Summer trip 4 - Final

Bex, Binkz and Tin's Voyage around Japan continued...

Day 23

J-Hoppers Hiroshima is slightly far from JR Hiroshima Station itself but it's quite close to everything else. Again we were placed on the top floor but this time in a Japanese style room.

The Peace Memorial Park is quite close to the hostel - two tram stops away. Dara came over to our hostel and we all had brekky before going to the A-Dome in the Park.
The A-Dome was almost directly below the hypercentre of the first atomic bomb used against humans - it was eventually left as a reminder of the horrors of nuclear weapons.

I do not endorse the actions of the Japanese during World War II. I am only concentrating on what I see here. The fact that thousands of civilians suffered does not change.

The Park contains other memorials - there was a student's memorial, children's memorial (featuring Sadako - the thousand cranes girl), the Eternal Flame thing they always have at war memorials, a shrine, etc and of course the Peace Memorial Museum.



Entry is 50yen... yes people 50 yen!! then if you want you can pay for an audio listener in english that gives extra commentary for about 200yen? It's not that useful at the beginning of the museum... well it is useful if there's heaps of people - this museum is more popular than the Nagasaki one (second city bombed) - it was packed when we went - very annoying waiting for people to finish gazing at exhibits.
Exhibits include what nuclear weapons entail, why Japan was attacked (glossed over details), what happened, the after-effects, what's going on with nuclear weapons in the world today.

At first the museum is very informative - you find out that every single mayor since the bombing has written letters to every country who currently holds nuclear weapons. You learn where the bomb exploded (above the city near the A-dome) etc.

Then it gets depressing - really depressing. The museum then shows you what happened during the bombing - people's skin was melted off etc - the commentary tape gives accounts of people describing what is was like.
The most heart-breaking is when family members find something that their loved ones' owned in the rubble - a blackened lunch box, a tricycle - and that was the only way they could identify where their loved ones were incinerated.

So very depressing. I stopped listening to the stories it was just so sad T_T The museum goes on to show the lives of those who survived and those that were affected by the bomb.

Wanting to clear our heads we head off to the main shopping area in Hiroshima, walking around. Then we returned to our rooms for a rest before going to Okonomimura - Japanese Pancake Town basically. Two/three levels of nothing but okonomiyaki stores - Hiroshima style. It was as big as my face...


Day 24

Rain.

We wake up early to catch the tide while it's up - we tram to the port to have breakfast - Bianca bought us chocolate cupcakes!!! hmmmm. Rain

We then ferry to Miyajima Island, it's a pretty short ferry ride, very slowly through the rain and fog we see the famous Ikutsujima shrine gates! By the time we land it's pouring... we wander around outside in the rain - spotting a couple of deer before retreating to the ferry station to wait out the rain.

The rain dies down a bit and we start towards the shrine - the tide is high at this point so the torii gate is submerged - we take lots of pictures whilst avoiding deer poo.
All world cultural heritage sites require payment to enter - so we pay and enter. The shrine itself is also underwater during high tide, whilst we walk around the extensive winding sidewalk of the shrine the tide slowly goes down exposing the beach the shrine was built on - it would've much more impressive if the weather was good =( but pretty all the same.

There's quite a lot to do on Miyajima - you could easily spend an entire day here - unfortunately some of the activities are outdoor, and although the rain had eased it was still wet and miserable - so we decided to head back to Hiroshima.
The shops are quite interesting - mostly selling local delicacies like oysters - barbequed, fried you name it - they were AWESOME!!!

The area is also known as the origin of rice scoopers ... and they made a massive one to commemorate - they sell heaps of large rice scoops too.

Once back at Hiroshima we visit Hiroshima or Carp castle. It wasn't worth it - possibly because we had already seen so many - the castle was used as military barracks - it's what made the town a bombing target in the first place. It's also terribly stuffy in there. You're not missing much if you don't go. Although there are the ruins of the barracks and stuff if you're into that.



Day 25

I wake up at the crack of dawn to retrace my steps to visit Himeji and Kobe. I bus to Okayama prefecture and then train (slowly) to Himeji.

It is the only castle in Japan that wasn't torn down and rebuilt when the country removed the Shogunate (i think - my japanese history is lacking). It's a beautiful but hot day. I walk from the station to the castle - which is a good distance - the castle also has extensive grounds and parks like it did in the old days.

The castle is massive!! You can see it from a while off as it also sits on a hill. At the entrance to the inner castle grounds you're given a map that includes a 'suggested course' that you should take to see all of Himeji - it's BIG so be prepared to spend a while here.

While walking up to the actual castle itself you pass many many walls, gates, watch towers and storehouses etc, all very interesting. At the castle itself you have to go to the bathroom before entering - then you take off your shoes and put them in a plastic bag they provide and enter the castle with it.
The gate is big and old, you step inside the first level where it's pretty dark - this level was the toilets. As I went up the very steep wooden stairs I felt the smoothness of the hollows of thousands upon thousands of other feet that had tread these stairs in the past - the presence of age and mystery was quite impressive to me.

It's set up in a way where you go up one side of the stairs, explore one half of each floor as you go up, and then explore the other half and use the same stairs as you go down. Very well organised.
All the way to the top you witness slitted windows, weapon racks, hidden doors where soldiers would hide, and holes where they would drop stones and pour something boiling hot on thier enemies - they utilised every single scrap of space for defense. It was every inch a place for fighting.

At the most top level there's a shrine and some benches for you to have a rest - it's a big castle. The top level commands a stunning view of the castle grounds and Himeji the town.
The way down as i mentioned before is exploring the other half of each level - which is pretty much the same deal - but it's just so nice and OLD in there...

On the way back outside the castle grounds I managed to bump into a place that MIGHT but probably wasn't used for warriors to behead themselves, a well that some poor woman was thrown down for political reasons and was haunted by her until they enshrined her and then I found a secret gate out of the main castle grounds!! So sneaky!! There was a sign that said they'd use it to surprise enemies from behind... fun XD

I was going to leave - I spent so long on the train I was behind schedule - but I decided to take a quick peek at the West rampart area beforehand.
This area houses the garden and the women's quarters or Ooku - inner sanctum. It's mostly ignored by the tourists but it's pretty fascinating in itself.

This Ooku had very very very loooong corridors - it was famous for them, they went on and on and on - it was kind of creepy too cos here I could also feel the presence of oldness. As you walk along these corridors the rooms get larger and brighter and at the end of these very long corridors is the room where a famous princess used to live - they set up life-sized dolls inside that nice room. That was creepy too.



It was lunchtime and I was starving... determined to eat Kobe beef for lunch I hop on the train to Kobe.
Kobe is worth exploring for a day as well, it's a pretty city, but walking very fast I had to take the subway away from JR Kobe station in search of some Kobe restaurants. I had a bus to catch back to Hiroshima so at this point I was pretty desperate - I simply followed the instructions on my Lonely Planet.

The restaurant I ended up going to was pretty posh. I ordered a course that almost cost me 10 000 yen. The course started with a seafood jelly - very pretty and yummy. The chef cooked the beef in front of me - I had rice, vegetables and various sauces with my beef and coffee at the end - I was so stuffed. The beef was so SOFT, definately worth it.

Off I run to catch a bullet train back to Okayama to catch my bus back to Hiroshima but I truly wish I had time to explore Kobe some more.

Tin and Bianca went to a very nice Japanese garden and at night we muck around with our cameras...and some pretty embarassing photos of me were taken - I tried to stay up because it was the last time we got to see Binkz for a long time...but I felll asleep and Binkz left very early in the morning back to Okinawa.

Day 26 - Last day

On our way out of the hostel we bump into the final member of Team Minami (Team South) James!!! What a crazy coincidence! Second time! oh...we bumped into Chris and Faye at the Peace Museum - the Yokohama kids.

Before Tin and I left we go to the Mazda Museum. They only have one or two english tours a day so check beforehand. At the lobby was a display of their current models, a video game, a small history board of the rotary motor and a moving display of Mazda's famous rotary engine.
We got to play around a bit before the tours started.

Firstly we were all taken by the Mazda bus through the extensive factory to the museum itself. Mazda built their own bridge for easier access =S
We're given a history lesson on the formation of Mazda (used to be with Mitsubishi =O), there's quite a few interestingly dated old cars in the museum - the first three-wheeled truck, first plastic car, first fully hand made car etc. Of course we also get to see the latest models - Rx-8 for example and that car that won the 24hour race but can't race in it anymore cos it's too advanced...Pictures galore!!



We're then taken to the factory (no pix allowed), where we watch the workers putting together cars at the speed of light, quite fascinating.

Back inside the museum, they describe how they make the cars from scratch, from design to small clay model to life-size clay model to the millions of parts required to put it together to the engine inside and finally the companies they use to ship their product.

Souvenirs!!! Then back on the bus to the office.

We run back to the hostel where we've left our luggage then frantically taxi to where our bus stop was supposed to be. Again we get totally lost searching for it (the same company as the one we used to get to Nagoya from Tokyo), again we called them up and find the bus just in time!
A long and agonising 5 hour bus ride (supposed to be 3) later...we arrive back in Kokura!! Again it's pouring so we taxi back home finally to our dorms here at KIT. Home sweet home!



And that my friends was our summer voyage around Japan.