Rafting the Kuma River

Day 5 of the field study:

We had an early departure from Minamata on Saturday morning. All of the students said farewell to their host families and promised to write. This is yet another example of the importance of international exchange. For most of the students it was their first homestay, enabling them to question their stereotypes about Japanese families, gender roles, and houses. On the ride to our next destination, I heard many comments about how host fathers helped in the house more than they expected and how much larger the homes were than they had learned in class.

After a one-hour taxi ride on winding roads in the mountains of southern Kumamoto, we arrived at Watari Station (32°14'11.87"N, 130°41'41.18"E). Then we walked a few minutes to the rafting company, Land Earth. A handful of cool young men in laid-back clothes greeted us. These men would be our river guides, causing some excited chatter among our students. After changing into wet suits and receiving helmets and life jackets, we were ready to get in the water and experience eco-tourism.

Boat #1

Boat #2

30 seconds after settling in the boats, we had our first casualty, when the guide pushed R out of his raft. This became a theme that followed us down the river. Because the water level was so low, the river was slow and lazy. Therefore, the guides had to create excitement. We rowed under a waterfall, slid down an agricultural water chute, jumped of a 3-meter cliff, splashed each other, and floated in our life jackets.

A happy group of rafters after getting drenched in a waterfall.

Doing our best impression of synchronized swimmers.

Floating in the cool river.

Balance everyone!

The guides also purposefully flipped our rafts, took us down one set of rapids sideways, and did a number of other things to help us enjoy the lazy rapids. Everyone had fun, as one can see from the smiling faces.

The Hitoyoshi steam locomotive traveling upstream.

The entire trip took about three hours, although it would have been less than one-third that if we had actually paddled the entire way. We left the river at Isshouchi Station ( 32°15'4.94"N, 130°39'15.38"E) and took a bus back to our starting point, where we changed clothes and prepared to continue our trip by rail.

The rest of the day was a long train ride to Aso Station, then a long bus ride to Oguni town.

By the way, all photos courtesy of Land Earth rafting company.