Our last stop, our last culture, our last language. The 8th country in a row not using an English alphabet. Our last challenge before returning to New Zealand.
We were feeling well worn from the previous three weeks of non-stop country hopping – really making the most of our final days.
We arrived in Osaka in the morning, organised our ‘Japan-rail’ pass then jumped the train towards town. A family friend living in Japan offered to host us during our stay, and we gratefully accepted. Initially they hosted our extra luggage as we packed down to just one bag. Camera, water bottles, train pass, credit card and some clean clothes – we were back on the train and headed to Kyoto. Keryn had been there before and rated Kyoto as one of her favourite cities in the world – over the next few days I grew to agree with her. We walked, we bussed and we photographed our way through this amazing town. Then we walked some more. With more than 6,000 shrines within the city limits and some of Japan’s oldest, largest and most visited religious icons we joined thousands of school children in exploring these national treasures. One of our favourites was a huge Buddhist temple set perfectly in beautiful gardens. We sat in the main hall and closed our eyes to the drumming and chanting. We may have been there for 5 minutes, or possibly an hour, neither of us are really sure but my feet were numb when I stood – closer to a hour I think.
Every street was home to a pair of carved gate posts, a moss lined path, miniature trees and stone blocks transformed into statues. Hundreds or thousands of years old, worn to a polished finish by generations of fingertips and soft soled shoes. These tiny shrines are admired and cared for by local residents.
On a grander scale, the Golden Palace is just beautiful. Rebuilt a few times over the centuries, re furbished and finally re plated – this gold foil covered building overlapping shore and lake is breathtaking.
Images of Hiroshima are literally burnt on the walls of history. Somewhere I had heard about it but really didn’t know anything of its reality. Someone dropped a bomb, lots of people died. That was what I knew – until I visited the modern Hiroshima, entirely rebuilt after the August 6 1945 bombing. At 8.15 in the morning “Little Boy” fell from the innards of the Enola Gay. Forty seconds later over 70,000 people were dead – most of them burnt from the face of the earth. Within a year another 70,000 had perished slowly and painfully. Over the next 30 years yet another 60,000 followed their family members to an early grave as a direct result of the bomb.
What stunned me most of all? Hiroshima and the Japanese people do not blame anyone for this massive loss of life. A plaque simply reads “in memory of all who lost their lives during those horrific times.” The Atomic Bomb Museum shows the facts, shows the results of detonating “Little Boy” and “Fat Man” over populated areas, and begs the world never to let it happen again!
Kobe has little in the way of tourist attractions but it does have a wonderful old castle within walking distance of the centre of town. That wasn’t our reason for visiting Kobe – we met Aaron there and spent the morning at a Japanese auto auction. The day we were there only 8,000 vehicles went under the electronic hammer. Some for a few hundred dollars some for many thousands – Porsche, Ferrari, Mercs and Hummers.
Miyajima is a splendid offshore island accessed by a 15 minute ferry from the mainland. As a treat we were booked into a traditional Japanese style accommodation for the one night we had there. Well over priced and well worth it. Our dinner was a 6 course adventure ride. With limited English we received an explanation of the first dish – everything that followed was a mystery…soft and squishy, hot and crispy, set in jelly or dipped in oil. I still have no idea what we ate that night, but it was all delicious. While we were there we explored the town, which rolls down the shutters at 5.30pm and abandons the streets to the wandering deer. We took a gondola ride to just below the highest point and climbed to the view point on top of the island. Descending on foot to sea level arriving back just as the sun was sinking into the water behind the floating torii gate of the Itsukushima Shrine. We snapped a few zillion photos, helping it maintain its status as Japans most photographed icon.
Osaka was a busy, bustling and Americanised city boasting as many shops below ground as above with miles of malls below most of the streets. From any entry point the shops shrank away in both directions as far as the eye could see. Above ground the covered malls and riverside walkways were crammed with locals and tourists shopping for bargains – everything was on sale, everything except internet access – the most expensive of any country we visited, expensive to the point we didn’t log in. We enjoyed finding the little nooks and crannies of Osaka that showed the Japan we really loved – moss covered shrines, water features, cobbled streets…delightful!
There are days when it all seems a dream but not a day goes by when we don’t think about one or other of our amazing memories…it truly was a trip of a lifetime. To all the people we met or met up with, old friends and new, thank you for taking the time to share our journey with us – either in person or through our blog…you were all a special part of our adventure.
