It was the first time we've explored the woods at night - with all the foreign sounds, it's rather eerie. At one point, when we walked past a stream, we heard the weirdest sound of all - a very loud, low moan, like some large mammal. I'd never heard that sound before in real-life, but I recognised it immediately - a bullfrog. I never knew bullfrogs were so loud! They really do sound like bulls. And they sound quite scary; if I didn't know what it was, I would've gotten scared.

While we heard bullfrogs, we unfortunately saw not a single firefly. Perhaps the season's already over, and the fireflies have all died (things seem to last for a very short time in Japan). It's a shame, because none of us have ever seen a firefly before.

So, instead we went to the large cemetery nearby. It's right on top of a hill (like a lot of large cemeteries seem to be in Japan for some reason), and it gives a fantastic view of Kumamoto. It really looks beautiful at night. So many lights. As Ellie said, "no city can look ugly at night."

As for tonight, our friends Ollie and Claire are coming from Tokyo to Kumamoto. So we'll probably take them out for a drink at Jeff's!

Oh, and I found this large, funky beetle outside Ellie's room:

I think it's a type of longhorn beetle, but I don't know what type. Asian I'm guessing!



I think I shall dub it the Greater Asian Polka-Dot Longhorn!

Japanese of the Day: 蛍 - hotaru - Firefly
and, for the sake of it:
甲虫 - kabutomushi - Beetle
蛙 - kaeru - Frog