Day 16 - Where did the time go?

 Wednesday 5th November 

Well - this is it … our last full day.  Those 3 weeks have just flown by …. We’ve been to lots of new places and seen some new things and now it’s time to say goodbye to this magnificent country …..

Our last full day was going to be spent wandering round a few Temples and Shrines in the area.  We seem to have done a lot of castles this time but not many Shrines.

There is the Futabanosato hiking trail round Hiroshima that connects 16 Shrines and Temples…. Noooo - we are not doing all 16, that’s a 10km hike …. And we have things to do today …. Like get all my tea in the suitcases 😳

We only did a couple of them, but it was a decent walk round and it’s a very hot day. 

Sadly, I can’t keep putting it off any longer. We do the usual - stop off at Lawsons for a sandwich, treats and some food for tonight … also bought two boxes of Lemon Hi-Chews and some mints to bring home.  Scott says I have to stop now …. Sheesh 🙄.

We then spent the afternoon packing …. I hate packing …. And trying to get my various packages and teas in out suitcases. Looks like it’s going to be OK - it all fits in (bit of a squeeze) but I never had a doubt 🧐.

So now just relaxing and discussing tomorrow’s schedule.  The flight is at 23:15 on Thursday night, so we have a day (ish) to kill.  We have to be out of the house by 11am, so we are thinking of stopping at Kobe on the way to the airport.

Looking back - this has been a fabulous holiday and pretty much everything we did this time was new.  I love Hiroshima especially as it’s not as busy or crowded as Tokyo or Kyoto…. It has an amazing history and they are using that history to try and make the world a better place.

We have loved every minute and will definitely be back.

Sad times now - but fabulous memories.  Hiroshima you have my heart ❤️

So for now またね mata ne ……. see you soon 🥰🫶🎌🇯🇵

Day 15 - Shopping and Green Tea

Tuesday 4th November

Still taking it easy now, but today is a shopping day.  I’m using today to go and get the things I didn’t pick up the first week and I want to get more tea …. But don’t tell Scott 😳 😂

I have a huge affection for Ippodo Tea, but they only have shops in Tokyo and Kyoto … however, I have found that they have a satellite store in the Sugo department store in Hiroshima ….. guess where I’m going!?!? 

The basement floor of department stores are always full of food and drink…. The smells are amazing and there are some incredible looking foods - especially cakes and sweets.  I could wander round here for ages just looking at the wonderful displays of food …..

But I had a mission …. I wanted tea.  Ultimately I now have enough tea to last me a little while …. Just hope we get it all in the case haha.

We went back into the underground shopping center and found a huge shop that had a mix of Asian and Western foods.  On one shelf there was Biscoff but on the same shelf next to it was Japanese Curry boxes… I may have bought a couple of tea boxes here … oops!

Then I ended up in Donki … I know - I can’t help myself

I’m now pretty much shopped out - much to Scott’s relief … I need a cuppa and put my feet up and prepare ourselves for tomorrow….. it’s our last full day tomorrow …. How did that happen?

Until then - Oyasumi Nasai ❤️

Day 13 & 14 - Culture and Sculpture

Sunday 2nd and Monday 3rd November 

It’s hard to admit and I don’t want to admit it …. But I am a broken woman.  Over the last 2 weeks I have walked about 4,00000000 miles and most of it up hill or up steps …. So as this is a holiday, I have made the executive decision to make Sunday and Monday days of rest (think Scott is also secretly pleased, though he won’t say it 😉).

There’s also another reason …. Monday is Culture Day and is officially a public holiday …. It’s hugely popular and it is sooooo busy around the area.  Sunday probably would have been OK, but the good old internet warned me that there would be closures and a skeleton public transport service on Monday.

Decision made - Sunday is a quiet day and Monday we would be staying local.

As it turned out - Monday was a good day.  We were just going to wander round Hiroshima and also hit a big Daiso.  We found out the Daiso was in a shopping center next to a park… I park I didn’t know about.

Hijiyama Park ….. of course it on the top of a bloody hill, but we are here now so going for it…. How many hills have I gone up this week?!?!?!? 

At the bottom of the hill there was a notice board with a map of the area and the park …and a sign saying the Museum of Contemporary Art was free to go in today as it’s Culture Day ….. this is great - but Scott and I are really not Contemporary Art type people so even though it’s free, we might give it a miss!

So - this park was built in 1903 and was the first park to be opened in Hiroshima.  It’s a very popular cherry blossom viewing park, but as it’s November, we are looking at more oranges and reds …. 

As well as being the site of MOCA, it’s known for being a sculpture part and there is art all over the place … none of which we understood, but some of it was pretty 😍.

We’ve trekked up the hill and made it to the viewing spot which had great views of Hiroshima and the Seto Inland Sea.

At the observation point, there is a monument which had messages of peace from the G8 leaders when they were in Hiroshima in 2023.

We now made our way to the SkyWalk.  This is a huge escalator that takes us up the rest of the hill and towards a shopping center…..

Once in the shopping center, we were supposed to be going to a Daiso, but got distracted on the 3rd floor by a shop called Bookoff Super Bazaar …I thought it was a book shop … which I can’t resist…. However, when we got there it was a huge second hand shop that sold everything from Kimono (well Yukata), toys, TV and electrics, clothes … soooo many clothes and bags, a huge nerd/geek section, DVDs, CDs, musical instruments and books!

I could have bought so much, but had to restrain myself as I’ve already got a lot of stuff to bring back …. 

There was also a pet shop …. With actual doggies in actual windows ….

So after dragging ourselves out of the shop, it’s time to make a retreat.  We made a god decision today ‘cos it was really busy, lots of people taking advantage of the free access to museums ….

Usual routine …. Tourist bus back to the station, stop off for food and then back to the house to collapse ….

Not planning too much from now as we are almost at the end of the holiday … how the hell did that happen.

So until tomorrow - Oyasumi Nasai ❤️

Day 12 - A New Island

Saturday 1st November …. It’s November 😳

While having my morning cup of tea and watching the hilarious morning Japanese TV yesterday, I saw an advert for a Culture Market this weekend in Hiroshima …. Well I think that’s what it was … the advert was in Japanese 😉

So I did a quick search but couldn’t find anything about it, but I did find one thing…. This weekend is a holiday weekend.  On Monday it is Culture Day and schools and government buildings are closed for the day, so it’s going to be a busy weekend with people going home for the long weekend and organising little holidays.

We still decided to keep to our plan for today and go to Kumamoto.  Kumamoto is on Kyushu Island (Hiroshima is on Honshu Island), so we are going on quite a trek …. About 2 hours on the Shinkansen.  Kyushu is the southwestern most of Japan’s islands and is known to be quite tropical.

Just a quick tangent here … apart from yesterday, the average temperatures we’ve been having have been around 22 degrees….. it’s going to be a shock coming home.

Anyway - back to Kumamoto.  There is a castle and this is not just any ordinary castle…. It’s one of the top 3 in Japan.  There’s also a place called Sakuranobaba Josaien which is an area of traditional buildings with the most delicious food and souvenirs unique to Kumamoto

Remember what I said about this being a holiday weekend …. Oh my god …. Hiroshima station was rammed but we were hoping this was people coming to visit … but as we made our way to Platform12 for the Shinkansen….. there were huge queues.  Yeah - it seemed half of Hiroshima is coming with us.

I’ve never seen it so busy - people were standing on the train and I’ve not seen that before of the Shinkansen.  Two hours later, we got to Kumamoto and most of the train got off with us….. but again, we are the only foreigners.

After getting our bearings, we caught the Tram to the Castle.

Noooo … that’s not the castle 🤣

This is the castle…

We didn’t go in this castle … we’ve already done a few this trip (makes a change from Temples and Shrines) and there were a LOT of steps to get to it…..

We did go in the Castle Museum which was fun.  Lots of interactive things to do, mainly for the kids, but no signs to say we couldn’t play.

We noticed on the way, there seemed to be a food festival…. They are following us! So we made our way over to that… it was a Thai based festival … the smells were amazing.

We met this guy on the way …. I think he was once the gaffer and built the castle….

I didn’t realise that I hadn’t taken too many photos today until I started today’s blog …. 

We are now hoping that the journey back wouldn’t be quite so busy….. yeah - well that didn’t happen ….. sooooo busy.  The train was at bursting point and people must have been desperate for a seat because they sat next to Scott … that very rarely happens …. People will stand rather than sit next to him …. 😳

We got back to a very busy Hiroshima station about 6ish …  my feet are throbbing.  But just time to pick up food and get back to the house.

I think tomorrow might be a PJ day …. We both need a day off and this is a holiday… but we’ll see how that goes…. Might have a look for that Culture Market.

Until tomorrow - oyasumi nasai ❤️

Day 11 - Rain Rain Go Away

Friday 31st October

We knew today was going to be a wash out as it was scheduled to rain all day …. And the weather forecast didn’t disappoint … it did rain …. All bloody day.

And it’s good old Japanese rain so it’s coming down in buckets and it’s forecast to be raining all across Chugoku so we are staying in Hiroshima.

I was tasked to find something to do indoors …. So after some thought, I decided it would be a good time to hit the shops and maybe start the tat shop…. 

There are specific things I want and I have a list of things I’ve been asked to get . .  And a birthday present (but don’t tell Sean - it’s a surprise 😆🍵)

I’m on a mission for green tea latte.  Last time we were in Japan, I bought half the country supply of Matcha Latte Blendy Sticks …. Love them! Can’t get them at home, so I need to stock up.

However, not only did I find the Blendy Stick,but I also found Royal Milk Tea Matcha  I love Royal Milk Tea, so grabbed a couple of bags.  I’ll try one back at the house and if it’s good, we’ll go back for more!

The rain is hammering down so we go down an underpass to get some respite from the rain and get across the road ….. however, we found an entire shopping center called Kamiyacho Shareo.  There is all kinds down here from clothing to souvenirs and it’s warm and dry.

After browsing round there, we hit the Donki and spent waaaay too much 😂

Now we are both cold and wet and decided to make our way back, with a quick stop off for food.

It might not seem like we did much, but we still walked a lot today just spent most of the day in a shop … not Scott’s favourite day.

The weather is better tomorrow, so now we are off to plan what we will be doing …. I feel a bullet train in my planning . . . . 

So until then…. Oyasumi Nasai ❤️

Day 10 - Submarines

 Thursday 30th October

It’s a bit of a weird time in Japan round October.  They are big on Halloween with pumpkins and balloons everywhere …. But there are also a load of bloody Christmas trees …. Come on people - I thought I was safe here as the Japanese don’t celebrate Christmas… but it looks like they are getting in on the act 😳

Anyway - today we are going to Kure.  Kure is a city on Japans Seto Inland Sea and is best known for shipbuilding and the Japanese Defence Force.  It’s about 30 minutes from Hiroshima by bullet train.

This is also a place that is not on the usual tourist trail and we were the only foreigners getting off at the station …. But we are waiting for the Japanese Shearings crowd to find us 🤣

One of the main attractions is the Yamato Museum which has a scale replica of the Yamato Naval Battleship and looks at the Japanese maritime history.  Fortunately we checked the opening times of the museum the night before and discovered that it’s closed until March 2026 for renovations ….. bugger!  However we are still going cos there are other things to see and do.

The other attraction is the JMSDF museum (Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force).

…. We came out of the station with our trusty maps and set about looking for said museum.  Now at this point, you should know that the museum houses the Akishiro sub from the 1980s.  Coming out of the station we saw this ….

I’m not an expert, but I think that’s where the museum is ……

A short walk later and we were there and even better … it’s free!  I wasn’t too sure about this, but it was really interesting.  I learned all sorts of things mainly about minesweeping …. The JMSDF are experts are finding mines and getting rid of them.  There were thousands of mines dropped in the waters during the war and still a few that haven’t been found …. Enter the JMSDF.

There were quite a few people kicking around in the museum, but they were a bit older and most of them looked to be ex-military.  But they were prepared for any foreigners as all of the history boards had English translations.

On a slight tangent … while going up the stairs, I peeked out of the window and saw this …

It’s a big lemon van and it was parked in front of a stall selling …. Lemons!  Lemons are a big thing round here … I’ve had lots of lemon drinks …. Lush!

Anyway - back to the submarine…. At the top of the museum you can actually go into the submarine… lots of warnings before you go in - basically if you are tall or wide be careful …. And they were right…. It was a bit of a squeeze,  it we managed to get round.

Who on earth can get through this door 😳

Can’t believe how anyone managed to stay and work in a sub … I only managed 10 minutes before I had to get out.

We came out of the museum and found ourselves at port where there is a smaller yellow submarine … can’t go in that one - thankfully 😃

We are now making our way round to the Irifuneyama Memorial Hall.  This was the residence of the Commander-in-Chief of the Kure Naval Station.  There is still a Naval Training Center in Kure and we could see people running round … doing exercise… tho it’s not marked on the map we have … so I think it’s supposed to be a secret 😳

The Irifuneyama Hall is a two story western style wooden building which was used by the Commander for his socialising (big parties) and we found out half way round that the British Commonwealth Occupation Force made this their home when they occupied Kure after the war ended.

We’ve now got a bit of a walk back to the station to catch the bullet home ……

Grabbed some food and then we had to discuss what we are going to do tomorrow as it scheduled to be peeeeeing down the whole day.

I’ve been told to find something to do inside …. Guess we are shopping tomorrow …. Where’s that Donki ….🤣

Until then … oyasumi nasai ❤️

Day 9 - Bridges and Castles

Wednesday 29th October

As yesterday was such a big day with lots of walking and a lot of travelling, we needed today to be a bit slower and closer to home.

So Iwakuni it is.  Iwakuni is about 15 minutes away by bullet train and is famous for its bridge and castle.

It’s at this point, I’m going to point out that we are going to places that are away from the usual busy tourist spots and going to places that have more local tourists.  We were the only foreign tourists that got off the train at Iwakuni …. Which is a good start.  However, there is a small downside to our cunning plans ….

We seem to be going to places that are popular with the Japanese Shearing Coach Holiday crowd.  If it’s not school kids following us - it’s groups of the older generation men and women on a bus trip.  More on this later …..

Anyway - After a short bus drive from the station into the main part of town … we are met by the bridge … Kintaikyo Bridge.  It was first built in 1673 by the lord of the Iwakuni domain.  The bridge kept getting washed away by the rising river, so he came up with a cunning plan and a new idea …. Hence the Kintaikyo hump bridge was born.

And now it costs ¥300 to get across it ….. 😳

You can just see the coaches parked on the river bed ….

It’s not too steep and going up is more stairs than a slope, so it’s slightly easier … and you have a lovely view of the river from the top of the humps.

Over the other side, the first thing we come to is an ice cream shop …. Iwakuni is known for its soft serve and has hundreds of flavours … some are more than a bit suspect (Garlic, soy sauce, radish) but there are other more traditional flavours …. It would be rude to pass it by….. so one vanilla orange yoghurt cone later and I’m raring to go.

We are now making our way to the castle via a lovely walkway and park.  Everywhere we go, we can see we are the only foreigners and we can hear the Shearings crowd.

On the way to the castle, we passed the Japanese Corormant training ground.  These are fishing birds…. Fishermen use these birds to catch fish.  They put a fin round the birds neck so they can’t swallow it.  Now bless them - but they are ugly birds and make a hell of a noise.  I don’t like birds at the best of times, so this was not pleasant ….

But then we decided to jump out of that frying pan and throw ourselves into the fire and go to the Iwakuni Shirohebi Museum …. AKA the White Snake museum (cue us singing ‘Here I go again on my own’ …. If you know - you know).

These are albino snakes with ruby red eyes and a shiny white body.  They are very rare and are only found in Iwakuni.  They are cherished by the locals and are said to be very lucky and bring good fortune.  There were live snakes in the museum …. Fortunately behind a cage… not as bad as the birds, but still slightly freaky.

We are now at the Ropeway which will take us up to the castle ….. it takes about 3 minutes and when we got there, we were the only ones waiting so we got it to ourselves.

We got to the top and lo and behold, the Shearings crowd are there … these people can move!  

There is now a bit of a walk to the castle …. And you’ll never guess … it’s all bloody uphill…. My calf muscles are still screaming from the mountains we climbed yesterday (well yeah OK, the slightly steep hill), but still it’s quite a steep hike.

I did swear at this point, if any of the Shearings crowd skimmed past me, I was going for them ….. even tho I wouldn’t be able to catch them …. I’d wait for them in the way back 😆.

However, once we got to the castle, the views were fantastic ….. 

We went in the castle and there are a lot of swords and armour from the late 15th - early 16th century and were fascinating.  Three steep floors up we reach the observation deck…. Have you noticed we like an observation deck 😉

Now it’s back down the hill to get back on the Ropeway and potentially make our way back to the station.

At the bottom, I really needed 10 minutes and a drink ….. and guess what we had …

I have to say - it tasted like home, just not in a Costa Cup.

So now we are back at the station just in time to catch the next Shinkansen and within 15 minutes, we were back in Hiroshima.

Grabbed some food from Lawsons as I was starving and got home to rest our aching legs and work out what to do tomorrow …..

This was a great day, especially as we were pretty much the only foreigners there and it wasn’t busy … lovely weather, lovely walk, scary birds and snakes, but a great castle and great views …. What more could you ask for.

So for now …. oyasumi nasai ❤️