Koya-san

For our final days & 1 night in mainland Japan, we chose a very impressive & unique Japanese experience at Shojoshin-in, a fully working Buddhist temple which accepts lodgers (for more than we normally spend but the experience was worth it). It's actually the 2nd largest temple of about 100 (about 53 of which offer overnight lodging to travelers like us) on Mount Koya (or Koyasan) in Wakayama Prefecture, which turned out to be a very scenic & intensely cultural experience of Japan. We especially enjoyed the delicious vegetarian shōjin ryōri cuisine (2 meals were included in the price of the lodging) that they served. A side perk was the nice crisp mountain top air (especially at night from our comfy, fluffy futon bedding). It was good for us to feel the cool-to-cold fall weather & get us ready for life back in the U.S. that was fast approaching!

Yes, that's right! We took a LOT of photos of Koyasan:

View Album

Get your own

Nara, home of the Kusumi-sama

After thoroughly enjoying our visit to Hiroshima, we spent 2 nights in the home of our dear friend Masayo's parents in Nara, just outside (biking distance as we proved) the former capital of Japan, actually very well known for their giant Buddha statue & the many free-roaming Sika deer in the parks & temple grounds. We felt thoroughly at ease & very welcome in their home; we were definitely honored guests. Aaron & Masayo showed us all around & delivered excellent weather to go with the many fantastic sights, sounds & tastes that they had to show off. We were very glad that we had saved a visit to this city for a time that they could be there to rendezvous with us! Thanks again, guys!!

Photos from our fun-filled 3 days in Nara:

View Album

Get your own

Miyajima / Itsukushima - Shrine Island

On the 2nd morning that we awoke in Hiroshima, we decided to venture to the renowned Miyajima Island, home of one of "Three Views of Japan," the "floating" torii gate of Itsukushima Shrine, yet another UNESCO World Heritage Site. After catching the cheap & convenient cable car near our hostel, the very comfortable Business Ryokan Sansui, to rendezvous with the local train that took us to the ferry port for the short trip across the Seto Inland Sea to the picturesque island, we were soon avoiding the deer & looking for monkeys along with the rest of the many tourists. Having plenty of time after strolling thru the town & then viewing the famous shrine, we decided to inspect the peak of Mount Misen also. But we decided to skip the uber-expensive ropeway (cable car) & hike the steep kilometer instead. With our hearts pumping quickly, we did manage to catch glimpses of monkeys (thru our camera's 10x optical zoom) begging for food outside of a cable car stop that we didn't feel like hiking out of our way to. Instead we admired & inspected the shrines, temples & lookout point at the summit before making our way down the other side right to the very gorgeous Daishō-in at the foot of the mountain. All in all, a very full day of sight-seeing but WELL worth every minute!

Photos of our day & plenty of 'em:

View Album

Get your own

Hiroshima, our first time in Chugoku

The next stop on our western Japan tour was in Hiroshima, known by most of the planet as the first city ever subjected to an atomic bomb detonation. The Ryokan Sansui where we lodged was located within a nice walk of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park so it was, of course, a highlight for us. After first approaching its southern side, we were approached by a kindly woman who in very good English offered her services as a tour guide FOR FREE!!! We'd like to believe that our understanding & appreciation of the site's significance could have been nearly what it was even without her, but we just don't see how that would be possible. She made sure to detail every one of the highlights of the site & her own personal story (at the tender age of 8 at the time, both of her parents perished in the aftermath while she survived living with her grandmother not far outside the city). Honestly, this was not just a highlight of our trip, but of our lives. The sentiments clearly expressed were not condemning or biased in the least, but rather presented a very clear picture of the history & all factors of the conflict that preceded & the devastation that proceeded the nuclear bomb. We add our desires along with many others in hoping that our planet never again sees the death & devastation of such a device.

Of coure, we took a lot of photos:

View Album

Get your own

Himeji castle in western Kansai

For our final beyond Okinawa travels of our time living in the subtropic Pacific, we visited mainland Japan for a final tour. Our very first stop was in Himeji (of Hyogo Prefecture) to marvel over the much-lauded & extolled feat of history, Himeji-jō, an official Japanese National Cultural Treasure & a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is one of Japan's "Three Famous Castles" (the other 2 being Matsumoto-jō & Kumamoto-jō), and is the most visited castle in Japan.

It was very ornate, grandiose, impressive & photos do not do it full justice (do they ever?) but here is a slideshow of the hundreds that we snapped during our day in Himeji:

View Album

Get your own