It was another early start in Hiroshima as we pulled into Hiroshima Station at 6am. Knowing it was too early to even store our bags at our guesthouse we looked for the nearest Starbucks to satiate our caffeine cravings. Unfortunately for us the Starbucks wasn’t due to open till 7am (second time in Japan this had been an issue) so it was a whole hour of standing around before we could even find somewhere to sit down. We surfed the net and caffeinated for an hour before setting out on the 3km walk to our guesthouse. For 2 people who have always claimed not to be hikers we were getting pretty good at walking with our packs in ever increasingly large increments. Lucky for us our guesthouse, Casa Viento (¥4170/$50.55 AUD/38.10 USD per night for a studio apartment) were willing to store our bags for the day (we were staying in an apartment so we weren’t sure this would be the case) and at 8.30am they opened the doors with big smiles and let us know that we could check in earlier and they’d put our bags in our room for us as soon as the room was clean and ready. This still left us with quite a few hours so we headed into the centre of Hiroshima to start exploring. We saw the Atomic Bomb Dome from a mile away in such a stark contrast to the modern skyline that surrounded it. Interestingly though, there was a real sense of peace in the air and the dome was framed across the river by branches of cherry blossoms just starting to bloom. Hiroshima is a city I have felt I needed to visit since I read a book called Hiroshima No Pika when I was a kid. It was a children’s picture book about what happened on August 6th 1945 and the story has stuck with me my whole life. Arriving at the Peace Park and seeing the dome it brings a sense of reality to what happened but also the beauty of the memorial and the real sense of forgiveness you get. The Peace Park has a number of things to check out from the incredibly moving museum (I’m not going to lie I shed more than a few tears), the cenotaph dedicated to the victims, the peace bell, the children’s monument where people donate thousands of paper cranes and the hall of remembrance. Despite being knackered we didn’t leave the Peace Park until 3pm after having walked for hours. We probably could have stayed longer but our weary legs wouldn’t carry us and we stumbled back to our apartment. The next morning we decided to head back to the centre of town and because it was a Sunday we thought we’d check out the once weekly samurai show on at Hiroshima Castle. The grounds of Hiroshima Castle are free and on Sundays at 1pm and 3pm there is the most entertaining (in one of those 90’s romcom kind of ways) free performance which is somewhere between samurai/ninjas meets the Backstreet Boys. Totally worth it, if not only to check out the groupies who know all the words and actions to the songs. The grounds of this castle are really pretty and would be a nice spot for a picnic. We were also lucky enough to be there just as the cherry blossoms were really starting to bloom and even as two people who aren’t that into flowers, we were starting to understand the giddiness of all the Japanese people around us when walking under all the sakura suddenly bursting into life. It really is a beautiful sight that does feel just a little bit magical. Hiroshima was quickly becoming our favourite city in Japan. It’s strange the feeling of peace you get there. I think Dani and I were kind of expecting a very sad and dark vibe due to the nature of what happened there. We had been to Auschwitz a few years prior and there is a feeling of despair in the air there and we both thought Hiroshima would perpetuate but it was completely different. Contrary to the despair of Auschwitz there was a feeling of hope, peacefulness and tranquillity that abounded throughout the city. Our final full day it was time to check out Miyajima Island, which involved a tram to the ferry and then ferry to the island. Worth noting is that you can get a tram+ferry pass for the day which costs ¥820 ($10 AUD/7.50 USD) and gives you unlimited tram rides as well as a return ticket on the ferry. If you already have a JR pass though there is a train to the ferry terminal and a JR ferry you can catch all included in the price of the pass. There is plenty to do on Miyajima but the major attraction is the Itsukushima Shrine and its Inari gate. You don’t have to enter the shrine to see the gate but it is best to time your visit with the tide being in so that the gate appears to be floating on water (tide times can be got beforehand on the internet to ensure you’re there at the best point). While there, you can also check out the world’s largest rice spoon, which is worth a funny picture. Apart from this Miyajima is just pretty to walk around. It has a traditional setting although all the shops now sell generic souvenirs and there are good snacks to try as well. I’d say you only need to spend half a day on Miyajima unless you’re going to go up the mountain which you can either walk or take the cable car up. The weather the day we went wasn’t great, so we chose to give this a miss. We were sad to be leaving Hiroshima, as despite it being true about there not being a lot to do it had really captured us with its vibe and we could have easily just hung out there for a few more days. At this stage we were leaving Honshu and were going to be entering Kyushu, known for its thermal and volcanic activity. I hadn’t been able to find any information online about buses from Hiroshima to Fukuoka but it turns out it was really easy to get from one to the other. It cost ¥4150 ($50.65 AUD/38.15 USD) to get to Fukuoka’s Hakata Station from Hiroshima and was completely direct. It was here we checked into one of the worst hostels we’ve ever stayed in anywhere in the world. We are fairly tolerant when it comes to basic cheap accommodation (we once had to choose between proper flooring and window with panes of glass in Ecuador and in hindsight flooring should really be more of a priority) but in a country that prides itself on cleanliness, when is it ok to not change sheets between guests and just lint roll them instead..?! I am not kidding and the worst thing is we had already slept in someone/many someone elses skin cells and sweat for a night before we discovered this. Not only this, but some of the people we were sharing the dorm with had some of the worst hygiene habits of almost any people we’d ever encountered! I woke up to find a used sanitary napkin stuck above my head from the girl in the bunk beside me…I wish I was joking about this! We made the decision that we were too old for dorms now and after seeing out the dorm reservation we had made for a few weeks time, from that point on we were paying the extra for privacy and the guarantee of only each others questionable hygiene levels. Fukuoka itself is a strange city. It doesn’t have a lot to offer tourists but it can be used as a good base to see other things around the island. We hadn’t really done our research properly though because we had decided to use it for day trips to Kumamoto and Aso or Kagoshima. However, Kumamoto castle was heavily damaged in an earthquake in 2016 and Aso and Kagoshima were currently erupting in a way that made them a little too dangerous to visit (not if you were in Nicaragua). This meant we had a few days to enjoy the cherry blossoms, eat as much Matsuya as we could handle as we were about to loose it and chill out. We did find one day trip that we think was highly worth it and that was the trip to Yanagawa and Dazaifu that you can get a package for ¥2930 ($35.75 AUD/26.95 USD) which is transport on the train, shuttle to the boat trips and a boat trip around Yanagawa as well as vouchers for discounts on local delicacies. Dazaifu turned out to be our favourite location on this pass and it was only really a side thought to our Yanagawa trip. Dazaifu is a pretty little town with some beautiful temples and shrines to wander around. If you find yourself in Fukuoka needing something to do even if you don’t want to go on the Yanagawa boat trip through the canals I would recommend a trip to Dazaifu which isn’t far on the train. The other thing to do in Fukuoka is the Asahi Beer Factory tour, which like the Kirin Tour we did in Yokohama is free. In this free tour you also get 3 glasses of beer to try and in the spirit of responsible drinking (the tour guide actually said this) you have to down these glasses in 20 minutes. It is a great way to get a little merry while drinking some great beer for free in Japan. Grateful to be leaving behind the awful dorm we jumped on our bus to our last destination in mainland Japan. Nagasaki is a short journey away on the bus (¥4115/$50.20 AUD/37.85 USD return to Fukuoka) and curious about the city that was hit by the second atomic bomb we decided this would be a good stop. Nagasaki is a strange little place. Set in a valley a thin strip of city winds its way through the hills. We had found another AirBnB close to the Nagasaki Peace Park, which is worth checking out. The museum here is also incredibly touching and very well thought out. Other than these things there isn’t really a lot to do so we spent our time eating great food and drinking good Japanese beer (we’d highly recommend Asahi Clear as a cheaper delicious alternative to Asahi Dry). We had a flight to catch from Fukuoka to Okinawa and lucky for us there is actually a bus from Nagasaki to Fukuoka airport. Okinawa is a very different part of Japan. We came in quite late and settled into our Hostel Inn Grace Naha ($44.70 AUD/33.70 USD/¥3685). We had booked 2 nights in the centre of town due to our late arrival and then 5 nights in an AirBnB further out. Deciding to make the most of our one full day in the centre we walked the main strip, which is sadly full of tourist shops each almost identical to the next. In saying that Okinawa doesn’t really feel like Japan. It may be all the Americans, it may be the tropical climate, I’m not really sure what it is but it feels different. It is also the poorest district in Japan and that shows in the level of how run down it is. Again though before booking we hadn’t done enough research into Okinawa and on the ground we were faced with a very expensive decision. The reason one goes to Okinawa is to visit the surrounding islands which really do look like tropical paradise however as the accommodation on those islands had been so expensive we had decided to day trip it instead. The problem came when we were on Okinawa itself and discovered just how expensive the ferries to the islands are. They aren’t really worth it if you’re only doing a day trip, but to stay is so expensive…it was a catch 22 we weren’t really ready for having booked to stay for a week. Having seen just about all Naha had to offer we were starting to wonder if we had made a very expensive mistake by coming here. It turns out that there are places to go they are just not that easy to get to. I think to really experience the best of Okinawa you need to have the money to do it and it really isn’t a backpacker destination. We did find some reasonably priced snorkelling trips to the islands but unfortunately for us they cancelled our trip and it was on our last day there so we can’t tell you if they’re worth it but it is definitely an option. We also took a bus to American Village and Sunset Beach, which is probably the closest pretty beach to Naha itself. American Village is a little strange but it has a cool ferris wheel on the top of the mall that gives you some pretty views and there are some fun shops to wander around.
We also booked to do a cooking class with Taste of Okinawa (price), which was wonderful as we were able to learn a bit about the difference in culture between the mainland and this little group of islands and how that impacted the food. Okinawa has it’s own vibe and is quite different to mainland Japan I’m not sure it’s as Taiwanese as people say it is either. All in all we’re glad we went as it certainly gave us a wider view of the range of things on offer in Japan. It was time to say goodbye to Japan after 6 amazing weeks of wonderful and weird. From snow-capped mountains to tropical islands Japan has it all. I can’t say we loved every minute because traveling Japan on a budget can be hard work but it was always worth it. Japan is a fantastic country full of weird and wonderful surprises, ultra modern cities and ancient temples. Coupled with a wonderful cuisine Japan has it all. Best of all it is accessible on a budget as long as you are willing to work for it.
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