Shimanami Kaido

 Thursday, May 14, we went to the bicycle rental place beside Onomichi station to pick up the bikes that I had booked. There were two lines of people, one for those with reservations and one for those without. I was surprised how long the line was for people without reservations: it was the length of the shop and out the door. However the shop seemed to have enough bikes for everybody.

After getting our bikes it was a short ride to the ferry to Mukaishima Island, and we started the ride. Finding our way was quite easy as there was a blue line painted on the side of the road or on the path. So just follow the blue line.

We went through town and along a road by the water, and then up a steep hill on a dedicated bike path to the first bridge.

The next island was Innoshima, and we road mostly along the road and up a hill in the middle of the island. 

The whole area from Onomichi to the Shikoku side is known for growing citrus fruits: lemons and mikans. So, outside the towns the air was full of the scent of the lemon and orange blossoms. Some orchards had fully grown fruit.

Another steep hill up a bike path to the next bridge, and over to Ikuchijima island. From there it was an easy ride along the water to the town of Setoda, where we spent the night. From Onomichi to Setoda was about 30km.

Setoda is a nice little town on the water with a port, a shopping street, quaint hotels, and several temples. 

We were there during the week so it was very quiet and a lot of the shops were closed. Apparently most people come on the weekends. Kane said the same thing about Onomichi.

Everything had to do with lemons: lemonade, lemon in the ramen, etc. There is a tourist information center that celebrates the 'lemon-ness'.

We had dinner at a great, family run restaurant that served seafood ramen.

The next day we had coffee and a lemon muffin in a cafe in a hotel, and started riding. Just out of town, though, Celene had a flat tire. There was just enough air in it to ride so we made it back to town and asked around for where we could get the tired fixed. It turns out the tourist information centre also has a location of the bicycle rental company, and all we had to do was go there and swap the bike for another one. What a relief! So well organized.

Back on the road, we continued past Setoda Sunset Beach, and the up hill through more lemon trees with their wonderful scent, to the Tatara bridge to Omishima island. Amazing view from the bridge.

There was a rest stop at the other side of the bridge, and after a brief stop we continued along the water on to the Omishima bridge to Hakatajima island.

A short ride through an industrial town on Hakatajima and to the bridge to Oshima island. Once on Oshima, it was a beautiful ride along the water with views of smaller islands, some had ruins on them.

The road turned to cut across the island for a hilly ride until it dropped down to a large rest area before crossing the long bridge to Imabari on Shikoku. 

It was quite hot and sunny and didn't realize how much sun I was getting. I had put sunscreen on in the morning but by late afternoon I was pretty sunburnt.

We crossed the Kurushima Kaikyo bridge and then it was mostly downhill to Imabari station where we returned the bikes. We had ridden about 40km that day. With the late start in the morning, and the slow going with the heat and the hills, it was after 4pm by the time we got to the station.

The hotel was a short walk away, and it had a much appreciated public bath to soak in. Afterward we found a little ramen place that served the local speciality - a fish called seabream. We had seabream ramen and a local dish that was a bowl of rice with seabream mixed in.

The Shimanami Kaido was actually a harder ride than I expected. We were very tired and went to bed early.

Onomichi

Tuesday, May 12, was a travel day, from Tokyo to Onomichi near Hiroshima. Onomichi is the start of the Shimanami Kaido, a 70 km cycling route from Honshu to Shikoku, going over several islands along the way. 

It was a long day, almost 5 hours by train. But I wanted to do the Shimanami Kaido first, while the weather was good since the rainy season starts in June.

I happen to know someone from Vancouver who lives in Onomichi. Kane was in one of my Japanese classes in the Vancouver Japanese Language School. I contacted him and we arranged to meet for dinner.

He showed us around Onomichi a bit: the main  shopping street and some of the restaurants he liked. 

The next day Celene and I did part of the temple walk. Its a path through the residential area on the side of the hill overlooking Onomichi, that connects 25 very old temples. 

At one of them a nice guide opened the doors for us to have a look inside while he explained what was there. 

Rather than walk the whole way, or climb to the top of the hill where there is a large temple complex, we took the cablecar. The views from the top were amazing.

We also walked down a bit to Senkoji temple.

There were several little areas selling charms and with places to sit and enjoy the view.

After going down the cablecar, Celene explored the shopping street, and went back to the hotel for a nap. Then I did a sketch of the view from beside the hotel.

For dinner we found a funky little place in the shopping  street called Coyote Cafe. The owner's passion was photography, and the walls were covered with his photographs and shelves of art magazines.

2nd day in Tokyo - teamLab Planets

After the busy day yesterday, we only did a few things today. On the way to Tokyo station we walked through Akasaka, and stopped at the Harry Potter store.

At Tokyo train station I picked up the tickets I'd bought online for going to Onomichi in a couple of days. While at the station we saw the 'Character street' full of anime-like shops, and the 'Ramen street'  in the basement level. We also checked out the 'Gourmet street' on the 2nd floor and decided to come back for dinner.

Today we had tickets for teamLab Planets, an immersion audio-visual experience in a huge facility in the newer part of Tokyo on reclaimed land, several train stops east of Tokyo station.

TeamLab Planets was divided into sections called Forest, Garden, and Water. The creativity and the scale of the experiences was mind-blowing. 

The Forest section had interactive projections on the walls, and activities like walking on bubbles of light and 'catching' projections of animals using an app on your phone.

The most impressive part of the Garden section was a room full of hanging, live orchids. 

My favourite section was water. You actually took off your shoes and rolled up your pants to we in water, that somehow had projection on it that looked like fish swimming in it.

There was also an amazing room of long, hanging crystals of light with mirrors on all sides.

After teamLab Planets we went back to the station to have dinner at a place in the Gourmet street. Then back to the hotel for an early night.

Japan 2026 trip - arrival in Tokyo

About a year after my last trip to Japan, I'm going again. This time for almost two and a half months. Celene will be with me for the first 3 weeks. It's her first time in Japan so it will fun to show her what I know and see it through her eyes.

We arrived in Tokyo in the late afternoon on  Saturday, May 9, very tired from the flight. We made it to the hotel near the Akasaka area, went straight to bed and slept for several hours.

With jetlag we were both up by about 4am, and the sun was rising, so we went for a walk along the moat of the Imperial Palace. It was very nice to see central Tokyo so quiet, and we had the area to ourselves except for a few early morning joggers. We made is far as the south end of the palace garden, and then to Hibuya park with its beautiful rose garden, before heading back to the hotel.

We had breakfast, took a nap, then headed out again. Our first stop was Takeshita street in Harajuku.

As I expected, Celene loved the quirky shops, puppy cafes, and seeing all the young people in their fashions. It was crowded but we found a quiet cafe down a sidestreet for a break.

The next stop was the Meiji Jingu shrine, a short walk from Harajuku. It was Celenes first visit to a shrine, and she wrote on one of those wooden offerings to hang there.

While we were at the shrine a wedding procession was taking place, which for a prominent shrine like Meiji Jinggu I assume is a rare event.

We'd already done a lot of walking, so we decided to head back to the hotel for another nap.

Afterward we went to Shinjuku and the Omoideyokocho, a couple of very narrow walkways full of small old places selling grilled meat on skewers. Like going back in time. We went to a couple of them for dinner. Then we headed over to Golden Gai, about a kilometer way. We passed through the shopping area with the big Godzilla head poking over a building. Celene was amazed by the life and the variety of things to see in Tokyo.

Golden Gai consists of a few narrow walkways full of tiny bars, most of them fit less than half a dozen people. We went into one where the owner loved music from the 70s and 80s. There were a couple of people there when we arrived. One was a real character of an elderly Japanese man, and young Japanse guy. From what I could follow of the conversation it was mostly about music. A young British woman entered and Celene talked with her while I tried to join the Japanese conversation with the others.

By about 9pm or so we left for the hotel. A very long and busy day for our first day in Tokyo.

Tokyo, on the way home

 Tuesday, June 3, was a long travel day. I got up quite early and drove to Kumamoto in time to return the car by about 9am. I was a couple hours early, but I was able to change my train tickets to earlier times. First was the 40 minute ride from Kumamoto to Fukuoka, then the 5 hour ride to Tokyo. I spent the time reading and dozing, so it went by pretty fast. I checked into the hotel near Haneda Airport before 6pm. I had eaten sandwiches on the train, but there was a little bar beside the lobby so I had a beer and read some more before going to bed.

Wednesday I woke up early, about 6am, and went down to the hotel restaurant where a great buffet breakfast was included. After breakfast I took a nap and a bit of a walk. Then I took the train to Shibuya, the very popular shopping area. I was there when I was in Tokyo before but was pouring rain and I got totally lost.

This day was sunny and I spent time walking around to familiarize myself the area. The density and hustle and bustle of the area was still overwhelming  but I saw some interesting shops and an art gallery. There are lots and lots of restaurants.

I found another one of those capsule toy stores I first saw in Fukuoka. They are all the rage with young people in Japan right now. There are rows of machines, each with a certain theme like a TV show. You put in a few 100 yen (a few dollars), and you randomly get one of the clear plastic spheres with the little toy inside.

Overlooking the famous Shibuya scramble are skyscrapers where part of the side has been turned into a giant TV screen.

There is a famous story in Japan from the early 1900s about a dog named Hachiko. He met his owner, a professor, at the train station every day after work. One day the professor died in an accident, but Hachiko kept going to the station every day for the rest of his life. The story captured the hearts of everyone, and there is a statue of Hachiko beside Shibuya station. However every time I've been in Tokyo, for over 10 years, there has been a construction fence around the square so I assumed I couldn't see the statue. But this time I discovered a nook in the fence where the statue was. There a long line of people waiting to get their picture taken with it. Between people I managed to get a picture of the statue itself.

Next I decided to go back to the T.Y. Harbour area. Again I was there the last time I was in Tokyo but it was pouring rain. It is a nice area with canals and parks and walkways, and it is a quiet break from the bustle of Shibuya. I stopped for a beer again at the brewery there.

From there I took the monorail back to the area of my hotel. It passes through a kind of desolate area of office and apartment buildings. Kind of like a 1960's vision of the future that didn't quite work out.

At the hotel I ended up talking  with people at the bar until quite late.

On Thursday my flight was not until 10pm, so I arranged for a late check-out and tried to nap as much as I could. Still got to the airport quite early. Lots of time to read.

At the airport, in the large hallway along the departure lounges, there was this automated chair that went along for anyone to use.

Around Aso

 On Saturday, May 31, I checked out of the hotel and took the train to Kumamoto, a medium sized city less than an hour by high speed train south of Fukuoka. 

At Kumamoto I picked up the rental car. I was very nervous, this being my first time driving in Japan, and on the other side of the road. Also, I am not used to the new cars so when I got in, I didn't know how anything worked. They guy from the rental agency was very patient, and hooked up the Google Maps on my phone to the car's navigation system.

Actually driving on the other side of the road was easy to get used to. The hard part was the fact that the driver's seat is on the right side of the car instead of the left. At first I kept driving way to far in the left of my lane. Then I realized that I was trying to keep my point of view of the lane the same as what I was used to, instead of what it is when seated on the right. Once I realized what I was doing, it got better.

Navigating through the city was very difficult. The roads often take slight bends so I would turn when I wasn't supposed to, or not turn when I should have. The navigation kept saying "re-routing". Even a city like Kumamoto seemed to go forever, but eventually I was on country roads and it got easier.

I reached my hotel about 1pm, too soon to check in, so I drove straight up to Mt. Aso. There is one parking lot with restaurants and the Mt. Aso museum, in front of the green dome of  the highest peak of Mt. Aso, called Takadake. Here is a picture of Takadake. from my hotel.

From the first parking lot there are hiking trails and walks along the base of the mountain. From there you get views of the next highest peak, Nakadake, which has the active volcanic crater in front of it.

Driving a few more minutes takes you to the road that goes up to the crater. Because the gas from the crater is quite toxic and acidic, the entrance is carefully controlled depending on the gaseous activity and the wind. I drove up to the parking lot next to the crater area. At first the walkway to the crater itself was closed, but it opened soon after I arrived. The walkway looks kind of surreal with these concrete shelters that I guess are used when the wind changes.

I went along with everyone to the carter's edge, but I found the gas to still be quite strong. My eyes and throat got a bit sore and a lot of people were coughing, so I only stayed long enough to take a couple of pictures.

A few minutes walk from the crater area is a large flat area of black volcanic sand. There are hiking trails here that go up to the peaks.

I went back to the hotel and checked in, and walked around. It is an interesting area, inside one of the world's largest calderas - basically the remains of a huge, ancient volcano that collapsed in on itself. The result is a flat, agricultural basin full of fields and rice paddings surrounded by a ring of hills, with Mt. Aso to one side.

It was already near dusk when I was walking, and by a field I saw a Japanese racoon-dog, or Tanuki.

 The town of Aso is very small and there are few restaurants, even fewer that are open late.  The hotel has a nice common area with a microwave and coffee and tea. There is a grocery store beside the hotel and several people were preparing food. By then the store was closed, so I drove for a while to find a restaurant.

On Sunday, June 1, I drove to Takachiho Gorge, in Miyazaki Prefecture about 2 hours south of Aso. The drive was beautiful, going over the mountainous side of the caldera, over to the next valley. Winding through the green hills with views of fields and mountains.

Takashi Gorge is a popular tourist attraction, and it is about a 15 minute walk along the gorge one way from the parking lot. It was a sunny day so the views of the blue water of the gorge were amazing. 

Afterwards I drove back to Aso, and then to a to a public bath in a little onsen town about 6 km north of Aso called Uchinomaki.

On Monday, June 2, I got up early and drove to the famous Kurokawa Onsen town about an hour north of Aso. It was cloudy and the forecast was for a lot of rain later in the day.

Again the drive was very interesting, winding up the hills of the caldera, with views of the fields in the basin below.

Once on top of the edge of the caldera the landscape was rolling green hills. It is all part of Aso-Kuju National Park.

Kurokawa Onsen has about 30 ryokan, or Japanese inns, that have onsen, or hotsprings, inside them. At the information center you can buy a pass that gets you into any 3 onsen. In the town there are a couple of cafes and restaurants and shops selling local specialties. The town is on a steep slope beside the river, and the onsen are kind of spread out, so there is a fair amount of walking.

I spent the morning there. After a coffee I went to a couple of onsen. Then had lunch and went to the third. At first, when it was still quite early, things were just opening up. At the first onsen I was the only one there so I took a picture.

Then I drove back to the hotel. It started raining so I stayed inside to read, and pack for the travel day the next day.

Last week at school in Fukuoka

 On Monday, May 26,  I found out about a craft beer festival in Fukuoka, and in the evening I went to check it out. It was near the lively Akasaka region. It seemed a bit strange, but it was inside a plain empty room on the 2nd floor overlooking the lobby of a normal office building. When I got there, there was a line-up to get in, but it moved quickly. About 100 people. For about $40 you got some snacks and a cup. There were a dozen or so stalls a different craft beers from Kyushu and other parts of Japan.

I was the only non-Japanese person there. The fun thing was that after everyone had a few beers they were talkative and I got to practice more Japanese.

Tuesday was the first day of a calligraphy exhibit at the Art Museum. My teacher in Kyoto had told me about it and I went to see it. Over 100 pieces in this annual exhibition of selected works from around Japan. It was interesting to see not just the different calligraphy styles, but also the creative use of different sized characters on the same work, or unusual placement on the paper, or characters drawn in such a way that they resembled pictures of something.

On Wednesday I went for another run in Ohori Park.

On Thursday, May 29, the school organized a conversation group with local Japanese.

Friday was the last day at the school. For those leaving that week, there is a 'graduation ceremony' where we get a certificate and say a little speech. It must a bit strange for the teachers, every week saying goodbye to some of the people you've been having classes with for 3 hours every day.

When some people of a class are leaving that week, we take a picture of the class. Here is one from a couple of weeks ago, and one from this week.

After the graduation ceremony, a couple of us went for lunch. Then I just went back to the hotel to start packing, then out for a beer and dinner.