Apr 7, 2013 - Last day in Hiroshima

DAY 6 Began the morning with our breakfast banquet before returning upstairs to pack our bags and check out of Hotel New Hiroden, Hiroshima. All packed, checked out, bags left with bellboy and we make our way down to Hiroshima Railway Station to catch a train to Miyajima then ferry to Miyajima Island. The ferry ride was short and sweet, doing a big arc around in front of the iconic torii or temple gate in the water. I always thought it was painted red and black but this time it was bright orange!!! It is about 16m high and 24m wide and very...

Apr 6, 2013 - A Day of Sadness Surrounded Us

DAY 5 It was a very late night for us last night by the time we did all our girlie talking. Consequently this morning we all had difficulty waking refreshed and somewhat reluctant to get out of bed at all. However, buffet breakfast awaited and we made the supreme effort to drag ourselves down to the restaurant where we grazed on a relatively western breakfast of bacon, eggs, toast, tomatoes, and heaps of fruit. Somewhat full we all waddled back upstairs where the two girls promptly lay on the bed and napped for another hour. Finally time to...

Mar 11, 2013 - Hiroshima, Japan

Hiroshima was a very sobering experience to say the least. It is an absolutely beautiful place surrounded by water seemingly everywhere today with not real hint of the devastation that occurred here on August 15th 1945! The recovery of this city post A bomb is miraculous! The spirit and positive attitude of the locals coupled with aid and support from around the world rebuilt this city almost immediately after it was destroyed! The A bomb exploded about 500 meters above the city center and destroyed nearly everything and building within 2...

May 21, 2012 - Peace & War

This morning we got up early and boarded the shinkansen to Hiroshima. Akie joined us on board when we reached Kobe. She hadn't been to Hiroshima for many years, but was an excellent guide. We first caught the ferry to Miyajima, the island famous for it's red tori gate in the water. We spent several hours visiting the Itsakushima Shrine and neighboring streets. The island is home to many wild deer but unlike Nara, they are very peaceful. Once back on the mainland we caught a streetcar into Hiroshima. We had lunch at an old Okonomiyaki...

Oct 23, 2011 - Shukkeien, Hiroshima, new favorite garden,

Made the two-hour Shinkansen trip to Hiroshima today. Briefly visited the Peace Memorial, but spent most of the time at my new favorite garden, Shukkeien. Construction started in 1620. The name literally means “shrink scenery garden,” and expresses the idea of collecting and miniaturizing many scenic views. In the center is Takuei Pond, containing more than 10 islets large and small. Around its circumference are mountains, valleys, bridges, tea houses, and arbors, all skillfully arranged. There is a strolling path that goes around the...

Oct 14, 2011 - Miyajima Island

I took a ferry to a small island off of Hiroshima, Miyajima Island. I can see why it is considered a World Heritage Site. Everywhere I looked, it was breath-taking. The red "tori" gate in the water off of the coast is well known in Japan, it is called O-Torii Gate. You will also see Itsukushima Shrine and Daisho-in Temple. I will let the photos of the lush forests and of Mount Misen in the background speak for itself. Peace, Kelly

Oct 14, 2011 - Hiroshima

Hiroshima. Despite the association most Americans have of this city, I was very amazed to see such a cosmopolitan city of 1.2 million people. The city is built on a delta, with many rivers, and is known for excellent oysters. Another friend from the Hawaii workshop, Hiro, recently retired from teaching at Hiroshima University. He spent the morning giving me a personal tour of the Peace Memorial and Museum. Lucky me! The museum was very well done. It begins with an overview of Japanese aggression in the Pacific region leading up to 1945-...

Sep 25, 2011 - Hiroshima

Sept 23/2011 - Osaka to Hiroshima. Kind of proud of myself today, I made it all the way from Osaka to my hostel in Hiroshima by my self, did not get lost, take the wrong train, 3 were needed to get from A to B. So early afternoon I found myself in Hiroshima, world famous for the first Atomic Bombing at 8:15am on August 6 1945. After getting settled in and orientated with the city, I took public transportation to the Memorial area. Hiroshima uses streetcars similar to San Francisco for its transportation system. New city, new system that I...

Sep 16, 2011 - Thoughts on Japan

I came up with a brief questionair and we each filled it out. I think I'll do this for each country. It seemed like a good way to get the kids thinking about Japan and me too for that matter. Thoughts on Japan: Walker What was your favorite part of our Japan trip? One of them was the video game arcades. I like it because they have really fun games like a martial arts one where you beat each other up and a pod game where you’re in a pod and you’re a robot and you run around with a jet pack and fight other robots. I really felt like I...

Sep 13, 2011 - Japanese toilets

This is an odd subject to write about, but one I have been thinking about quite a bit, Japanese bathrooms and toilets. Let me start by saying that Japan has very nice bathrooms. In my experience they are always clean and working. Most have western style toilets, some are asian style, a rectangular ceramic bowl you squat over. Finding a bathroom in Japan isn’t super hard. There are public toilets and most bigger stores have them as well (the department store ones are especially nice). Audrey, in her infinite wisdom, learned the word for...

Sep 9, 2011 - Hiroshima

Well, I ended up taking a high speed train from Osaka to Hiroshima and it was absolutely fantastic. These bullet trains are so fast that they feel like they are planes about to take off. The literally travel at 300km/h and they only make brief stops between cities (it seemed like 3 minutes). Everyone is very quick to get on and off and there are trains that seem to run every 15-20 minutes between cities. You can literally buy a ticket at the station, walk over to the line, and within 10 minutes be on your way to the next major city. There...

Nov 5, 2010 - Peace and pancakes

We bade farewell to Kyoto this morning, having really enjoyed our time in this beautiful city. We used our Japan Railpass for the first time today and hopped on to the shinkansen for Hiroshima. All very efficient and painless. The shinkansen is really fast and smooth and makes us wonder (again) why we still don't have anything remotely like it in Australia (having talked endlessly about it for years). Sigh. We booked ourselves into another slightly more upmarket hotel, the Mitsui Garden Hotel, via agoda.com, a discount booking site...