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:

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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:

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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:

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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:

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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:

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Shikina-En Royal Gardens

Since we found ourselves in in Naha city anyway (after having dropped off Aaron & Masayo at the airport to embark upon their new adventures beyond Okinawa), we decided to make a day of it & explore some new sights. So we made our way around Hwy 329 (becoming 82 & then turning left onto 222) & we had soon arrived at the lovely & picturesque Shikina-En Royal Gardens:

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We were thoroughly impressed with the natural beauty of this very historically significant site. A blurb from Wikipedia (on the Shuri Castle page):
"Built in 1799, the royal gardens and villa were not only where the royals relaxed but was also used to host the investiture envoys who came from the Great Empire, China. The garden's circle layout resembles plans used in modern Japanese gardens, but the Villa itself with its red tile is uniquely Ryūkyūan, and pond and bridge to the miniature island is in the Chinese style. This is a rare, historically valuable example of Ryūkyūan landscape gardening, and Shikina-en is also registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, separate from Shuri Castle."

Photos of our excursion that day:

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More info & multimedia related to the gardens from other sites:
http://www.okinawaindex.com/index/?tid=3&cid=75&id=2
http://www.straycompass.com/video_page.php?recordID=75
http://okinawa.com/content/view/145/101/lang,en/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/denysokinawa/2554706113/

Naha Tsunahiki Tug-of-war Rope

After having bid farewell to Aaron & Masayo), we were on our way to find something fun to do in Naha (since we were there anyway). As we were driving away from the Naha Airport along the access road that runs along the military harbor towards the city center, we noticed a HUGE rope, mostly covered by tarp, in the usually empty paved lot of the military port facilities. Curious cats that we are, we quickly u-turned around to investigate the scene. And we were delighted to discover & behold the giant rope that was being prepared for use at the annual world-famous Naha tsunahiki tug-of-war (pitting eastern Okinawans vs westerners, for bragging rights & good fortune in the coming year), which we did not attend during either of our years in Okinawa (not being fans of how incredibly crowded Naha gets during such events). We enjoyed watching the workers preparing sections of the massive rope for several minutes before continuing on to Shikina-En.

Photos of the rope:

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More info & multimedia about the Tug of War event:
http://www.okinawa.usmc.mil/public%20affairs%20info/Archive%20News%20Pages/2006/061013-naha.html
http://www.ocvb.or.jp/card/en/0600001264.html
http://www.japanupdate.com/?id=7138
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wildvinephoto/3372062550/
http://okinawa.com/content/view/59/36/
http://www.okinawahai.com/my_weblog/2008/10/the-naha-tug-of.html
http://gillbertbu.blogspot.com/2007/10/o-tsunahiki-great-naha-tug-of-war.html

Horseback Riding

After a rainy week we took our friends Masayo, Sayaka (visiting Okinawa from her Kansai home) & her young son Haruto to Toma-san's stables in Onna-son (where we volunteered with the weekly hippotherapy program run by EDIS) to have some fun playing with the horses. We were not surprised to find & clean up some very dirty (with dried mud) equines & stalls. But after quite a bit of brushing & currying of Luca & Karen, we enjoyed some fun riding!

Photos of the equestrians:

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Surprise Party

As an early & pleasant surprise for our good friend Masayo's birthday (only 2 months away), her loving husband Aaron organized a group of her close friends to gather at one of her favorite restaurants on Okinawa (Bistro Cyrano, in Ginowan, serving a DELICIOUS Japanese take on French cuisine) for a celebratory evening together. We were delighted to assist & attend. Masayo was truly surprised & equally delighted at the thoughtfulness of all of us who will dearly miss her & her actual birthday when she's too far away from us in San Francisco, CA.

Photos of the surprise fun:

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Omedeto Gozaimasu, Ma-chan!

Keramas B'day Dives

As our birthday gift to Aaron, we treated him to a day of boat diving almost anywhere around Okinawa & several neighboring islands. To our delight, he chose the Keramas! So we spent yet another gorgeous day around the islands of Zamami (for the first 2 dives) & Tokashiki (for the final dive, a drift). We also gave the dive camera to Aaron to capture the sights & memories of his day & we're impressed with what he had to show us! Enjoy!

The full photo set:

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