Farwell Dinner

Finally, It is the last article about my last tour.

 

The tour was from Oct. 8th to 19th 2012.

12 days!

We traveled in Chugoku region, the southwest of Japan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C5%ABgoku_region 

 

This is a map showing you where we visited.

Can you see the number, 1 to 11?

I didn't include the first day from the airport to hotel.

The last day numbered 11 tells you how long we drove from Hiroshima to Kansai International Airport in Osaka.

We drove totally about 1730km, 1081miles.

Considering the length of Japan is about 3000km, 1875miles, we drove more than half distance of Japan's length!!

 

 



 

 

Farewell dinner at Hiroshima city after coming back from Miyajima.

 

 

Nice meal and smile!!

Most of them were born in Japan and moved to USA.
They have their own unique stories.
I always love to hear them whenever they come back!

Ikuko-san and Harold-san

I was touched by their love story!
Harold came to Japan to study at university and met Ikuko at Ping-Pong court.
(By the way, our emperor today met his future wife at tennis court.)
But he went back to USA and contacted with her only by writing for 2 years!!
No telephone since it was very expensive at that time and no meeting.
Only letters!!
He was on the fishing boat and her letters always found him.
2 years later, he came back to Japan and Ikuko went to USA with him.
They have been married about 50 years!
They said they never doubted each other and believed they were meant to be from the beginning.

WOW!!
I know it was hard but beautiful!

Harold, am I right about your episode?
If not, please let me know.

Besides their love story, all of them have their special stories.
Compared with this time when everything becomes very convenient,
they must have had a hard time especially after the war.

I respect their courage and strong will all the time.

Thank you so much!
I had a great and memorable time with all of you.
I will never forget!
See you again in Japan or US!!
Love
Chiaki











 

Miyajima Island

The last destination of the tour was Miyajima Island in Hiroshima.

http://www.miyajima.or.jp/english/index.html

 

Hiroshima is famous for the site where the first atomic bomb dropped.

We didn't go to places related to the A-bomb.

Personally, when I visit those places, I always feel sick.

People who are sensitive to energy sometimes have the same reaction.

 

Instead, we went to only Miyajima.

Miyajima was designated as World Heritage Cultural Site by UNESCO

and it is one of the "Three Most Beautiful Spots" of Japan including Amanohasidate and Matsushima.

Since we went to Amanohashidate during this trip, we visited the best 2 scenic spots in Japan!

 

 

Many of you may see this red gate in the ocean.
This is the symbol of Miyajima and it is a Torii Gate(barrier or boundary) to Itsukushima Shrine.
http://www.miyajima.or.jp/english/spot/spot_ootorii.html

Miyajima is off the main island and we take a ferry to get there.
Only 10 minutes.

There are many wild deer in the island.
They are sometimes very hungry and violent.
Be careful!

When we arrived at the island, it was lunch time!
We had Okonomiyaki, Japanese pancake.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okonomiyaki



Hiroshima is famous for Okonomiyaki along with Osaka.
There are MANY Okonomiyaki restaurants.

He is cooking oysters.
Oysters are also famous in Hiroshima.
We can eat Hiroshima oysters throughout the year.

The master spoke only Japanese but they could communicate well!

After lunch, we walked to Itsukushima Shrine.
http://www.miyajima.or.jp/english/spot/spot_itsukushima.html
Buses have to stay on the main island and tourists have to walk in the island.

It was after the first high tide of the day when we visited.
There are 2 high tide everyday. On that day, 11:30 and 23:00.
And low tide was 17:30.
Views with and without water are very different!

When we visited, the wedding ceremony was started.
Usually the wedding ceremony is held on weekends but it was Thursday.
We were very lucky!
Actually my first time to see the ceremony here although I visited this shrine many times.

They are Shinto dancer and musicians.
Can you see the red gate behind them?

The couple dedicated the dance to Shinto Goddesses who are enshrined here.

This dance is called "Ran Ryo Oh".
It was Chinese legend which was introduced to Japan.
The prince in this legend was a very strong worrier but very beautiful.
In order to scare the enemy, he had a scary mask at battle field.

Again, this was my first time to see this dance.
I took a short video of this.
I hope you have a glimpse of  Japanese sacred ceremony.

We took a ferry back to the main island.

The last day was very special and beautiful!!

 

the last night at Ryokan

I'll skip photos of several places we visited and I just like to post the photos of my guests.

 

At Hori garden in Tsuwano town.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsuwano,_Shimane

 

It was raining all day on that day.

But luckily it was the only day we had rain.

 

In the morning, we went to Akiyosido Limestone Cave.

http://www.japan-i.jp/explorejapan/chugoku/yamaguchi/yamaguchi/d8jk7l0000000ovw.html

The rain didn't bother us a lot.

 

And in the afternoon, we drove to Tuswano.

Hori Garden was the last destination on that day.

Rain stopped and we enjoyed the quiet Japanese garden although it was early for autumn leaves.

 

 



It was the last night at Ryokan, traditional Japanese inn.
At 7 out of 11 nights, we stayed at Ryokan with hot spring and Kaiseki meal.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaiseki

Gorgeous tour!!
I ate too much!!

Our Ryokan was located in Yamaguchi prefecture which is famous for Fugu, blowfish.
The amount of Fugu caught in Yamaguch ranks No. 1 in Japan.
We ate a variety of Fugu, sashimi, boiled, marinated, fried....

Fugu steak!
It was my first time to eat Fugu steak.
But it was delicious!!

Karaoke night!!
And Dancing!

We enjoyed the last night at Ryokan.