For our final day in Kyushu, we wanted a "calm closure." No more sulfur, no more geysers—just a quiet coastal escape to Bungotakada. It was supposed to be a gentle finale. The mountains, however, had other plans.
The Route Less Traveled:
To avoid the tolls, we skipped the E10 and took Route 713. It was windy, it was high above a gorge, and at one point, the GPS led us across a single-lane grassy track through a rice field. It was terrifying, but we survived the "bush drive" of 2025!
Time Stands Still in Showanomachi:
We eventually reached Showanomachi, a town famous for its retro Showa-era atmosphere. And boy, was it retro. It was so quiet we only saw about six other humans. Most shops were closed, and the town felt like it had been paused in 1955.
We had a modest lunch of Okonomiyaki and Yakisoba for a bargain 900¥ (cooked by a lovely old gentleman), but our quest for "coffee and cake" ended in tragedy: the cafe had coffee, but no cake.
The Tide That Wouldn't Budge:
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| Where is the mudflats ?? |
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| The Goblin door |
Hoping for a grand finale at Matama Beach, we drove out to see the famous mud flats. Nature, however, was not checking our itinerary. We arrived two hours before low tide, meaning all we saw was... the sea. Right up to the wall.
Beppu to the Rescue:
We beat a hasty retreat back to Beppu, sticking strictly to the main Route 10 this time. We found comfort in the familiar aisles of YouMe mall, stocking up on Japanese cooking supplies for home.
Dinner was a "Plan B" success at a mom-and-pop shop called Minori. Since the Korean place was closed, we tucked into toriten, oyakodon, and sashimi for 5,000¥. It was honest, home-cooked, and delicious. We capped off the night with our new ritual: coffee jelly from the Lawson across the street.
Final Reflection: The Beauty of Doing Nothing
If I’m honest, today was a whole lot of driving for a whole lot of "nothing much." But after a trip as expansive as this one, maybe a day of failed tide-watching and quiet retro streets was exactly what we needed to wind down.
The drive:
