From Hiroshima it was a short trip to Miyajima island, with the 30km journey being covered by tram, train and ferry. While the island is actually named Itsukushima, it is more commonly known as Miyajima, which is Japanese for shrine island. So, it is the famous shrine and iconic ‘floating’ torii gate that is the … Continue reading Miyajima Island – Days 47 & 48
Our next stop was Hiroshima, heading the furthest south in our journey so far. It was a quick 60-minute Shinkansen ride from Okayama, and a tram (or street car as they are called) ride from Hiroshima train station to our apartment. The Airbnb apartment was just over the river from the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, … Continue reading Hiroshima – Days 44 – 46
Our one night stay in Okayama was to visit Kōraku-en, one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan. We had passed through Okayama several times, and it was Okayama where we picked up and returned the hire car for our trip to Iya Valley. But this was our first time stopping and having a look. The city … Continue reading Korakuen Garden – Day 43
Our temple stay at Kōya-san included breakfast, so we joined the line of foreigners in the dining area. We ate what we liked out of the set vegetarian breakfast, which wasn’t very much for some of us, and it looked surprisingly similar to dinner last night. The sitting on the floor to eat also doesn’t … Continue reading Koyasan to Okayama – Day 42
On Friday we headed to Kōya-san, several hours South of Osaka in the Kii mountain range, where we spent one night at a temple stay. Kōya-san is a temple town on Mount Kōya that was first settled in 819 by the monk Kukai who is known posthumously as Kōbō-Daishi – one of Japan’s most significant … Continue reading Koyasan – Day 41
For our final full day in Osaka the kids felt it was their turn to choose. And so we headed off to Round 1 Stadium, a large entertainment complex that has 10-pin bowling, darts, indoor sports, arcade machines and karaoke. Karaoke was also one of the to-do things on my list, and so I agreed … Continue reading Kids Day in Osaka – Day 40
On Friday morning we headed to the Osaka Museum of Housing and Living. On the 8th floor of the museum which also houses government offices, an 1830s Osaka neighbourhood has been re-created with shophouses, drug stores, an old-style sentō (public bath) and more. We each got an English audio guide and could walk through the … Continue reading Osaka Housing and Plaza – Day 39
After a full day at Uinversal Studios we were all glad to have a quiet day, and had a lazy day at the AirBnB apartment. It’s been another good AirBnB experience, with the only issue being the unreliable wi-fi connection, especially as we are keen to finalise the remaining weeks of our schedule that have … Continue reading Quiet day in Osaka – Day 38
The highly anticipated day to visit Universal Studios Japan (USJ) had arrived – or more accurately, the day to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter which happened to be eat Universal Studios. The alarm went off at 5:30am to give us time for breakfast before leaving the apartment by 6:15am to arrive at the … Continue reading The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Day 37
Today we set out in the morning to the Kaiyukan Aquarium, noted as one of the largest and best aquariums in the world, and then headed to the Harukas 300 Observatory in the afternoon, Japan’s tallest building. We are quickly becoming familiar with the Osaka subway system, and are able to use the same Suica … Continue reading Kaiyukan Aquarium & Harukas 300 Observatory – Day 36
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