Amakusa-shi, Kumamoto-ken

So the results are in! Come August, I will be living in 天草市（Amakusa City), Japan. The is the part where most of you stop and scratch your head in bewilderment. Never heard of it before? Neither had I, until I looked it up.

Amakusa is a city in Kumamoto prefecture, in the southernmost main island of Kyushu. To be honest, I was a little dismayed when I first found out my placement. I had requested Urban/suburban, but had been banking on a big city - Wikipedia's estimated population of Amakusa is 90,000. This was also nowhere near my preferences (unless I made some mistake in my application). It's an hour and a half from Tokyo BY PLANE, and an hour by plane from Kobe and Osaka, the areas that I wanted to be close to. I was having a mini-Panic Attack, but after doing more research, I can't be more excited!

Amakusa City basically spans a few small islands off the coast of Kyushu. It has beaches, dolphins, and though the weather seems to cool down at night, the current day temperature is 81 degrees F. It shares latitude with Bermuda, and if that's anything to go by, it means a Miami girl like me will have no problem getting along with the weather. The ocean is readily available, which is also a huge plus!

 View of the City...Apparently there are palm trees!

Amakusa Islands are connected by several bridges

Amakusa also has a very interesting history. Historically, it was the site where many Japanese Christian converts hid during the persecutions of Christians in the late 1500s. The name "Amakusa" actually stems from the name of a boy who led a rebellion of Christian converts against the government that was against them.

Sakitsu Cathedral

That said, there are lots of churches in Amakusa. I guess I'll be reciting my "Our Father" and "Hail Mary" in English, Spanish, AND Japanese by the time I get back!