Our Trip to Japan - 2017

October 1

We had been holidaying in Canada for a few weeks. After a wonderful visit with family and friends, we flew to Tokyo (Narita). We arrived at 3 pm Tokyo time and took the express train into Tokyo Station. After making our train reservations for our trip to Kyoto and taking an hour to exit the station, we walked to our hotel.  We checked in at 7 pm and after a quick bath we crashed. I think it was 4 am Saskatoon time so we did not feel guilty.

The next day we went to a local restaurant and tried to order a breakfast which somewhat resembled a western breakfast. It consisted of a fried egg, two strips of bacon, a strip of nori (seaweed), something like coleslaw, miso soup and a large bowl of steamed rice. When I stated earlier that we tried to order this meal, what I meant was we asked the guy who was cooking, for two meals and pointed at the picture that was posted outside on his window. He said something in Japanese that was not in our repertoire of Japanese terms and we were clueless at what he said. A Japanese lady who was eating there could see our dilemma and came to the rescue. She said in English that we are to order and pay for our meal by using a machine located by the door. Unfortunately the machine didn't accept 10,000 Yen notes which were all we had. So I went back to the cook and showed him my 10,000 Yen note and he pointed at another machine that is supposed to give change. Over I went with all the local eyes following me to this other machine where I put the 10,000 note in the machine and out it spit two 5,000 Yen notes. I walked back to the first machine where Loretta was trying to place the order but noticed that this machine only accepted notes 2,000 and smaller. So back I went to the other machine along with all the eyes and I put a 5,000 note in but it just spit it back out. I tried the other 5,000 note and same thing happened. I tried another 10,000 note and out came two 5,000 Yen notes. I tried each of them and no luck. By this time the local lady who could speak English had already left the restaurant (probably shaking her head) but the cook came to my rescue. He put my 5,000 note in and pressed a few buttons and up came the breakfast menus that we saw on the other machine. Who knew this machine not only gave change but also allowed us to select our food order - apparently not me!

After enjoying our Japanese Western breakfast we walked back to our hotel and grabbed our bags to head back to the train station where we checked our luggage for the day.

We then followed our regular routine by going to the Hop On Hop Off bus and spent the day touring Tokyo. It was Sunday so the roads were not very congested making it easy for our bus driver to stay on schedule. We were very impressed with how clean and well-maintained the city was.

After completing our two bus tours we went back to the train station and caught our train to Kyoto.

October 2 was just full of surprises.  After having 2 days of great weather, our luck ran out. It was grey and misty when we went to breakfast. We found a restaurant in Kyoto with the exact same menu and system for ordering food as yesterday so we had the same Japanese-western breakfast but without any embarrassing incidents. 

Because of the crappy weather, we decided to forego our Hop On Hop Off bus tour of Kyoto and catch an earlier train to Hiroshima. We knew Hiroshima had a Peace Memorial Museum so we could spend time inside rather than being out in the rain. 

We arrived in Hiroshima just on time for lunch so we went to a restaurant and had okonomiyaki which is a Japanese specialty.  A friend of ours who had previously eaten it described it as a pizza with spaghetti.  I would describe it as "100% unknown fibers". It was actually a lot of fun to eat and very tasty.  They set it on a hot grill at our table and we ate it with a small spatula. 

We needed a lot of directions to find the right restaurant.
Finally, we heard someone say "okonomiyaki" and we just followed them.

After lunch, we took the Hop On Hop Off bus to the Peace Memorial Museum which was very well done. It was very busy - it seemed half the world was there to go through it. It was stated a few times "Never let the Hiroshima bombing happen again".

 Old photographs of Hiroshima after the bombing:

October 3

We checked out of our hotel, ate breakfast at McDonald's, stored our luggage and then caught a train that we thought was taking us directly to Miyajimaguchi. However when we reached a stop along the way, a local lady came up to us and through hand motions suggested we get off the train. I was puzzled by this, but I have been puzzled before, so we followed her suggestion and hopped off the train. Once off I looked at Maps Me and could see that we were not yet at our intended destination and so we hopped back on the train. The locals still on the train now looked as puzzled as I did. They indicated to us that the train was now returning in the opposite direction, in other words from where we came. So off the train we hopped again. After all this hopping off and on and off I was amazed that we had enough time to do that since the trains usually stop very briefly. Anyway, after our second exit we asked the locals which direction the train was going on the other side of the platform. They pointed in the direction we wanted to go. So a minute or two later we jumped on another train and continued on to Miyajimaguchi.

Once there, we hopped off the train and walked to the seaside where we caught a ferry (actually, we were turned away at the first ferry we went to because it was the wrong one) and went to Miyajima Island. This was a very nice island and well worth the trip. The highlight was the Itsukushima Shrine (often shown in photos or movies) but we also saw deer and a number of nifty shops with interesting snacks to eat.

The Itsukushima Shrine was amazing from every angle:

We walked around the village:

Window shopping.

Buying a little snack.

We were told he is a regular customer at this shop.

Upon our return to Hiroshima, we hopped off the Hop On Hop Off Train and hopped on the Hop On Hop Off Bus. I am starting to feel a bit like a rabbit with all this hopping around. 

We hopped off the bus at the Atomic Bomb Dome and visited the Hiroshima Memorial Peace Park. It is a bit eerie to see the only remaining structure after the bomb. The park is very tastefully done with lots of places to sit and remember and give respect to the victims and their survivors. Again we saw phrases wishing this would never happen again to humankind.

Tomorrow we take the the train to Nagasaki to visit the second bomb site.

October 4

We are in Nagasaki, Japan. I know that since that is what my phone is telling me.

Our primary purpose for coming here was to see the museum and Peace Park which previous reviews have told us are worth visiting even if you have already visited Hiroshima.

After having breakfast we walked to the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum by following the Maps Me route. It took us down narrow streets and walkways through residential areas. 

The museum was quite different than the one in Hiroshima. Instead of emphasizing the destruction of the area it showed more of the deaths and suffering of the people. There were approximately 50,000 deaths and 100,000 injuries.  Again it mentioned the hope that this horrific event would never happen again.

From the museum we walked to the Peace Park which again was very tastefully done giving people a peaceful setting to pay their respects.

On our return walk back to the hotel we stopped at a small cafe for iced tea in a quaint shop that also looked like an antique shop. After collecting our luggage from our hotel we stopped at a local restaurant and had an interesting bowl of soup. It consisted of noodles, squid, shrimp, maybe meat, maybe tofu, sugar peas, mushrooms, carrots, and a large piece of breaded pork laying on top. We both ate and ate and ate but could not finish our meal. No ice cream for us!

We then said goodbye to Nagasaki and hopped on a train to Osaka.

Oct. 5

After Nagasaki we spent the last two days touring Osaka and Tokyo. I noticed a number of large cranes in the skyline so if you do visit Japan at some time I may have to eat my words about their lack of amazing architecture.

We walked to Chiyoda's Imperial Palace in Tokyo and found it amazing to have this large green space located right in the middle of this huge city. 

Lunch:

Words to live by.

Cranes ... they're everywhere.

 Heading to the Palace park:

Heading back to our hotel:

Pizza!

Tomorrow the weather is to be cloudy with showers. We were hoping to hop on a train and head to Mount Fuji but have decided to defer that trip until our next trip here. We will spend our last morning in Tokyo and then catch our last train and spend our last night in Narita before catching our flight home to Thailand tomorrow morning.

October 6

I thought the previous update would have been the last one. I fully place the blame on Loretta.

When we opened our window this morning and then checked the weather forecast we could see it was much nicer than expected. Loretta suggested we hop on a train and head towards Mount Fuji so we could at least view it from a distance. 

So we showered, used the amazing toilet (yes, Japan has amazing toilets), packed up and walked to the station.  (Speaking of toilets, I read in a local magazine yesterday that going to the toilets here is like visiting a spa for your private parts.) We went directly to the ticket office and explained to the friendly agent that we would like to take a train somewhere so we would have nice view of Mount Fuji. He gave us a couple of options and then minutes later we were en route to Shizuoka – an hour and forty minutes away.

Because of the cloud cover, we did not take the usual train and bus to go up to the 5th station, where hikers go to climb up Mount Fiji. Instead, we took a quick look around Shizuoka and then went to the ticket agent to ask when the next train could take us back to Tokyo. There was one leaving in 3 minutes. So off we ran and, just as we sat down in our comfortable seats, the train left the station.

On this trip, as in all our trips in Japan, we noticed all the vending machines. They sell just about everything.

And we noticed that the country was getting ready to celebrate Halloween.

We celebrated finding a lovely coffee shop.

And we celebrated the wonderful train service we always got in Japan!

It was very exciting when we could finally see Fuji through our train window, even if the view wasn't what you see on a post card.

The rest of our day was spent eating, drinking (strawberry yogurt beer - yummy) and taking our last train and shuttle bus to our hotel in Narita.

Our vacation ended with a bang, or I should say shake. Japan had an earthquake just before we left. Nothing serious, just a reminder that the earth still likes to grumble. We have felt quakes of similar intensity in Ottawa, the Caribbean, and in Phuket. We have even faced a false-alarm Tsunami alert. We love nature, but take it seriously. But fear is not likely to stop us from travelling and enjoying what the world has to offer.

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