Mountains, Monkeys, Mini Sumo Wrestlers

Day three in Kyushu: on the drive from Kumamoto to Mt. Aso, we stopped at a turn-out. The view was great, but we didn't take pictures of it because we were too busy with shots like this. Left to right, Yurie, Koji and Yumi. As previously mentioned, Yurie is Aogu's 6-year-old niece. Yumi is Aogu's cousin Hiromitsu's 5-year-old daughter. Got that?
Unfortunately when we arrived at the bottom of the ropeway which leads to the active crater of Mt. Aso, the ropeway was temporarily shut down because of there was some kind of mini-eruption going on. Or something. We waited in the gift shop for more than an hour, but volcanic activity wasn't on our side, so we gave up and left. From there we went to the Monkey Theatre and saw a "show" featuring two performing monkeys. I was alarmed to see that the monkeys were kept in collars at the ends of two long ropes, whatever jumps, flips and spins they did. Not that I know anything about monkeys, maybe they really would have run away if they weren't on a rope to their trainer. But if so, then why force them to do a show? I'm the furthest thing from an animal activist, and yet it struck me as an odd scene. Anyway, ropes and collars or not, this particular stunt was impressive: these stilts were flat on the stage, and the monkey picked them up and climbed to the top of them at the same time, ending in the position you see here.

From there we proceeded to Aso Farmland Village, which I'm too lazy to link to. This was like the mother of all souvenir shops, with a couple of restaurants, a petting zoo and a spa. We had lunch at one of the restaurants (I'm brilliant with the details, aren't I?) where Koji's highlight was drinking melon soda with Yumi.
Next we were off to the petting zoo. Koji was bolder than I expected. In fact, with the exception of the ostriches, the llama and the cow, I think he managed to touch every single animal there, and it wasn't exactly a small petting zoo. But he is still a relatively small boy, and that's why he was allowed to have a seat on the back of this giant turtle. He's sitting right on top of the sign taped to the turtle's shell that says "do not sit on me".
Koji's boldest move is pictured to the left. He walked right up to this capybara and petted it as shown. At the time, I didn't even know what it was so I was slightly alarmed. I think Aogu may have suggested that it was some kind of huge mouse, which I didn't want to believe. But actually, he was right!
From there, we drove back to Kumamoto, arriving a little early for our dinner reservation at a tofu restaurant. Aogu's aunt, Rumi-obachan, is the one who kindly made the arrangements, so this time I have a legitimate excuse for not knowing where I was...The restaurant's specialty is tofu, and we had several courses which were all exquisitely arranged. Most-but not all-items also tasted correspondingly exquisite. Thank God we had our own private tatami room. Koji enjoyed challenging the cousins (who weigh the same amount as him though they are three and four years older!) to rounds of sumo. Having watched much sumo, on this day, he figured that he needs to wipe his brow and his armpits to prepare for a match. Japanese restaurants are convenient like that: we had been supplied with lots of small, wet towels to wipe our hands before the meal. They were perfect for Koji's pre-match hygenic needs....