From Tsunoshima to Kitakyushu

About a week ago I took a trip with my friends Akemi and Miho out towards Tsunoshima, a little island on the Northwest corner of Yamaguchi, just past Kottoi. However, this time we were driving, so it only took an hour or so and we were also able to stop at some kofun. At Doigahama, of course, but also at a nice little roadside kofun too. The museum at Doigahama was nice, with some good examples of Kofun-period culture and some neat artifacts, especially pottery, but it was quite small, and fairly skull heavy. I'm not quite sure that skull shape has changed enough between modern times and the Edo-period to warrant comparison displays of skulls, but I suppose it doesn't hurt. From Doigahama, it was off to Tsunoshima, where there was a lighthouse, a parking lot and a squid drying machine. It was quite a nice turn of the century lighthouse, and after a climb to the top, the view was quite spectacular. From Tsunoshima, we meandered down to Kitakysuhu where we gazed at the turn of the century buildings there in Mojiko town and were pestered by jinrikusha (or, in English: riksha) drivers looking for a fare. It seems like there's not too much to say as it was a siteseeing expedition, so I'll let the pictures below speak for themselves.
There is one last thing though, upon our return home, I was treated to what I believe was a "challenge" meal, in other words: "Let's see what we can get the white guy to eat." Having passed the eel liver earlier that day, I was served blowfish (easy), crab brains (good texture, but horrible flavor), sazae - whole sea-snail in the shell, raw and boiled (tasty, but chewy) as well as some hirezake which is sake served with a dried blowfish tail in it (quite tasty).