Japan part 4

 After leaving the island of Shikoku I headed for Hiroshima, crossing onto the main island of Honshu:

Enko River in Hiroshima

School pupils waiting for the lights to change. They all wear school uniforms, even t he youngest who look very cute with matching colourful umbrellas and wellies on wet days.

Japan in general is very clean. In the station a member of staff was busy spot cleaning any little marks. 

I was in Hiroshima station at morning rush hour for my day trip down the coast. So good at queuing, letting people off busy trains etc. 

Approaching Mejima Island on the ferry, south of Hiroshima. The red torii or temple gate in the water. Pilgrims previously sailed to the temple through the gate.

The gate close up. At low tide you can walk up to it. And many people did - it was very busy. I took the cable car up Mt Misen to enjoy the views before walking down via the various temples and shrines.

View of the Inland Sea and islands

Shrine near top

Daishoin temple

For those of you who have been missing the ice creams! A coffee and vanilla mix.

After taking the ferry back across I took a train further south to Iwakuni and see the amazing Kintaikyo bridge. The original dated from the seventeenth century but was swept away in the 1950s then rebuilt. Still beautiful. Some lovely gardens nearby where I spotted some caged cormorants which are used in traditional fishing called ukai (look it up).

Photo in the park display

The next day was pretty much rain, rain, rain. I had some time set aside so took the bus to the Hiroshima Peace Museum for a very sobering lesson on the effects of an atomic bomb.

The Genbaku Dome was the only building to survive in the city centre and is now the Hiroshima Peace Memorial. Then back on the train and further south west crossing by tunnel onto the island of Kyushu and on to Nagasaki. Another city that suffered and atomic bomb attack.

The next morning was bright and sunny as I walked down to the harbour and the area known as Dejima. This was once an island set aside for the European traders to live and work in. It is in the process of a full restoration:

Weigh beam used in the trade of goods. Europeans wanted silver and later copper in exchange for a variety of merchandise.  

And we think the global economy is a new thing! Mejima is where the 21 year old Scot Thomas Blake Glover arrived in 1859 to take up a post with a British firm. Glover Gardens is where you will find his home, the oldest Western wooden building in Japan. Several other buildings have been relocated there.

View from the moving walkway

Young Glover

Glover then dealt for himself in tea, ships and weapons and was instrumental in the modernisation of Japan and played a role in supporting the clans who overthrew the shogunate and opened Japan up to the world.

View from Glover Gardens across the bay to Mt Inasa

This shows how you know what to pay for your bus trip. You take a ticket with your stop number as you board. 

 

Japan part 3

My last night of 7 spent on the island of Shikoku and it's been a lovely experience. Yesterday I left Kochi down in the south and headed west and north to Matsuyuma, the biggest city on the island with about half a million inhabitants. First on the Monogatari or tourist train with its sideways facing seats and hostess service:

A bit glitzy perhaps but it went nice and slow and stopped for photos and also for the locals to sell their wares at some of the little stations. A fair few people were around to wave us on including railway staff dressed up:

And along the Pacific Coast briefly:

Then inland along rivers and fields:

By now I had switched onto a one carriage local train with bench seats down the side and the driver tucked in a little compartment up front so we could see the track ahead out the big window beside him.

The warnings back in Kochi of track closure due to rockfall turned seemed to have elapsed - maybe very efficient track clearing. It was nearly three hours on our little train with no toilet so we made a half hour stop at this station with an interesting bench:

And this one was at Uwajima where I changed onto the express train:

With a car these little villages would be fun to explore - they even have single track roads to enjoy. Saw evidence of a lot of timber extraction. The hills are completed covered in lovely mixed woodland. Not sure you would get many views on a hike.

Today I was up early and in the line for the famous Dogo Onsen Rokan which was just 2 mins from the hostel. Luckily a Japanese fellow was also heading there so showed me the ropes. Queuing at 6am:

I didn't take this photo:

First you sit on a little stool and wash with a shower hose then climb into the pool. Quite warm but very relaxing. You fold your towel and put it on your head since the floor is quite wet! I noticed most people stayed about 15 mins max.

That set me up for the day and next I was off to see Matsuyama Castle, another original one though many parts had been rebuilt after fire damage. I took the chairlift up:

Amazing to think that there was virtually no-one here when the castle was first built around 1600:

I then headed down to the town and wandered about.

No bruised apples here!

But I did find a nice public footpath using the same hot springs as the onsen:

A local son, Masaoka Shiki, loved baseball but earned his statue from his literary work. 

A couple more observations from today: the hooks beside themes urinals where you could hang your bag or umbrella. And the pedestrian underpass at the station which was all steps but with a smooth section in the middle where you could run your case on wheels. And of curse the slippers everywhere for when you are inside a castle/hostel etc.

Arcade:

Tomorrow back on the train and on to Hiroshima and on Wednesday to Nagasaki.

Japan part 2

The main station in Takamatsu:

The two figures in hats are henru or pilgrims following a route that takes in 88 Buddhist temples round the island, including the two I have visited so far.

My next trip was a circuit to the east and back through the centre of the island. I first headed to Tokushima, travelling along the coast:

And then we threaded through narrow valleys and tunnels. Steeped wooded slopes would suddenly retreat and reveal small settlements with fields and terraces:

In Takushima I changed trains and direction and headed west inland along the Yoshino River valley:

This train sported a children's carriage:

Maybe a bit too bright for me ... apparently this is one of the Anpanman trains in honour of a local manga author Takashi Yanase creator of the Anpanman manga and anime for kids. After one more change and a short journey northwards I alighted at Kotohira which straddles the Kanakura River:

I intended to hike up to Kotahiro-Gū or as its known Konpira-San, a Shintō shrine dedicated to the deity of seafarers. Seemed a lot of other people had the same plan and we all had to run the gamut of umpteen tourist tat emporia for the first section of the walk up the 1368 steps. However peace soon reigned supreme and the views were good:

You can see how it seems that all the flat space has been built on. 

The shrine at the top:

Gate on the way down

View down the steps

The next day I made a short train journey to the suburbs of Takamatsu to climb up Mt Yashima. Not so many steps but a few more henru and plenty of bikes at the station:

There are a lot of people cycling and a large percentage of electric vehicles making the traffic relatively quiet. Various models of these compact cars seem very popular as you can have 3 rows of seats:

I have seen very few 'big' cars.

Excavated gateway of the ancient Yashima castle with view of Takamatsu.

Approaching the temple

Various shrines at the top

View over the Inland Sea towards the island of Honshu

On the lower slopes of the mountain is a museum village - Shikoku mara - tastefully made up of traditional buildings that were endangered and moved here from around the island to illustrate its history. As with many places traditional industries and practices have moved away and become highly mechanised. Here I learnt about soya sauce making, milling sugar cane and fishing for octopus.

Traditional thatched house

Sugar cane press powered by an ox

More upmarket house interior

Exquisite lighthouse ladder

Soy sauce jars

Soy sauce vats which had to be continually stirred for months

And then it was time to say goodbye to Takamatsu and head south through the centre of the island amid the cloud rising up the steep forested mountain sides, the train clinging to the slopes above the river or charging through the many tunnels on the way to Kochi.

Kochi is the largest city on the island with a population of around 300,000. It also has its castle. All but the gatehouse burnt down in 1727 and was then rebuilt in the same style. Good views too.

Finally caught up on the blog. There is really so much to take in here. Tomorrow I am taking one of the sight seeing trains which go slow and have outward facing seats so looking forward to that!