Day 9 Hiroshima, Japan

On Arrival into Hiroshima today, we were taken by bus for a 45min journey to a ferry Terminal where we boarded the ferry to Heritage Listed Miyajima (pronounced Maj-ima) Island.  It is a public holiday today as well as being Sunday so the ferry was packed to the brim but it is only a short ferry ride so we didn't mind standing for the journey.

Once we disembark onto the island, our guide showed us where we would meet after having free time of around two hours on this beautiful island.  The islands heritage listing in 1996 covered an area of around 450 ha including the magnificent Itsukuhima Shrine. The shrine was built in 593 and was remodeled into the present grand structure in 1168.  It suits proudly close to the waterfront with the mountains as a backdrop.

Mayajima is one of Japans most scenic places to visit, and we loved walking around the streets.  Some of the streets were lined with food stalls.  Oysters are in abundance and cooked many different ways.  We also saw a stand selling grilled tongue.  We did purchase some street food that we worked out was octopus wrapped in bacon and grilled.  It was quite tasty.

We turned away from the main area and found ourself  in a beautiful serene wooded area. The deer run wild all over the island and we are warned that they will eat anything so we must be careful!

There are lots of shrines on the island but the five storied pagoda, said to have been built in 1407, is the one that is most imposing. We walked up many stairs today, in fact ever since we have been in Japan we seem to be walking up and down stairs.  Very good for the heart!

You could spend days on the island exploring the uniqueness.  There are modern hotels built on the island for just this purpose. We really enjoyed this tour and finding all the little hidden gems.

Tonight we have dinner reservations in Prime7 restaurant, one of three speciality restaurants on board the ship.  We have been eating light meals today in readiness for what we know will be a very delicious meal tonight.  Tomorrow is a day at sea while we make our way across to Busan, Korea.  We have had tours every day so far so it will be a very relaxing day tomorrow to maybe lie beside the pool with a good book.

Day 8 Kochi, Japan

I was a bit apprehensive about the tour we had selected today - Ryugado Cave and Kochi Castle.  We were told that there were around 800 steps to negotiate at the cave and another 100 at the castle.  Thank goodness the steps at the cave were not like the ones in Western Australia where we had to descend 300 steps and return the same way.  This was a lot more gentle and really only one long section of stairs. 

We were left a little underwhelmed by Ryugado Cave.  We have seen many more spectacular but I guess the unusual part of this cave was the length we had to walk inside the cave (more and 1km) and sometimes almost crawl, and the very narrow passageways that we had to negotiate.  It was far more natural than a lot of others.

We stayed at the cave for around 90 minutes that gave us ample time to explore the area.  After we were all back on board the bus it took us around 45 minutes to get to our next destination - Kochi Castle.  By the time we arrived here the rain had really set in and our guide gave us the option of staying on the bus if we didn't want to walk up the 100 wet and slippery steps to the castle.  We decided to keep going and actually the guide found a better way to get to the top, along a gravel pathway, without so many steps.  Once we arrived at the castle we all had to take off our shoes and walk through the castle in our socks.  

The castle is six stories high and very impressive. It was built by Yamauchi Katsutoyo in 1601 and has been re-built many times due to various reasons - flood, fire to name a couple.  Inside the castle are lots of displays showing the history of the castle.  It would take a long time to read all the literature by the visual displays were very interesting.

To get from one floor to another you had to climb a very steep wooden ladder.  Not for the faint hearted I can tell you.  The timber ladder is slippery underfoot with only socks on your feet!  But it was worth the climb to see the views from the top.

We were back on board by 1.30 and we had quite the welcome.  Our ship - Seven Seas Voyager - holds a maximum of 700 people and is fully booked for this cruise.  

Day 7 Kyoto, Japan

Our tour today was after lunch so we skipped breakfast and had a brunch at the poolside bistro.  We met our tour guide dockside where the bus was waiting to take us to Rokko Mountain and then to Hakutsuru Sake Brewery Museum for sake tasting.

It was much cooler (and thankfully sunshine) on the 800 metre high Rokko Mountain.  Halfway up the mountain we transferred from the bus to a cablecar and then back on to the bus for the remainder of the ascent.  The cablecar was fun and I am always amazed at how steep the car rises up the side of the mountain.

We were given an hour to spend at Rokko Mountain where the views are spectacular, or they would be on a less hazy day.  Philip spotted the Rokko Shidare Obseratory a short walk from where the bus stopped so we made our way towards that.  The observatory is shaped like a giant tree with its trunk covered with branches and leaves.  

There are lots of interesting sculptures and ornaments in the gardens surrounding the observatory but unfortunately all the descriptions are written in Japanese and as I am not up to date with Japanese I can't explain to you what they all mean......

The next stop was at the Sake Brewery Museum that was very interesting.  We first watched a video that showed the process of making Sake that is basically fermented rice. It is a very tedious process that required a lot of muscle power back in the day.  Now a lot of the manual power has been replaced by mechanical.  We tasted the Sake and I must say it tasted a lot better than the one I remember tasting on another cruise many years ago.  That glass of sake burnt the back of my throat but the one we tried today was very smooth.

We were back on board the ship by 4.00pm and set sail for Kochi by 6pm.  At 6pm everyone on board the ship is invited to enter the corridor to meet you neighbours in what it called a block party.  We participated but not many did.  Dinner tonight in Compass Rose restaurant.

Day 6 Kyoto (Kobe), Japan

The rain that dogged us all day yesterday followed us down the coastline.  It was VERY rough at sea for a good part of last night but thankfully we arrived into Kyoto today to a beautiful sunshine day.  The ship didn't dock until 11am this morning so our tour to Osaka Castle didn't leave until 1.00pm that gave us plenty of time to enjoy a leisurely breakfast in Compass Rose Restaurant followed by a light lunch at the pool bistro.

The drive to Osaka took us almost an hour but it was an enjoyable drive. Osaka is the second largest city in Tokyo with a population of seven million and it is hard to decipher the boundary between Kyoto and Osaka.  

Osaka Castle is in important landmark in Japan. It was built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1583 and was in use until 1845.  The five story castle is really quite spectacular.  To reach the top floor we go by elevator to the fifth floor and then have to ascend three steep flights of steps to reach the top.  From here we have spectacular views in every direction over Osaka.

The many hectares of gardens surrounding the Castle are beautifully maintained and the azaleas are in full bloom.  The wall surrounding the castle is built from massive rocks and Philip is standing in front of the biggest rock.  Heaven only knows how many men it took to stand it in place.

We really enjoyed todays tour and it was great that we were allowed a lot of time to explore the castle at our leisure.

Day 5 Shimizu, Japan

 We woke this morning to a very bleak day but thankfully not cold.  Today we are docked at Shimizu and this city lies in the shadow of magnificent Mt. Fuji.  Unfortunately she (the mountain is a she) was very shy today and well hidden amongst the clouds.

Last night we filled out a room service breakfast menu so that we could enjoy the morning without rushing.  We ordered way too much but were grateful for it when we didn't get back from tour for lunch until almost 2pm.  

The tour we chose was "Mt Fuji highlights" that included a visit to the 17th century Fujisan Hongu Sengen Taisha Shrine.  The drive to the Shrine on a clear day would have been spectacular.  We passed through many villages where tea is the main source of income and in fact the green tea grown in this area makes up almost half of the tea grown in Japan. 

It was really raining hard by the time we reached the Shrine so we didn't see it in it's best light.  However, it was lovely to see the Wisteria in full bloom beside the pond that surrounded the Shrine.  The shrine itself looks almost identical to the ones we saw in Tokyo with the massive gate leading to the shrine that sits in a courtyard surrounded by smaller buildings.

We took the "scenic" drive back to the port, zig zagging through some beautiful valleys.  The Japanese certainly know how to build a road.  Check out this highway that we drove on, that is hundreds of metres above the ground! 

Surprisingly the best viewing point for Mt. Fuji is at the beach.  Not the sort of beach that we Australians know though with its black sand.  To get to to this point we walked around 500metres along a pine tree lined boardwalk.  We were shown a pine tree that was around 400 years old. 

 Of course we couldn't see Mt Fuji but our tour guide kindly gave us a photograph of what we should have seen.  It would have been amazing.

I took this photograph last night as we were leaving Yokohama.  The ferris wheel kept changing colours and looked spectacular against the skyline.

Day 4 Tokyo

 After checking out of the Tokyo Hilton this morning we once again boarded the bus for another half day tour of Tokyo.  We were greeted by our tour guide who gave us a run down of what to expect on this tour.  Our first stop was the Meiji Shrine that was built to honour Emperor Meiji.  The Shinto shrine is almost hidden amongst a forest of trees and as we reach the very high "gate" we are told that it is tradition to bow before you pass through.

The wooden buildings, built around a compound, are impressive and we stopped to fill out a wish and prayer form that we dropped into an envelope and will be posted on the wall.  We prayed for a healthy, happy life and we wished for longevity!

We walked past a wall that was stacked high with barrels of Sake that are wrapped in straw. Sake is a spirit that is much loved by the Japanese.

Our next destination was Odaiba where we were taken to the observation deck on the 25th floor of the Fuji building.  On a clear day we would be able to see Mt Fuji but unfortunately today was very cloudy so we missed seeing this.  

We were allocated an hour at the viewing tower but Philip and I left after 20 minutes and went for a walk around the area.  There were lots of school kids, presumably on a school excursion, running around and they were looking for statues of which there were many, even a miniature Statue of Liberty.

Our tour guide once again gathered us all together for the 30 minute drive to our waiting cruise ship - Regent Explorer.  The check-in process was tedious but necessary and we are now safely onboard.  It was late when we were arrived on board and we hadn't had lunch so we made a bee line for the poolside buffet.  

The past three days have been really full on so we are having another early night.  We have tours booked every day as we circumnavigate Japan so we will certainly get an in depth look at this lovely country.