Naturally Nihon

That's all folks! The adventure is over. D and I popped over to Odaiba, a spot on reclaimed land in the harbour facing Tokyo City from the sea. They even have a replica of The Statue of Liberty here... But the heatwave continues with temperatures in the high thirties and feeling like high forties (°C), and it's just too hot to be sightseeing, so we left Tokyo and headed out to Narita Airport earlier than we'd planned. Goodbye Japan! 👋   Just in case you thought I'd forgotten, here's another power pylon, my favourite that I have named 'Godzilla'... 😆 

Most of today was taken up by a 700km train journey back to Tokyo, crossing The Seto Ohashi Bridge on the first leg... ...and then Shinkansen all the way from Okayama to Tokyo. Sadly, Mount Fuji was swathed in cloud, so we didn't get to see that iconic scene of the snow-capped volcano. Back in Tokyo, and staying very close to the Shibuya Scramble, that mad multi-way pedestrian crossing. I only took video footage, but here's a shot from a nearby street, just to give you some of the big city vibes...

This morning we investigated Matsuyama Castle, fearing it might be a mock-up, Osaka-style; concrete and an elevator inside.  Well, the castle sits on a hilltop overlooking the city, so it has a natural defensive advantage. Although it doesn't have an elevator inside the Castle, it does sport a quaint cable car to get you from street level up to the lower grounds of the castle, or if you're more of a thrill-seeker, a chair lift (no belts or restraining bars). Once at the top of the 'ropeway' - as the Japanese refer to cable cars - there's still a healthy climb to the top. There are at least three zig-zag gateways, natural killing zones, that an attacker would have to break through to reach the castle itself. Admittedly, the castle was rebuilt in 1852 (of course) after a fire, but it was rebuilt in wood which means it has a lovely old feel to it, and it's not hard to imagine stepping back in time. Arrow slips and loop holes give out into th...

Today's main experience was a 3 hour ferry journey across the Seto Inland Sea that separates the island of Honshu from Shikoku. Our destination was Matsuyama, which perhaps is not a premier sightseeing spot, but I love a ferry crossing, and it is en-route to Takamatsu where there's another fantastic garden to visit. Anyway, cracking weather for a sea cruise! I couldn't help but notice the megaphones mounted on poles near the sea once we got to Matsuyama. I guess these are the tsunami warning sirens which really makes the danger of this area seem real! That said... We've been here two whole weeks now and still no sign of Godzilla 😞

I'm just going to post two photos I took, both with a brilliant blue sky that disguises the horror that took place here. I was briefly tempted to add an image from the Internet of a victim of the atomic bomb that was dropped here, but decided against it. I leave it up to the reader to do their own research and see the burned flesh, charred skin etc. 8:15am on a bright, cloudless morning on the 6th of August 1945, one bomb was dropped here. 140,000 people died on the day and in the following months to the end of 1945. It sometimes seems as though the human race has not ascended much above the club and spear in terms of thought and civilisation. The so-called leaders of the world appear to be the most reckless among us, expending lives for political ends. We'll need luck if our species is to persist much longer. The Peace Memorial Museum should have been a moving tribute to those who perished and suffered, but sadly it was ruined by the staff who failed to...

This evening we fetched up in Hiroshima, but not without a brief stopover in Okayama to stroll through Koraku-en, "one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan." Completed in 1700 on the instruction on feudal lord Ikeda Tsunamasa it was passed to the Okayama Prefecture in 1884. Our journey from Osaka was on the speedy Shinkansen... And from the hustle-bustle, into the relative tranquility of a beautiful Japanese garden, with all that thought that goes into views and telling a story through the placement of stones and water and sculpted trees... This was such a different experience to Kenroku-en in Kanazawa which was much busier, not just with people, but with trees...almost no open space except above the water. Here in Koraku-en by contrast, much of the central are is taken up by an expanse of (I'll call it) lawn, which evokes rolling countryside leading to lakes, mountains and trees in the distance... Ignore the white lanterns. They were pr...

It wasn't a destination on our itinerary, but Diana and I decided we'd had enough of the retail&food paradise that is Osaka, so we decamped to Kobe for a few hours. Easy to do and the train was free, thanks to our JR Passes. I wanted to see the sea. I like the sea. We didn't see it while in Tokyo, and while we could have got close to it here in Osaka, there wasn't an obvious destination that chimed. And so, Merikan Park, harbourside in Kobe, with the added blessing of a maritime museum! I know, we're squinting, but it's very bright! Small trees, small boats...there's a theme developing!

If shopping was an Olympic sport, I truly believe the Japanese would be gold medallists every single games. These are a few photos taken at 8:20pm (pm, note) along the Shinsaibashi covered street... Jeepers! 

It's notable that on some "Top 10 Things to do in Osaka", "Day Trip to Kyoto" appears as one of them! There are actually loads of things to see and do here, such as The 2025 Expo, Universal Studios, the Osaka Aquarium and, of course, the castle, but...it isn't far from the truth to say that of the top 100 things to do here, 95 are shopping or eating. The population of Osaka is almost the same as London, but it has an estimated 120,000 eateries compared with London's 15,000! A ninefold uplift! Zoiks, Scooby Doo! So this morning we went and joined the throng at Osaka-jō. This is (obviously) a reconstruction of an earlier one that burned down, which replaced the one before that which was burned to the ground! This concrete copy may last a bit longer. The most extraordinary thing about these Japanese castles is their moats and defensive walls. They could have taught the Europeans a thing or two. The earlier two...

We left our lovely lad behind in Kyoto and made the short train journey to Osaka. Our apartment-hotel is just off the Shinsaibashi covered shopping street and 15 minutes walk from Dotombori, fully loaded destinations for shopaholics and street-food lovers respectively. As today is a national holiday in Japan, the streets, bars and food places were rammed with people! What a scene!