The trigger is always an accident.
Beginning of the trip . To Kagoshima .
Aren't you going to the Jamboree?"
For several years now, the phrase "I've never been" has been a common refrain during the summer months. I've never been. I knew that festivals existed, but I had always thought of them as something out of my league. I have never been to a festival because I have never been able to get my body to move at what is called a "festival.
But at the Good Neighbors Jamboree, no one talks about "who's going to be there this year" or "if I don't go this time, I won't be able to hear them again". or "If we don't go this time, we won't be able to listen to the music anymore," and the only thing people talked about was whether or not they had been to the festival, . It was only a matter of whether or not they had been to the Jamboree, and the sound of the word "Jamboree" was enough to make them feel a slight twinge.
Earlier this spring, I happened to make a new friend in Kagoshima.
"Aren't you coming to the Jamboree?"
It is such an unexpected thing that triggers an action. When I thought of the faces of my new friends in the destination, I felt that Kagoshima became closer to me. I think the pleasure of revisiting Kagoshima is one of the joys of traveling.
From Haneda Airport in Tokyo, which was a little chilly under cloudy skies, we flew to Kagoshima Airport. The flight took roughly one and a half hours. Kagoshima was firmly enveloped in the summer heat. From there, we took a shuttle bus for an hour to Kagoshima Chuo Station . We left our luggage at the inn, rented a car, and headed for the "Good Neighbors Jamboree. The main event was scheduled for August 20. We arrived on the 19th, the day before the main event. Today was the "eve of the festival.
Driving from Kagoshima City, we took the Ibusuki Skyline. As the name "skyline" suggests, it is a highway that runs over the mountains. The road is wide and winding, and it leads to the sky. After passing over a few mountains, the road goes downhill. After passing through a toll booth, the road continues straight and straight with vast fields. We open the windows and enter the forest, surrounded by nostalgic smells. The road suddenly appears when you are driving along the mountain road surrounded by strong trees in the azure of summer. It was the "Kawanabe Forest School," the site of the Good Neighbors Jamboree. A school in a place like this? In a place like this? It was in the middle of a deep, deep forest, beyond our imagination.