Japan Trip 2018: Part 6 - Hiroshima & Miyajima

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From Tokyo we traveled per airplane to Hiroshima. Why with the plane? Well it was actually cheaper than taking the train and the experience of taking a plane in the same country was also one we never had before. It was quite a small plane of course and a bit bumpy at the end of the flight, but overall a nice experience. 

We ended up in Hiroshima just around dinnertime and it was a bit stressful finding the right bus and busstop. Also it was so much more quiet/less crowded than in Tokyo. We looked for a restaurant near our hotel but a lot seemed already closed as well. We found an international cafe that also served dinner so it was convenient to go there for now.

The next day was the one big day we had in Hiroshima. Of course we first went to the Peace Memorial and it was impressive and also good to see/learn about everything that happened here. The impact of an atomic bomb is...well let's just say we never ever want that to happen again. It makes me sad to think that some countries even have atomic weapons still to begin with, nobody deserves that. The memorial park was quite a big place and different things to see so we took the whole morning for it. 

After that we did some walking in a still quiet city compared to Tokyo, which was nice for a change but felt a bit weird somehow too. We did some shopping of course and I had some luck as well at the lolita fashion stores there as there were some amazing discounts (like 70% off some accessories...I almost felt like buying more than I wanted just because it was so cheap). And we walked around to see some cool places, even though it was late in the evening. 

Now that is a convenient souvenir.

Hiroshima Castle

When you are in Hiroshima you need to try Okonomiyaki. Of course we already know that dish as it is one of my favourite Japanese foods. There is the Okonomiyaki 'town', which is basically a big building with all kinds of Okonomiyaki restaurants. We just chose a random one and it was a nice experience to have your dinner see being made on the plate before you and eat from it too.

Not sure how you would choose one but it is nice they have English descriptions!

Miyajima

One of the reasons we also went to Hiroshima is because the famous Miyajima (or Itsukushima) is near.  Miyajima means 'shrine island' and it is known for its famous big torii (gate) in the water that you see featured in so many articles about traveling to Japan. So we wanted to see it for ourselves.

View from the boat on the land side

Instead of just spending the day we also planned a night there in a ryokan near the shore.You can travel there by boat, and there was one leaving pretty close from our hotel in Hiroshima so it was very easy. It also gave us an amazing view of Hiroshima outskirts and Hatsukaichi and the other islands on the east side.

View on the different islands

After dropping our suitcases, we went to see the Itsukushima shrine first. After petting some of the cute deer of course. Just like in Nara they roam around this island as well (although we mostly saw them around the first piece of town when we arrived).

 

It was low tide, so no cool pictures of the whole shrine yet. We continued walking to the Momijidani park, which is famous for its read maple leaf trees. Although it was still early in fall, we have seen some red leaves indeed. After that you can continue to 'climb' up the mountain but of course we took the ropeway which is much easier and gives you more exciting views. Although I have to say that, in the second part the gondola can be filled up by 15 people or so and it felt like a crammed bus high up in the sky, which was a bit weird.

Some kind of pretty tea house

The famous red bridge in Momijidani park

We printed an outside canvas of this photo for our garden!

Up in the mountain there are some small shrines and there is a walk you can take to them which was in my memory quite exhausting, but totally worth it as you can walk all the way to the top and get a stunning view on the ocean/islands.

Once we were back the tide got higher so it was nice to walk around the shrine. I think that actually there was a wedding or feast being prepared so we saw some traditional shinto costumes! I think this shrine is really unique so I am definitely very happy that we visited it.

Of course, because of all the visitors, there are lots of tourist shops to see. Funny was that there were a lot of middle school pupils walking around looking for stuff to buy but when evening came they were all gone, because people usually just only visit during the day and then leave. It was so quiet after 5pm. After looking in the shops we decided to go back to our ryokan to see our room and it was really nice, with a view of the ocean/shore! We ate some momiji cakes as well with our tea, as Miyajima is famous for those leaves you can find the shapes back in lots of items.

During night the path along the ocean was very pretty and serene to walk down and gives you a even more unique view on the famous torii. Of course our ryokan had a small public bath as well so we took use of it, slipped our yukatas on and went to sit down near the window to enjoy the rest of the night. Waking up with the view of the shoreline was definitely very nice. 

I don't mind waking up seeing this

After that we checked out and went to the boat that should bring us to the train again. I really loved going to Miyajima, we even said it might have been nice to stay two nights instead of one, but it is really worth going if you are in Japan.

Read part 7 here: http://dreamsweetie.blogspot.com/2020/08/japan-trip-2018-part-7-osaka-kyoto-and.html

Japan Trip 2018 - Part 5: Shopping and fun in Tokyo

Akihabara
Back in Tokyo and spent our afternoon and evening in otaku-city Akihabara, we went to the Animate cafe again to see what theme they had going on and it was Persona 5 Destinyland (which is a play on Disneyland), so Nick was happy to go because he played the game before (and the Royal version again last year). Besides that we played some arcade games. It is always fun what new fancy arcade machines and games they have around.

Some Persona 5 cafe decoration, don't they look cute?

 

Some cool fishing game

Akihabara by night always looks cool!

Moomin Cafe

Next morning we went to the Moomin Cafe that was in Tokyo Dome city as well, so only took like a 10 minutes walk. I like Moomin quite a bit for nostalgic reasons and because the serie is so random and cute yet interesting at the same time, so I thought why not have breakfast here. You might wonder why there is a Moomin Cafe in Tokyo, but the same can be asked for why there is a Pokemon Cafe or why a Hello Kitty Cafe etc. It's the character/anime thing, people love kawaii characters in Japan and Moomin became quite popular too.

In the cafe you can also sit with one of the huge plushies they have. If you feel like it you don't have to sit alone this way. They also had a nice souvenir shop from which I bought some small things.

Ikebukuro

After that I don't really remember what we did exactly, it might be that we went shopping somewhere else but that we didn't take photos. At a certain point though, at the end of the afternoon we went to Ikebukuro again, because hey it is one of our favourite shopping places. This weekend was the weekend before Halloween and to our surprise there was a huge event going on at the terraces of Sunshine city and the park next to it. Lots of cosplayers were gathered for Halloween, so we had fun looking around.

Of course we also went to the Pokemon Center and the Axes Femme shop. Nick found a very happy Pikachu plushie while I saw a nice discounted dress that didn't exactly fit me but was too cheap to let go (and I could easily alter it so that it would fit me).

Me happy to see more Pokemon

The Axes Femme dress, one of the few lolita stuff I bought on the trip.

Yomiuriland

On Sunday Nick really wanted to go to Yomiuriland, this is an amusement park near Tokyo. It is a lot smaller than Disneyland though, so no comparison with that. What is cool is that from the nearby station to get to the park you can take a gondola lift (cable transport) that brings you over the hill to the entrance. It saves you some walking but also gives you a pretty nice view!

Some kind of transforming car near one of the rides.

I have to say that the entertainment and rides in the park itself is really more meant for kids, so I wasn't really impressed with that. The big reason why Nick wanted to go though is because they illuminate the whole park when it gets dark (from Autumn to Spring), that means christmas/fairy-lights everywhere, it is kind of magical. They call it "Jewellumination and yes it is indeed very pretty. They also have a nice small parade including light effects as well. You can imagine that when we traveled back with the gondola, the view from above was amazing. 

Almost dark, so the lights were visible now.

One of the views from the Gondola.

The day after this we had one morning left in Tokyo. We would take the airplane elsewhere to Japan in the afternoon. This morning we took the chance for some last shopping around Shinjuku and Shibuya. Took a photo near the Hachi statue and went into Shibuya 109 for the cool Momeru Mignon photo spots. And that was all of Tokyo for this Trip! But fear not, there is more to see in Japan, see upcoming blogposts. Read part 6 here: http://dreamsweetie.blogspot.com/2020/08/japan-trip-2018-part-6-hiroshima.html

Always fun browsing at Don Quijote

Mandatory picture with Hachiko, the dog our shiba inu Kairi always gets compared to because people think it is the same breed. (it is not, Hachi was an Akita Inu, not a Shiba!)