Hiroshima: City of Peace

We just had the one day in Hiroshima so after we travelled from the ship to the city centre, we first visited the dome that remains from 6 August, 1945.  It is a very moving memorial and you can’t help but reflect on the tragedies of war.

                                         The landmark of the City of Hiroshima.

Rather than inspect the rest of the Peace Park zone, we decided to first visit Miyajima.  We needed to do it now as we wanted to travel by on a high speed boat that can’t run when the tide is too low.

We travelled at low speed through two rivers passing the boat yard areas and many oyster leases.  Once we reached the bay, we skimmed across the surface and were soon at this beautiful island, considered one of the three most scenic spots in Japan.

                                   The deer are very cute. Although they have a bit in common with seagulls!

                               The walk to the temple was wonderful.

                  At the shrine we had wonderful views as we walked around the boardwalks.

                  

                                     All that sake and not a drop to drink!

                                 The bridge is so steep it would be difficult to cross. 

     

                                       and Gail at this very scenic bridge.

                                          At one of the main shrines.

We were unlucky with the tides which were particularly low, so that the shrine did not appear to be “floating” nor was the Otorri Gate.  Not only was it high and dry, but it was totally covered in scaffolding due to refurbishment.

We had to keep to a schedule so returned to the mainland by the local ferry, then fast train back to Hiroshima and then street car to the Peace Park area.  There are many statues and memorials that tell the story of the events of that day and the overwhelming desire of the people for world peace.

 The "Red Bird" statue to commemorate the writing of Miekichi Zuzuki considered to be the "Father of children's literature" in Japan

                                                   We both rang the Bell of peace. 

                              

                                                 The Children's Peace Monument

                                                           The Prayer for peace

                                     The cenotaph for the Atomic bomb victims.

Looking through the arch you can see the eternal flame that will be extinguished when the last nuclear weapon is destroyed and the Dome.

Another Day in Tokyo

After a day at sea, we arrived back in Shanghai and promptly took a taxi to the airport and then we were back in Tokyo. Well it was just a little more difficult than that but we were in our hotel in Tokyo just after the end of happy hour so a long day's travelling.
This morning, refreshed, we again headed out to explore Tokyo.
Our first stop...after breakfast..was to travel to visit the Meiji Jingu Shrine, This is a huge area. The inner garden is 173 acres and the outer garden another 74 acres. We walked around and spent most time at the main shrine.

                                Rob with the presentation barrels of sake wrapped in straw.

           They also have a section of French wine so Gail checked that out!! 

                                                   Gail and Rob at the Tori gate

                    Gail and Rob at the "Meoto Kusu" or husband and wife tree. These are camphor trees planted in 1920 and symbolise the special love of husband and wife. They must be grown as a pair.
It was nice to see this today as tomorrow 28th is our wedding anniversary!

After leaving the shrine we walked along a major shopping street with high fashion shops everywhere.
The next photo is Gail emerging from one of the complexes.

                                                Don't be fooled by her empty hands!!

We then were back on the subway and at Shibuya visited the famous "scramble crossing"

              We joined the scramble! There were lots of people but we avoided them with the camera!

While we were in the area we stopped for a lunch.

                                                      There was food as well!

It was then on to Asakusa. We walked up the busy road that leads to the famous temple. We had both visited here previously but it is a fun spot to visit, with people everywhere.

While Tokyoites only wear formal attire at special ceremonial occasions it is common to see people in Kimono at Asakusa. It makes for great photos.

                                                        How can you say no!

Asakusa is a place of contrasts. Ancient traditions with modern teens, Skyscrapers and shrines and modern and traditional dress.

                                             Modern or traditional?

Tonight we ended our time in Tokyo with drinks and dinner with a Kawaguchi English teacher who stayed with us in 2000. The year of the Olympics then and next year will be the Olympics for Tokyo!

We join a cruise tomorrow and sail south through the islands of Japan, The Solomons, New Guinea, Indonesia, New Caledonia and then home.

Kochi

Our final port for our first cruise was Kochi on Urado Bay on the Island of Shikoku. This was a very easy place to tour as after a transfer into the city we walked along a covered pedestrian arcade packed with shops, restaurants and bars. At the other end we came to the Castle. This is one of the 12 remaining castles in Japan and one of the most intact. Construction started in 1601 but after a fire it was rebuilt in 1727. It is intact and not a rebuilt replica!

There were lots of steps to get to the castle and more again as we climbed the very steep wooden stairs. At the top we were rewarded with wonderful views.

                                           Kochi Castle through the trees.

                                              Rob bounding up the steps. Lots more to go!

                                     The castle grounds and the modern city of Kochi.

                                       Looking over the roof to the castle grounds.

                                            Looking down on the gardens.

Back down Rob rests under one of the hundreds of cherry trees. Not a flower in sight.

The statue of Chiyo. Considered the perfect wife she went without to buy her husband a horse for battle and convinced him to change allegiance to the winning side.

                                                What a tail!  At a local shrine.

                                    We have given up on the names of local shrines!!

                                             Gail at the shrine.

Gail protesting outside a whale meat restaurant. It got the thumbs down.

Osaka: Searching for Shitennoji

Our ship docked in Osaka for the day and while many people headed off for Kyoto and Nara, we decided to visit some of the local sights as we had spent time at both of those place on a previous visit.

After breakfast in Allegro dining room, we went down to Deck 4 to disembark into the heavy rain. We dashed across into the terminal and took advantage of the free WIFI that was super fast.  After returning the laptop to the ship, we headed out to Osakoko station.

We walked to the station and caught the Chuo line train to Tanimachi Chome.  When we emerged onto the street level, the direction of Osaka Castle was obvious.  We walked across taking photos of the enormous moat and up the many stairs to the main castle.  We took the elevator to the 5^th floor and walked up to the 8^th floor – the elevator only went 5 floors -  where we had magnificent views over the castle grounds and gardens as well as the smaller pavilions and gates.

We walked back down the stairs checking out each level as we went.

                                                                  The castle moat

                                After lots of steps the castle finally appeared from behind the trees.

                                                      Gail and Rob pose in front of the castle.

                                     The views over the castle grounds were excellent.

One last shot of the Castle through the Ginko trees. The leaves have the shape of a Japanese fan.

Retracing our steps, we stopped at the Osaka History Museum, housed in a magnificent new building.  This time we took the elevator to the 10^th floor and worked our way down to level 1.

The exhibitions were very interesting with a focus only on Osaka but just as impressive were the views of the castle and gardens from this very modern architectural gem.

                                          There were lots of figures and to scale models

 Just wish that the person who cleans the windows was available for our place! Wonderful views.

The view from the top floor of the remains of the Emperor's residence and the Main Audience Hall.

 

By this stage, it was late and we were tired but we decided that we could fit in 1 more sight – the Shitennoji Temple.  We changed metro lines and when we came up to street level, there was a temple directly opposite.  It was delightful but not the right one! 

We had a good look around and then looked at 4 more temples – but none of them were the one we had come to see.  In fact, we don’t know most of their names but we took some nice photos.

                                              Loved this place. Have no idea of its name!

                      

                                             Still don't know this place. Where is Shitennoji?

                                                   No this is not Shitennoji!

Rob spent so much time looking for Shitennoji that it looks like he took a pee behind this tree!

                                                  The tree ended up reeling to the side!

                                      Rob needed to pass through many Tori gates

                                                   Gail checks out the trees.

Yet another tree but this one is still wrapped to protect it from winter...or Rob

                                                         Gail at the Tori Gates

This is it!! We found Shitennoji. We were too exhausted to do it justice. Have to come back.

Finally we made it to the right place.  It is an enormous complex that you couldn’t possibly miss!!!  It is a major site and we could have spent a long time there exploring but we were very tired and they were closing for the day.

We took 2 subway rides to arrive back at the port.  It took some time to actually find the correct way to the ship – even though it was right in front of us.   We had to walk through a huge shopping complex and down some stairs.

We were barely back in our suite before the heavens opened and the terminal lost all power for a short while.  We were indeed lucky with the weather.  It rained while we were in the castle and also in the museum but had stopped when when we were inside.

Finally a photo for the kids. A lego giraffe with a huge ferris wheel behind. We were now back at the port.