#kurume

A rainbow over Higashi-Muroran station in Southern Hokkaidô is seen from the Hokuto express to Hakodate. The picture quality issues with my new camera aside, the windows weren't at their cleanest at the end of the day...

sure... let's sneak in some skip & loafer charms/stickers one week before a con... i needed an excuse to draw my lil friends anyway....

Iron railway bridge crossing the Chikugo River in Kurume, Japan

Hiroshi Yoshida, Park in Canton (廣東公園 / Kōtō Kōen)

Artist: Hiroshi Yoshida (1876–1950, Kurume, Fukuoka) — a leading figure of the shin-hanga (new print) movement, celebrated for his landscape prints and paintings that fuse Western realism with traditional Japanese woodblock techniques

Year: 1941

Medium: Woodcut with colored inks, jizuri (self-printed) seal

Dimensions: Approx. 20.5 × 27.0 cm

Signed: In sumi ink "Yoshida" with artist's seal "Hiroshi" and jizuri seal; pencil signature "Hiroshi Yoshida" in the margin

Subject: A park scene in Canton (Guangzhou), China — one of many works born from Yoshida's extensive travels across the globe, including the United States, Europe, India, Southeast Asia, and China

Characteristics: The print demonstrates Yoshida's mastery of subtle color gradation and atmospheric light, achieved through meticulous multi-block printing. His ability to capture the air and mood of a foreign landscape through traditional Japanese woodblock techniques remains distinctive among shin-hanga artists

久留米市津福本町の、たけ屋で、肉うどん630、ごぼう天160、玉子60、〆て850円也。

Ending the Day at Kurume’s Ice Rink – Garden Ice Arena

After my temple visit, I wrapped up the day at Garden Ice Arena, Kurume’s very own ice rink tucked away about a 40-minute walk from JR Kurume Station (or a much more reasonable 15-minute bus ride). It’s a bit out of the way, but once I arrived, the first thing I noticed was that the place wasn’t just an ice rink—it also had arcades, bowling, and all sorts of entertainment. A surprising little hub of fun in the middle of nowhere.

I laced up my skates, hit the ice… and skated for all of ten minutes before the Zamboni rolled out to re-surface the rink. Classic timing. So, I waited, watching the machine do its slow, hypnotic loops around the ice, mentally preparing myself for an hour and fifteen minutes of skating.

And what an hour it was!

Backspin: Managed two slow rotations, then immediately lost the ability to do it again.

Front scratch spin (arms above head): Surprisingly solid—spun so fast my arms started to ache.

Falling: Twice. Both times due to sheer stupidity.

Jumps: Flip jump is kinda still there; everything else? Rusty.

Despite having half the rink cut off for hockey practice, it was a solid session—a mix of triumph, questionable decisions, and minor bruises. But hey, that’s skating!

A painted illustration of the Tamatare-gū Engi (玉垂宮縁起), a medieval origin story of the shrine multiple episodes of which can be seen here with a cast of characters including Buddhist and local deities as well as historical and semi-historical figures

Color on silk dating to 1370 from the collection of Daizenji Tamatare-gū Shrine (大善寺玉垂宮) in Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture