Nagasaki City, Nagasaki

       

Nagasaki is a beautiful city and was one of the first areas of Japan to open its doors to foreigners. The first three groups to settle there and to give the greatest influence were the Chinese, the Dutch, and the Portuguese.

The Chinese were the first group to come to Nagasaki, they brought their cuisine.

Chinatown

      

Lunch clockwise from the top: mabudofu (Chinese),  saraudon (Chinese/Japanese fusion), champon (Chinese/Japanese). So good. I had little octopuses in m cham :)

The Dutch brought their architecture. The "Oranda" (Hollander/Dutch) Slopes: one of the top three most disappointing sites in Japan. Look at that face! (I'm proud to say that after taking this picture I have successfully visited the top three most disappointing sites in Japan).

When the Dutch formed their colony in Nagasaki, the local government insisted on them settling in one place (past problems with the Portuguese I believe). The Dutch imported materials from Holland and build the first western houses in Japan. For the Japanese at that time the houses were quite impressive... for me going to the Dutch Slopes was like walking around Decatur, GA or Midtown Memphis (southern US style houses). We enjoyed ourselves but I can see why people would find it so disappointing. As the foreign population grew in Nagasaki more and more Europeans were moving into the area, the locals had a hard time keeping up with where the foreigners were from so they just called them all "Oranda-jin," "Hollanders." Today they just call us gaijin.

The Atomic Bomb Museum and Peace Park

During my first year I visited the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Museum and Peace Park, this museum was much tamer in nature and composition but you could still get the sense of destruction and loss.

The Victims' Memorial

Mel and Louis taking it in

    

Louis is walking past one of the arches of Urakami Cathedral, which was at one point the largest Catholic Church in all of Asia. The arch was relocated to Peace Park a few years ago.

Paper Cranes, Victims' Memorial Park

After walking around the museum we, ran to Urakami Cathedral but got there too late to take a walk around inside.

Jesus and two diciples, burned  and damaged from the heat and force of the explosion

After we got a few shots we  headed to Peace Park for sundown. I remember seeing pictures of both the Nagasaki and Hiroshima Peace statues in textbooks in elementary school. It was amazing to see them in person. There were several statues around Peace Park in the Peace Symbol Zone made by international artists supporting Nagasaki in it's plea for world peace. The park was build on the former site of a prison, when you walk around the park you actually step over the foundations that are still partially there. I'm not sure if they were domestic prisons or P.O.W. camps.

A close up of Peace Statue, it's really big



The former foundations

 

After a walk around the park, we decided to head up , Mount Inasa, the highest mountain in Nagasaki City, and see the city at night. According to the guides at the Atomic Bomb museum Nagasaki's geography actually saved the city from being completely decimated...ironically it's also a famous place for young couples to break of relationships--so says Wikipedia.

 

Day 2

During our second day in Nagasaki the three of us dashed around the city to finish off the major sites on our list. Our first stop was the Martyrs Memorial. The Portuguese were the second group to come to Nagasaki and they brought their religion. It was odd, yet comforting to see so many churches around the city. Only about 1% of the Japanese are Christian, of that percentage I'm not too sure how many are Catholic.

Breakfast at the Martyrs Memorial

A very compressed version of Catholicism in Japan. Sometime around the mid 1500's Portuguese ships landed in Western Japan (Kyushuu), followed by Spanish Jesuits and Portuguese missionaries. The missionaries converted local leaders to Catholicism and it trickled down from there. Nagasaki became a huge port due to all the trade between Japan, China, Portugal, the Philippines etc. Japan was going through the Warring States Era and was pretty unstable so the Jesuits who'd been racking up power decided that they should control Nagasaki. The big leader who was trying to unite Japan (Hideyoshi) didn't like that idea so he ordered the execution of 26 Catholics in Nagasaki. Catholics were forced to worship in secret  fearing that they would suffer the same fate as the martyrs. Anti-foreign/Christian groups would gather known Catholics and force them to publicly denounce their faith, vocally or by destroying crucifixes. Some Catholics kept statues of the Virgin Mary in their homes but had her disguised as the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy Kan'on.

After breakfast at the Memorial we scuttled off to see another giant statute of Kan'non and we met one of the quirkiest old ladies I've ever met.

The Goddess Kan'non at Fukusai-ji home to Foucault's Pendula

The temple was originally built in 1620 something but was destroyed by the atomic bomb. This new temple was rebuild in the 1970's with a Foucault's pedula at the bottom. The caretaker, a cute little old lady tried to explain it to us but I just couldn't get it.

The best thing about the caretaker was her English, she says she's never offically studied English but learned it from tourists that visited the temple. This lady is in her late 70's maybe if she's that young. I wish I could remember all the things she said to us but she made us laugh the entire time we were there.


She refused to let us take pictures of her, although Louis did manage to sneak one. She did however let us play the traditional instruments that had been a part of the temple for ages.

The one of the few shots that Louis managed to capture of our guide



While i was listening to the history of the temple Mel took some shots with my camera

This was our last sight before running to the station to catch our train to Kumamoto, land of volcanoes, castles and basashi (yum).


Kumamoto City, Kumamoto

Day 1

We pulled out of Nagasaki on the Kamome, sexy train and set off for Kumamoto. Once we got to the station, we dropped off our things at a coin locker and checked out Kumamoto Castle.

Funny story about this picture. Before exploring this portion of the castle I stopped a tourist to ask him if he would take a picture of us. He obliged using accented English. Once he took the picture I said Arigatou. The women behind him started whispering at once. Louis, Mel, and I got in line behind the man and his group, it seemed as though he were the only man in a group of women and children. One  of the women from the group smiled at me when we made eye contact and said,  "I'm not Japanese, he's not Japanese. We're Korean."  I think my face fell instantly. Since then, anytime I travel outside of Kochi I always ask questions in English first before I use Japanese.

Moving along....

Japanese castles are kind of boring in my opinion but if you're a history buff (like Louis) or into military history you might get a kick out of castle grounds. I enjoy just looking at them from a distance, poised above their city, watching, reigning. Up close they're not much to look at, in my opinion. 


 The castle grounds weren't that impressive either. But things may have looked different way back when. It's impressive though that with all the battles and damage the castle endured that it managed to for the most part remain intact.

Walking through the castle museum I learned that the lords of Kumamoto Castle had stylized dolphins placed on the wings of the castles roof. Dolphins were a symbol of good luck and were thought to be guardians that protected

 people and places from fire. Quite a bit of Kumamoto castle was destroyed by fire... I did however like the view, we'd be headed in that direction the next day to check out the Mount Aso Caldera.
 

Our  first day in Kumamoto also happened to be Mel's birthday, so we treated Mel and ourselves to one of Kumamoto Prefecture's most famous delicacies, basashi.

Basashi is horsemeat, and boy oh boy is it tasty. Sorry animal lovers but something about traveling just makes such novel foods that much more enticing. I do promise not to eat dolphin or whale though.

How I’ve been. I was doing fine until one stray click deleted three months of updating.

I cant believe that a year has just about come and gone. I’ve done a lot over the last six months, I feel as though its been too much really. So here is the Cliff Notes version of the last six months. You may need a potty break before you take this on...( Read more... )

When I look back on the last six months I feel like I've wasted a lot of time. I've definitely enjoyed myself but I realized that i haven't spent a lot of quality time with with my friends, it's just been marathon weekends of party here party there. No joke every weekend since I've come back from the States has been booked. I wonder if my friends have noticed what the level of our time together has become and if they feel the same way. I must say that school has been extremely rewarding my students' academic performances have improved; I can't claim that but it feels good to know that while I was present the quality of their work has improved. The last two weeks of November I helped 10 of my students prepare for the interview portion of the national English competency exam, all of them passed. I was so proud and I'm continually surprised and pleased by each of my students' efforts. I'm not sure what I hope to accomplish in 2008 but I know its my year, my time to shine, the year of the Rat. I should use my time wisely. Omata se shimashita, Sorry to have kept you waiting.

Friday, July 13 – Monday July 16, 2007

Impulsiveness is a trait that does not suit me well. Anytime I act on an impulse I find myself in the most uncomfortable of situations, and I will never document them in this space with the exception of acknowledging that I bought a camera based on its color, brand, and price rather than the fact that it was programmed in a language that I do not understand. Impulsivity is ridiculous. After about 10 months of owning this camera I have yet to figure it out, let alone take many (quality) pictures with it.

So while Jen and Kayo were inspecting Kayo’s camera I was running around snapping pictures trying to figure out the ups and downs of the settings (some of the black and whites from the first entry were taken during that time).

After about 10 minutes fiddling around with her camera we decided to head back to Kyoto Station and find the nearest camera shop.

I believe we spent a majority of our trip in Kyoto Station, it's huge and absolutely gorgeous. I wish I could have done it justice in my pictures. 

Sadly, the folks at the camera shop told us they could do nothing for the camera and she would have to go to Osaka to get it fixed and or buy a new one.

The trip to Osaka was short; but visually entertaining. One thing I enjoy about visiting Japanese cities is train life. Training in Japan is broken down into four types: you have the street denshas (trolleys), the local trains, the city subways, and the shinkansen. Riding trains in Japan gives you a pretty decent cross section of the local population and allows me to indulge in my people watching although from time to time I ending giving the, “I saw you looking, it makes no sense to pretend you weren’t, I don’t mind you looking but please don’t stare or encourage your friend to do the same” look. Training is a great way to get a feel for youth culture in each city. The way the guys dress, style their hair, arch their eyebrows…the way they girls dress, style their hair, draw on their eyebrows, and the clothes they wear are so different between cities and regions. I love it.  Something surprising about training is how open people tend to be, and when I mean open and mean in their reading. Kayo and I sat on one side of the train while Jen sat on the other side to our left. The guy she was sitting next to was reading a pornographic magazine which left little to the imagination. That kind of thing is very common in Japan and although I’ve seen it a few times it still catches me off guard.

During our train ride back to Kyoto, I told Jen the "One day in the 80's Superman is flying over Metropolis and sees Wonder Woman sunbathing on a roof" joke that the boys told Gretchen and I during the EYC trip last year. She thought it was hilarious and to our surprise so did the lady behind us.

Once we arrived in Osaka our train station was directly in front of one the largest electronic stores in the Kansai region—it has been described as “Best Buy on crack”. Four stories and a basement of electronics galore made me extremely thankful that I lived in Tsuno-cho; I can only imagine how many paychecks might have been willingly given to such a place. Sadly, the technicians weren’t able to fix her camera in a timely manner so we helped her find a new one. Once we were all smiles again we had dinner at a curry shop that gave discounts to foreigners…why?

On the train to Fukui, so tired but happy.

Then we headed back to Kyoto and on to Fukui for to rest up for the next day ahead.

One day's journey...Click on the image to make it bigger

 

Friday, July 13 – Monday July 16, 2007

All of Kochi sat with bated breath waiting for Typhoon number 4 to make landfall. There’d been hard rain all week and with the typhoon’s arrival there’d be more to come. With the week’s rain, creeks and streams were swelling, choking, and threatening to overflow their banks, it would take little encouragement (rain) for them to actually reach the roadways and the houses nearby. A year ago, I would have wet myself, no rain needed, at the thought, the slight, the possibility even, of such a thing happening. This time around, I had plans and no typhoon (hyped as the storm of the century), anxious co-worker, or overly excited PA was going to inspire a second panic attack. D@mnit. Kayo, Jennifer, and I had plans to visit Kyoto and Fukui; both cities are extremely important to kayo’s family. Her father is buried in Kyoto and her ancestral home was built in Fukui and was lead by the Asakura clan during the Warring States Era (Wikipedia, 2007).

Friday night the three of us spent the night at Jen’s house in Susaki; we would have to catch a 5:40 local express train to Kochi City, then second limited express train to Kochi City, followed by a transfer to a bullet train in Okayama in order to get to Kyoto…you have to work hard to get out of Kochi, Shikoku for that matter. I didn’t get much sleep because my cousin graduated from Naval Basic Training and I wanted to talk to him. The last time I heard his voice was about March or April. Staying up was a feat but I was able to do it and being able to speak with him was wonderful. After our chat I shut my eyes for about two hours before we had to get up and head for the station. The rain hadn’t stopped falling and Kayo called both the Susaki and Kochi stations to make sure we’d still be able to leave. Both stations assured us that would be able to catch both of our trains; the typhoon wasn’t expected to hit Kochi until about 7 that morning…

We made our trains…but once we made it Okayama an announcement was made that our train was the last train out of Kochi all other trains leaving for or coming from Kochi were stopped due to the typhoon making landfall.

Capturing Kayo. In between periods of unconsciousness I managed to snap some pictures.

 

I can’t remember how long it took us to get to Kyoto from Okayama but once we arrived at Kyoto Station we stuffed our bags in to station lockers, headed to the nearest florist and hopped a train to the family grave site.

Kyoto Station is so modernly beautiful, i wish i could have taken better pictures, i'll be heading back sometime soon.

 

The family grave site, there are several families burried here. In the Asakura 'plot' alone there are about three sets of ashes, Kayo's father, paternal grandmother and grandfather.



I think its so amazing that different philosphies and religions share so many similarities...the trinity

Sunday, the 14th, would have been the 2nd year anniversay of Mr. Asakura's death. Kayo's family practices Shinto. In the time we've known each other we've had several conversations comparing and contrasting Shinto and Christianity. I'm not sure ir it's the way I hold my faith but I've found so many similarities in our practices. The most surprising was the act of 'giving light' which is the equivalent of unction or the laying on of hands except in Shinto inanimate objects are believed to have spirits so places and things can receive and be given light. On the train ride from Susaki to Kochi i was sitting next to Kayo and I felt  heat come out of now where; Kayo was giving light to the locket that she always wears over her heart. Since we were sitting so close to each other I was able to feel the heat of her light. I thought the conductor had turned on the heat, in the middle of July! I've never felt anything like it before. In Shinto practice there are certain years, after the death of a loved one, that the living members are expected to honor; if I'm not mistaken its the first, the thrid, the tenth, i dont really understand the pattern. Although this year wasn't one of the designated years, it would be the last time for a while that Kayo would be in Japan and probably the only time that Jennifer and I would be able to accompany her on such a journey. It would be the only chance we would have to meet her father.

Standing out side the burial grounds...that girl had way too many things in her hands.

Once we arrived an the grave site, Kayo filled two buckets with water and took us to her families 'plot' I use plot for lack of the actual word. I don't know what it's called. Jen and I held our umbrellas over Kayo's head as she meticulously and lovingly poured ladel after ladel of water over the miniature monolith she made sure every crevice was spider web and gunk free she even cleaned the plot of the family next to her families. She said she didn't know who they were but it had become a thing between her and her mother because it seemed that that the family responsible for that site rarely came. After she cleaned the plots she placed the two bouquets, that we bought together, into the two perfectly sized holes on the left and the right of the main stone, two lit cigarettes into what looked like an incense holder, one of her grandparents loved to smoke, and placed a towel with a type of japanese sweet that her father loved to eat. For the next 10 or so minutes Kayo had a chat with her dad. I was extremely touched to be part of such an intimate moment. It made me think a lot about my grandmother. As we were waiting for our cab to pick us up and take us to the train station Kayo asked a girl walking by to take our pictures. The girl had a plethora of things in her hand i have no idea how she manged to be texting while walking. We handed her our cameras and ran back to strike our poses. My picture didnt come out too well and the girl dropped Kayo's camera breaking the lense which made it impossible for the lense to retract, there for close and take pictures.

We'd only been in Kyoto for about an hour and a half...

June 29^th – July 8^th

A week of events so momentous it could only happen once in a lifetime…

The Ohki Olympics

In the end Michelle won! You should have seen the moves! YAHHHHHHHHHH!

B-Day

Friday night we had dinner with a group of friends at an Italian restaurant that my Japanese Teacher’s parents’ own. It was delightful my JTEs’ father gave us cake and a bottle of wine on the house! I was so moved. We took tons of pictures.

Sunday we had brunch at the local bakery, dropped two of our group off at the train station then went to visit a sea side temple where I gave thanks for the last 22 years and prayed for my 23^rd. Later that evening, after the rest of the party returned to their respective towns Kayo, Jen and I visited my friend Julie, it was the first time that we’d had such a long talk. Julie is one of the most dynamic people I know and I enjoy listening to her so much. She’s one of ‘Haruno’s heroes’ and my idol. Some experiences aren’t meant for everyone and some people aren’t meant to be understood or enjoyed by all, but Julie you’re a good egg and an ace. You are the meaning of resolve. Take the compliment!

Jen being sneaky...nice shot however.

I really don’t like my ninensei. Whatever.

The rainy season has started and it’s not as bad as I thought it would be. I imagined it to be wet and gloomy all day long and well, it’s been wet and gloomy but I’ve never seen such magnificent clouds in my life. My first few weeks here the clouds made me a bit uncomfortable because I could actually see them moving, quite quickly and very low in the sky. They were less than 6 or so meters above the ground and some days they actually touched the ground. Living in Memphis for 16 years made me quite sensitive to fast moving clouds especially if they were anywhere near the ground. My initial reaction to seeing such things here was an urge to head for the nearest closet.

At both of my schools I face the window, I LOVE IT. There are periods during the day that I just stare out the window, it’s so hard to focus on work with such gorgeous views, especially in Higashitsuno. The middle school is so high above the village that all I can see from my desk is one mountain range. Regardless the weather it’s always enough to grab my attention. These days it’s all I can do not to stare as the clouds creep into and out of the valley. Seeing them move so quickly without wind is a bit eerie but wondrous. Hypnotic and perfectly misshapen, they laboriously make their way over the cedar and bamboo tops to the other side. Even driving to school, once I got over the anxiety of driving in the rain on mountain roads, was a visual treat. GLORIOUSLY beautiful.

I guess having lived barely above sea level and on such flat terrain for a majority of my life the clouds were pretty much removed from my immediate attention. That is until they left the heavens and came to earth, in those instances they became a threat.  I almost feel like it’s a privilege to walk and live in the clouds. To experience them in such a manner, I’m literally touching clouds here.

Maybe I'm still in the "everything is so fresh and new" phase but man, what a view.

Overlooking Higashitsuno Village from the middle school (November)

What is it with ninensei (eight graders)? They just stare at you, ask them a question, they stare at you. Tell them something interesting and then translate it into Japanese, they stare are you. Fall over dead, they stare at you although some may giggle. It’s like teaching goldfish—they only come to life when you dangle stickers over their bowls. And I’m passive aggressive in their class evaluations, today they got a three, MUWAHAHAHAH. In hindsight it’s not such a burn since it’s a three out of five. But seriously, my ninensei are making me wonder if I’m cut out for the coming year.

And there’s nothing else to fret about, for the time being at least. I have a serious week ahead thankfully it’s a short one. Two elementary school visits, my driver’s interview as well as my second taiko performance is this Sunday; happy early Father’s Day to you and yours.

Herakuresu no Junai no Junrei (Hercules and the Journey of True Love)

ACT II

A few paces from the first temple the genki henro and a winded Hercules stop to take a break. Off in the distance they hear the sound of someone approaching. To their horror it was a kappa! The henro scatter in fright while Hercules tries to size up the freakishly flamboyant, frog, bird, turtle thing.

In Japanese folklore the Kappa is both a friend and an enemy. The strange turtleoids (that balance their life force, a dish of water, on their heads) were known to be mannerly yet terrorized villages, massacred livestock, and violated humans and animals in the worst kind of way… The kappa however did teach the Japanese how to cultivate rice in the paddy system that they use today. And the kappa of Kochi-ken is an avid lover of sumo. Kappas are extremely strong and quick witted but unless you have a cucumber to befriend him with, there’s only one way to defeat him…

The Kappa refuses to let them pass unless they do one of two things, allow the him to kancho them or defeat him in a game of his choice. Hercules is nominated to be the kappa’s opponent. The kappa’s game of choice to Hercules’ relief is Kappa Jyanken (rock, paper, scissors) but the Kappa has something up his furry cuffed sleeves.

 Hercules gives Kappa Jyanken a go, but each round the Kappa bests him with some bizarre play, first Kappa Kancho, next Super Kappa Kancho, and then Ultimate Kappa Kancho. Hercules is crestfallen; he completely underestimated the Kappa’s challenge and has landed his and the henros’ butts in some serious trouble. The henro know the only way to defeat the Kappa but can only give Hercules hints because of the lurking Kappa. It takes Hercules a second but he eventually understands.

The Kappa, hearing that Hercules is giving up, can't wait to give it to him

Hercules tells the Kappa that he willing accepts his defeat and would like to ‘bow’ out respectfully. Hercules for the first time since arriving in Japan gives a perfect and utterly graceful bow. The Kappa, reclaiming his manners, returns Hercules’ bow but in doing so the plate on his head falls to the ground and the Kappa looses his powers! Shrieking he curses Hercules for being worthy adversary. Hercules and the henro celebrate their victory and continue on their journey. The Kappa, thwarted drags himself back into the forest. Hercules comments on finally understanding the proper way to ojigi (bow).

Hercules and the henro are exhausted by the time they reach the next temple but before they can take a breather they are startled by two cyclopic ‘niou’ (Buddhist temple guardians;  ‘niou’ also means ‘bad smell’) who are displeased by the presence of a foreigner in their midst. Hercules and the henro try to run past the niou but the niou blow them back effortlessly. Plan B, the Henro try to confuse the niou with their confusion dance but it only makes the Niou more upset and they threaten to send them to hell.

One of the henro mentioned that they should offer the Niou a gift (omiyage). Hercules remembers that he had two yuzu (local citrus fruit) and he offers it to the Niou. The Niou take the yuzu but notify the travelers that despite the tasty gift they will still be sent to hell. Hercules remembers that when he ate a yuzu it was so juicy that it got all over his face and hands, as he says this the cyclopes are blinded by the acidic juice. Hercules tries to make another mad dash through the Niou but the henro stop him. Abandoning a spiritual guardian after blinding them would lead to an eternity of bad karma and God know what else. One of the henro gives Hercules some Muroto Deep Sea Water (an actual brand of water made in Muroto City, Kochi) to wash the Niou’s eyes. The Niou’s eyes are refreshed and they thank him and the henro for the gift of yuzu and the Deep Sea Water; they allow the travelers to pass. Hercules realizes the importance of gifts in Japanese culture, and realizes that he should have brought something from Greece to give to the people of Tosa.

Hercules has been traveling with the henro for sometime now, during that time he has come to learn quite a bit about Japanese culture. While praying at a temple Hercules is lured away by a group of sirens. The Henro try to sedate Hercules but the sirens' lure is too powerful.

 

As the sirens continue their swirling, twirling, cyclone of seduction Hercules becomes more and more enraptured and it's all that the Henro can do to hold him back. When the siren finish their dance Hercules proclaims, that he's met his journey's end, there isn't just one woman in ithe sun but 10! The Henro try to bring Hercules back to his senses and explain that the siren are actually fox demons in disguise and the golden balls ('kinotama'--which sounds a lot like kintama--the word for um...testicles) that they possess are used to trap the souls of the innocent.

In the midst of the henro making a plan Hercules sneaks over to meet the beavy of beauties. He introduces himself as the Greek demigod and explains that he has spent the last month studying Buddhism with the Henro but after seeing the sirens' 'erotic dance' he will give up Buddhism and now study Shinto. The Henro are crushed, 'HERETIC' 'TRAITOR' they scream. How could Hercules do that? As the siren usher him towards their shrine Hercules asks that he at least be able to throw a farewell party for the Henro who have been so kind to him on his journey. The sirens oblige. As they make preparations for the party Hercules runs over to Henro to explain his actions: Hercules will get the sirens drunk by hempai-ing with them, at some point he will destract them and the Henro will try to steal their balls.

Two hours later...

The sirens are four sheets to the wind, Hercules is going as strong as ever and the Henro who have been pretending to drink are all but ready to be rid of the vixens. Hercules starts one more round of henpai, when one of the sirens begs him to do another trick. Hercules whips out a card and makes it disappear...as the sirens fawn over his trick the Henro with their own slight of hand grab the sirens' balls, immediately the sirens feel woozy and faint. Hercules has to do this three times, and by the time he meets the 8th and most powerful siren, the Hachikin (Hachikin, means '8 balls' its  a term used to describe Tosa women because they're strong willed, independent and strong drinkers, they have the power of four men...thus 8 balls.)

The Hachikin is not ammused by Hercules' child play. Nothing Hercules does interests her, everytime he tries to touch her ball she, pulls away and insults him. Desparate to get the golden ball, Hercules remembers that Aphrodite gave him a love potion (number 9) before he left for Japan. Hercules invites the Hachikin to hempai with him once more, before he pours for her he drops some of the love potion in to the sake decanter. Hercules pours for her, she accepts, and within a few seconds her features and attitude completely change. 'Oh Hera-kun! I never noticed how handsome you were!' 'Um, yeah whatever...'  'But Herucles, don't you like me?' 'I do, but you won't let me see your ball', 'Oh this?, here I'll let you touch it.'   As soon as the Hachikin releases the ball there is a big flash of light and the sirens are instantly transformed into their true foxy form, they run away leaving behind them a dazed beautiful young woman.

Hercules runs to the madiens side, he is in love. As it turns out the madien is Mayor Sakamoto's lost daughter Megumi (catch the reference?) Hercules and the Henro whisk Megumi back to Tosa to be reunited with her father.

The Mayor is so over joyed at the return of his daughter that he shruggs off the notion of women with balls and kissses Hercules. Hercules, ammused, says that it seems as though Grecian custums are catching on in Tosa...

End note...Hercules and Megumi get married. They have eight beautiful and confident daughters and each are given one of the eight siren balls. They all lived happily ever after.The finale, love is in the air....