger Force).

Enjoy the pics!