20 March Miyajima & Hiroshima

Another delicious Japanese breakfast, this time with a picture....

We set off early and took the train from Hiroshima to the port closest to Miyajima, then took a ferry. By now I have been on enough trains and boats in Japan that I no longer take photos of them, which means there are quite a few gaps in the photographic record of the day. however I took enough photos on Miyajima to make up for that! Without ceremony here they are, picture of one of the places I have been hoping to visit for many years:

My first glimpse through the misty rain.

The very very famous Torii Gate!

My favourite photo of the whole day, looks just like a postcard. Thank you Ms. Shika for posing!

Seriously bad hair day for me, but a good day for Deer to pose in out photos!

Amid all the chaos of hundreds of tourists sheltering from the rain I spotted this little scene.

The bridge that no one can walk across due to its slope.

Miyajima Special Oysters

Special lunch/bento box from a famous take-away shop near the ferry stop.

Inside was delicious grilled something (not eel, but like eel, I was told)

This temple had the most beautiful garden!

Delicious Mayple leaf azuki bean cakes.

After exploring Miyajima in the rain we headed back to Hiroshima on the ferry and then the train again. Though it was pouring with rain we decided to have a look at the Atomic bomb museum and peace park in what was originally the centre of Hiroshima. 

It truly was one of the saddest places I have ever been. For me the saddest part was a wall covered in letters. They were letters sent by the various Mayors of Hiroshima to the head of any nation known to have carried out testing of nuclear weapons, each time a test was carried out. It was absolutely heartbreaking to read their words, and to know that they fall on deaf ears.

After seeing this sobering sight we went shopping to cheer ourselves up a bit. Then we began the search for dinner, we ended up in a tiny little bar which sold... Okonomiyaki of course! 

Seafood, noodles, spring onion, cabbage, sauce and seaweed! Delicious!

On the way back to the hotel we had to pass through Hiroshima Station again and found a delicious looking cake shop. We bought a few delights and ate them back at the hotel!

19 March, Hiroshima

I woke up in what is becoming an oddly familiar room. My 3^rd stay in a 'double' room at Toyoko Inn this trip means that I can fully appreciate just how identical these rooms are. The day began with complimentary breakfast in the foyer, this is always an interesting experience and I try to eat something different whenever I can. Today I had 3 different, unknown, flavours of onigiri (rice balls), miso soup and an oddly nice pasta salad. Certainly not what I would eat for breakfast at home in Australia.

Seeing this view in daylight I began to realise just how Hirohima as a city is characterized by its past. The majority of the visible buildings are the unattractive concrete multi storey type of utilitarian buildings, which admittedly are the norm in Tokyo and the outer suburbs/newer areas of all Japanese cities I have visited. However after being in Kyoto for so long I had become used to the little patches of history popping up at every turn, even in the more modern areas. As everything in Hiroshima was completely destroyed the chance of me finding any visible history seemed unlikely, and I should have been more prepared for this, having visited Nagasaki a few years ago.

After breakfast I went exploring around the surrounding streets, the huge department stores and the station shopping complex dominate, but there was a winding, complex series of alleyways which create a street market, and I found some interesting little shops. I ended up buying some ceramic bowls for gifts from a tiny little shop, where everything no visible from the street was so dusty I doubt if the elderly couple who owned it had sold anything from the back shelves in years. Unfortunately I didn't take any photos.

This exploration had left me not far from where I was to meet my friend Riyo, and a friend of hers. They had flown to Hiroshima from Sapporo, and were meeting me in their hotel (which was a lot nicer than Toyoko Inn). After greeting, we set off to explore some of Hiroshima's famous places.

Our first stop, after taking a tram which made me think of Melbourne, was Hiroshima castle. Here I got the 'visible history' I was looking for. The outer wall and moat that you can see above, was only very recently finished, and seeing it made me realise just how wonderful some of the other castles I have seen on my travels must have looked when they were first built.

When I saw this tree, Riyo couldn't understand why I was so excited and walked up to it. I knew it was a gum tree (eucalyptus) it reminded me of home, and I wanted to know why it was there, inside the castle walls, of all places. The tree was one of only a few on the castle grounds which survived the atomic bomb blast, you can read a bit more about it here (http://www.lang-arts.com/survivors/castle.html )

This is the only photo I have of the main castle tower, and you can see what a popular destination it is. Hiroshima castle's main tower was one of the first iconic buildings rebuilt after Hiroshima was destroyed. It was completed in just 5 years, which I think is an incredible indication of how important the history of this city is to the people who are part of it. Hiroshima is not defined simply as a victim of the immense destructive power of modern warfare, it is a city with ancient history and significance, and a city creating a new future for itself.

This is a scale model (so very popular in all Japanese museums) of the original layout of the castle and surrounding town, the section which has been rebuilt is the large square area towards the left. Because of all the water, mazelike bridge system and the elevated design which allowed lower lying areas to be deliberately flooded to cut off enemies, Hiroshima had almost impenetrable defences.

Because it isn't all serious, we had some fun dressing up and posing in front of a photo of the castle.

The view from the top of the castle tower was beautiful, across the park to the rest of the city. I could even see my little Toyoko Inn (below)!

After buying some icecream and walking through the park we ran into Yuichi on a bridge! Of all the people in all of this huge city I happened to meet the same person twice, by accident. As he had no plans, he joined us for a very delicious dinner, which again, I didn't take any photos of. It was a very memorable day!   

  

18 March Himeji Castle and Hiroshima

On the 18th of March I sadly said goodbye to the lovely Hostel, and to the wonderful city of Kyoto. I gathered together all my luggage and set off for another few shinkansen trips to my next stop, Hiroshima. I decided that as I was going past Himeji (almost) that I should stop and see what is easily one of the most famous castles in Japan. Himeji turned out to be quite an interesting city, and I think I would go back and spend more than half a day there if I ever get the chance. The main tower of the castle was under repair, but creatively the scaffolding had a life sized image of what the tower looked like. The parts that I was able to explore were beautiful and the story of the castle is fascinating, particularly the love story of Princess Senhime who was born in 1597.

*The castle moat and high, sloping stone walls*

*The main tower covered by scaffolding*

*The front gate*

*One of the cats I shared my lunch with*

*View of the moat, looking towards the front gate*

 *An old map/illustration of the layout of Himeji castle, it was one of the best designs for defense (apparently)*

*Just in case you were thinking of scribbling*

*The beautiful corridors in Senhime's personal wing of the castle*

*The outside of the same corridor, Senhime's wing*

*Mannequins showing Senhime and her lady in waiting playing a card game. Not only did Senhime marry for love after her first husband killed himself while Osaka Castle burned, she also smoked and gambled, and really liked cats* 

*Proof that I was there and that it was freezing cold*

After eating my lunch in the castle grounds surrounded by cats, I went next door to a beautiful garden. It had various garden 'rooms' in different styles of Japanese gardening, with different 'moods'. It was so beautiful, and as usual I took hundreds of photos in an attempt to capture just a little of its beauty.

*Those Koi were HUGE, at least 50cm or more*

*My favourite flower in the whole garden, I wish I knew the name!*

On the way back to the station I spotted this oddity: A statue of a naked man playing the saxaphone...

When I finally arrived at my hotel in Hiroshima it was almost dark, the view was wonderful, as you can see below. I then set off to have the local specialty, Hiroshima style Okonomiyaki. In the restaurant I sat alone (as usual) but the lady who owned the restaurant sat another lone traveller beside me, and that is how I made a new friend, Yuichi.

*Yuichi and Me*