Just when you get used to a place, the people, the customs and the food, it’s time to move on.
Japan was going to be slightly more hectic, we had eighteen days and planned to visit five different cities. Daily life in Japan revolves around meticulous rules, politeness, strict public order and social conduct. We’d have to think about a lot more here. After playing chicken with the traffic in Thailand and Vietnam, you can’t do that in Japan. No crossing until the man turns green, no eating and drinking whilst walking, no talking loudly on the trains, no pointing and no public displays of affection. On landing we had the faff of getting our luggage to our final hotel in Tokyo, so we didn’t have to drag it around the country on public transport. Once done we could breathe a sigh of relief, go back across the city and get the adventure started.
It was much colder in Japan, so we’d dug out jeans, fleeces and waterproof jackets. What a difference. We only had one day and two nights in Tokyo, this was to get us used to the way of life and how things work. The hotel was in Shibuya, so we had to visit the Shibuya Scramble – the world’s busiest pedestrian intersection with up to 3,000 people crossing on every green light. But first we decided on a dry run to Tokyo station from Shibuya. The next morning we had to get the Shinkansen to Hiroshima. Sussed out how to get the tickets for the underground, found our way and picked up the Shinkansen tickets. In the evening we found a viewing deck to see the SS from above.
We were excited to travel on the Shinkansen, the bullet train. We’d booked the fastest train from Tokyo Station to Hiroshima, the Nomozi. Around four hours to travel the 550 miles. On this leg of the journey we paid the extra to experience the “green car” which is their version of business class and we’d booked seats with an oversized luggage space. When booking the train we hadn’t planned on leaving our luggage, so wanted to ensure we had enough space. A great experience, on time, clean, quiet, wide reclining seats with an order to your seat drink and snack service. Unfortunately on the day, the visibility wasn’t great so although we were sat on the right side of the carriage, we didn’t see Mount Fuji.
Arrived in Hiroshima and checked in to the hotel, which was located on the river by the Peace Memorial Park. We had chosen to stay here for three nights, as we wanted to explore the nearby island of Miyajama. The hotel was stuck in a timewarp, circa the 60’s. It seems that hotels in Japan provide Pyjamas to wear during your stay. We carefully placed these to one side, although laundered we didn’t fancy sleeping in PJ’s that hundreds of people had before us.
Day 1 – We walked over to the peace museum and spent the next few hours listening to and reading the stories of life before, during and after the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Very sad and thought provoking. Not far from the museum is the hypocentre of the bomb, so we walked past it on the way to the castle.
Unfortunately the castle was closed for a few days, so we explored the grounds around it. It was a little too early for the cherry blossom, which wasn’t due to bloom at the time we visited. The weather was on our side though.
Day 2 – The next morning we weren’t so fortunate with the weather, it was grey, miserable and drizzly. We should have checked the weather forecast and changed the days around. Undeterred we wrapped up, dug out our jackets and headed off for Miyajama. On a money saving exercise, we took the local street car (tram) to the port which was around an hour away. We’d purchased a day ticket for £4.50 that gave unlimited travel, including the ferry to the island.
As we landed it poured down, so we headed to a nearby shop and bought an umbrella. Walked around the harbour to the Torii Gate, whilst being investigated by the resident wild deer. We took some photos and continued around the harbour to the small beach away from the crowds. Found a small coffee shop for a pit stop and escaped the rain for a while. As the visibility wasn’t great and the rain continued we chose not to go up the mountain! Walked back to the town via the Daishoin Temple and the five storied pagoda, which was covered in scaffolding.
We then headed back to Hiroshima.
