Day 7 - Yakushima

We are wiped. We are at Yakiushima Island. Tours are of forest and birdlife and we decide to take the day off.

CJ has been having a problem with a finger for about six weeks. It stiffens, recovers, and stiffens again. Today it is swollen and very stiff. We see the doctor. Here he is icing it before compression wrapping.

Carol tells someone in the staff that we are celebrating our anniversary. This is a belated anniversary trip since CJ was skiing on our 41st anniversary in August.

She tells them the wrong number. She says 47. Our bed gets decorated.

At dinner they serve a cake to the table.

Returning from dinner there is a new gift in the room. It is a puzzle. What do they serve with a hammer? We touch it and it is soft. It is shaped like the ship's igloo. Eventual we resolve to smash it.

Inside we find small treats. Better yet the cover is edible and delicious and it is covered with little triangles with Japanese writing of white chocolate.

Day 5 - Hiroshima

Not much that must be said about this day. We visit the Peace Park located below ground zero of the blast. The famous bomb ruin along with the rebuilt three road target bridge lie next to one another.

These are peace cranes. A small girl who survived the blast developed leukemia before she was ten. She passed away from it but not before making thousands of peace cranes hoping it would bring her a cure. 

Today people bring peace cranes by the thousands.

This is the statue raised in her honor. Before it a school class paying homage. Every school class in Japan must visit this place once a year.

The infamous surviving building of ground zero.

 Hiroshima is now a huge thriving city.

Day 4 - Shodoshima

SUNRISE !

We are the first foreign flagged vessel EVER to visit. The locals roll out the red carpet.

We visit a soy sauce brewery. They make a tasty soy and prove it by serving it on ice cream. We are surprised to find the tops of the ancient handmade barrels are open and there is not liquid inside but a fermenting solid.

This is the master brewer. He also handmakes the replacement barrels in the way passed down by generations.

Soy sauce on ice cream, who'd of thunk it? Surprisingly good.

There is a gondola ride which proves useless on this overcast and hazy day. We can see mountains, gorges which some elected to hike. From the top we're told we can see the ship. They call a gondola, or in the case a cable car, a "ropeway".

Day 3 - Kurashiki

Now sailing on Resolution, we find there are options to select. Today we opt for touring the preserved town of Kurashiki and its garden.

The gardens are very nice and have the added benefit of having a castle just off the grounds which adds interest to some of the photographs. A pond full of coy.

A part of the gardens from the high point.

The castle just beyond the park grounds.

Following a good Japanese lunch, it is a one block walk to Kurashiki village, a quaint timeless village of 17th Century buildings with small shops, food outlets, but as far as we can tell not the one thing we seek. We want a pub or wine bar to take refuge from the heat.

The alternative is ice cream in the shade.

The small island is appreciative of our arrival to their island. Pictures from around the port and our docking.

The locals came out just before we departed and set this display. These are those small candles.

Kobe

Shinkansen delivers us to Kobe in less than 45 minutes.

Kobe is where we meet our fellow travelers for the cruise.

The mountain beyond Kobe is lit up at night.

Himeji Castle

Before boarding Resolution, we visit Himeji Castle. This is one of the most beautiful castles in Japan. We arrive on a hot day and a national holiday Monday, bad timing.

Japanese castles are not like European castles. They are meant as symbols of power and use as a fortress. There is nothing on the interior except places for the storage of weapons and places for their use.

Regardless, Himeji is gorgeous, and the grounds and moat are gorgeous.

Kure and the Yamato Museum

Today we adventure out on our own. Not only must we catch the bullet train again, but we need to exchange tomorrow's ticket which was issued in the wrong direction, and we must take a local train which we have not done before.

We make it to Kure on the local train that stops at EVERY station.

Marvelous planning! From the train station to the museum there is an elevated and covered walkway over the city. At one point the path is through a major department store.

Across the street from the Yamato museum is the JDF museum. The submarine is part of that museum.

The Yamato 1/10 scale model is incredible. The first picture is taken from the 3rd floor. Those are people walking around the model.

The detail is amazing.

Their special exhibit is World War II Japanese aircraft carriers.

We return on the Shinkansen.