Well hello there! It’s been a while since we have written a blog as we just haven’t had the chance!
So, Japan……..
HELLLLLOOOOOO JAPAN!!
We arrived into Japan on 12th June and stayed in the district of Asakusa. Here there was a great market where we quickly found all our Japan souvenirs including our Kung Fu head bands with Chris’ saying kamakaze & mine fighting spirit!
Local Asakusa market
Once we were done with our souvenir spending spree we went to check in to our hotel for the evening – a capsule hotel. We had to exchange our shoes for slippers and we had to sleep on separate floors to keep girls & boys apart. I wasn’t too keen on being separated from Chris or all our luggage which had to be stored on yet another floor. The capsules were in a long row on 2 levels. They were small but not as small as I had imagined with a tv inside (granted all in Japanese). However, Chris was overjoyed with the tv as it showed the England vs USA world cup match. It was a very different experience but not a bad one & surprisingly nice & quiet.
My world cup showing capsule : D
My unlucky for some number 13 capsule
The following day we were up bright & early to get to Tokyo central station for our trip to Hiroshima. As per usual we arrived far to early, but this gave us the opportunity to take pictures with the Nozomi bullet train we would be travelling on. It was so cool & quickly picked up pace taking us on our 890km journey in 4 hours. It was difficult to comprehend the speed the train was going, but we still got good scenery, it didn’t all whiz by. In fact, some of the sceney reminded me of England.
Our Nozomi bullet train - it goes really really fast
When arriving into Hiroshima we spent time searching for the correct street car that would take us to Koami-Cho, where our hostel was.
Singing in the rain, no really, la de da da da leeee
This hostel was certainly different which was based on a traditional Japanese ryotan style i.e bamboo mat floors with rolled up matresses on the floor & a very low door frame which I even had to duck to get through!
Supposedly traditional, we're thinking the cheaper option
We headed out into the city centre with our first stop being at the peace park. Although Hiroshima is now a bustling city, it definately felt like there was sadness in the air or maybe it was just us. All around the peace park was very moving with all sorts of memorials remembering those of all ages & backgrounds who were killed by the atomic bomb. We saw the cenotaph which looked through onto a memorial flame and then directly through onto the atomic bomb dome.
Cenotaph looking to the a-bomb dome
We walked to the atomic bomb dome – one of the few buildings standing after the bomb. Although looking a little worse for wear which has to be expected after being only 100m from the hypocentre of the nuclear bomb, the main structure is still standing, all be it with a lot of internal structural support. We spent quite a while here just reflecting and thinking of all the lives the bomb took away so abruptly.
A-bomb dome and the intended target of the bomb; the T-shaped bridge
Our next stop was Hiroshima castle. This was actually destroyed by the bomb, but has been partially rebuilt. Within the grounds are 2 trees, one a willow and one a eucalyptus, which are called A-bomb trees – they survived the bomb and are still growing. We spent quite a while within the palace that is basically a museum and at the top of the many tiered building there were some great views of the city.
Entrance to Hiroshima Castle
On our way out we spotted some outfits which we could dress up in. A security guard was very keen to help Chris dress up as a Samurai and myself up in a grand Komono. This was so much fun!
Our new outfits
Laura's gettin naked, gradually
In the evening we visited the peace park again to see it all lit up and saw the fountain of prayer.
A-bomb dome at night
The following day we visited the Hiroshima peace memorial museum. It was a great museum with lots of information which they had been very honest about. Unfortunately we didn’t have a lot of time before catching the bullet train back but we took in as much as we could. The museum and infact the whole of Hiroshima emphasises it’s wish for peace and the irradication of nuclear weapons. Part of the museum had items which were present when the bomb went off including melted roof tiles and a whole section of concrete from outside what was a bank displaying a shadow from a person killed with the bomb. There was also items of clothing from school children who died in the blast and a tricycle burned by the bomb. Again, all very moving.
A-bombed child's tricycle
We caught the bullet train back to Tokyo where it was raining and checked into our hostel. We were both so exhausted that we decided to spend the rest of the evening sleeping.
Paddie fields amoung the countryside
Trek to our next hostel, unlike the 'Gherkin' the Japanese went a bit more literal with the 'Turnip'
After lots of rest we went into Tokyo centre with our first stop being at the Imperial Palace gardens. The area was nice, however it had been completely rebuilt. To be fair they had tried to make it look original but unfortunately it was easy to tell it wasn’t. Still it was nice to walk around the grounds and we both got very excited when we could sit on a grass field as we had not done that since New Zealand. There were really lovely flower gardens too where we stayed for a quite a while since they were so beautiful. Two Japanese guys came up to us and asked “where are you from? Shall I take your picture for you? Bye ” This reflects the Japanese as a whole – really nice people who just want to help & are not bothered by tourists.
ey ey Tokyo
We got the metro to Shibuya, a town that is known for Japanese girls dressed up in the latest clothes with different coloured hair. Put my travelling clothes & flip flops to shame compared to there lovely outfits & high heels! If you’ve seen pictures of tv screens on all the buildings and a mass of people tralling the pavements and crossings then this was the place.
Crazzzeyy crossing
Also here there is a famous statue of a dog which is a meeting place for the locals. There is a lovely storey behind it; a dog always used to meet it’s owner from work, then the owner dies but the dog kept going to the train station every day until he died – so the legend goes.
Meg could learn a lesson or two from this hound
An early start to the following day enabled us to watch sumo wrestlers practice. We sat on a little bench close by and were directed to be quiet. We stayed for around 2 hours watching them go through various routines. There was around 10 wrestlers taking it in turns to fight 2 at a time. The first one to get the opposition out of the ring wins and then stays on for the next challenger. The rounds were over so fast & sometimes I was worried that they were going to crash into me. To be honest, at first it was so hard not to stare at there ‘outfits’ and the bare butts to match, but after getting over that we both concluded that it was enjoyable to watch. We then moved on to the sumo museum at the national sumo stadium. It was small but showed outfits and memorabilia from past champions.
...you know you can't deny...
Our next stop was Shinjuku – a downtown area of Tokyo. We went up one of the two government towers to get to a viewing level where we could see out over the vast sprawl of the city. The city is huge with buildings trailing off into the horizon, both work & housing areas.
A rural colonisation
We went to Shimbashi and caught the monorail onto the man made island. Here we went on the worlds tallest ferris wheel in beautiful clear blue skies which gave a different perspective of Tokyo as this area was based around an industrial harbour and airport.
As high as you can go on a ferris wheel, much to Laura's delight our car, thankfully, was pink
We then went into a nearby Toyota exhibition which had all their latest cool stuff. We went in a racing car simulator with peripheral vision screens and chair movement which emphasised how much I crashed! We also went into a really coolly painted self-driving car. It took us around a track, although it was a little scary at one point, we didn’t think it was going to stop. It needs some work but was pretty cool.
Another Laura pleasing paintwork job
In the evening we did internet work and I did some oregami with a lady who worked at the hostel. I made a bird & a frog, needless to say I would have no clue how to make them again!
Another early morning took us to a fish Market at 5am. Unfortunately we still weren’t there early enough to get into the tuna auctions. We still saw the early hustle & bustle of the market with a few fish floating about plus wierd and wonderful seafood such as huge octopus tentacles with all the suckers on, and shells with their insides still present. At around 7am we had a sushi breakfast at the market, couldn’t get more fresh. Chris loved it & had a big platter, not surprisingly it wasn’t my cup of tea and I only ate a bit. It was a fun exprience though with them making it fresh in front of us & all the chefs shouting ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ in Japanese whenever anyone walked through the door.
Laura's entire sushi meal
We then went for an early morning stroll around Ueno park & lake. In the lake were many turtles and loades of fish all at the surface as people were feeding them.
Even turtle tanning salons have their dangers
After going back to our hostel to check out and sending some post home we went on the metro to Ginza, a very posh area of Tokyo with many expensive shops. Akihabara was our next stop, supposedly a big technological place. We didn’t see much evidence of this, just a few superstores.
We picked up our bags & caught the train to the airport ready for our trip to Hawaii!!
chrislaura2010
