Day 11 evening - Miyajima island

Well, it's evening now and James pushed for taking a train to a bus to a ferry to go to Miyajima island.  This was the hottest day, and we weren't sure if we would make it.  But this is a once-in-a-lifetime trip, so who needs sleep.  We didn't realize but came to learn that a lot of things even in the big towns close down around 6:00 p.m. - probably because it is dark at 7:00 p.m. 
                 Well, that is about when we got there -  7:00 p.m.  Everything was shutting down.  So we got to walk a bit and observe the scenery and the famous 'floating shrine'.  When the water is up, the red shrine appears to float.  The people-friendly deer were a lot of fun.  The views of the mountains were spectacular. We wish we could have been on this island earlier and made it to the beach.  We did get good-quality local food.  Lynne was safe as usual and got beef curry (hopefully it was beef and not horse), and everyone else got noodles and oysters............
                 We then took the ferry to a bus to a train and made it back to our Kyoto hotel at midnight.

Day 11 - Hiroshima

Today we left early to take the 2-hour trip to Hiroshima (pronounced Hear - ohhh' - shee - muh). Us Americans have a couple of different ways we like to say it.  This was pretty profound.  The first picture below I don't remember seeing in any history class, but it is the only building where something survived the blast.  It was at the epicenter - the bomb exploded over it and pushed down.  So some of the core withstood the blast.  It was a government building.  It is a very eerie site. We also toured the museum, which was very crowded as it was August 9th - the anniversary of the bombing in Nagasaki.  A few days before on the 6th was the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima.  History is always fascinating.  It was a horrible thing that affected people for years!  But when you read about the history, Japan was abusing it's power on other nations.  So again seeing the futility of war and man's need to dominate one another, and the need for God to step in.

Alec's story:
While dad and I were walking from the dome building to the museum, an old man (probably about 85 years old) came up and introduced himself to us.  He basically comes every year for the anniversary, and he tells people his story.  Apparently, when he was about 16 (I think) is when the bomb hit.  He was staying with a friend who lived just outside the blast zone at the time.  His mother was at their home near where the bomb exploded, his father and little brother were out and about.  All of them died in the blast.  A day after the horrific tragedy, he returned to the city to search for his family.  He stumbled over dead bodies; everything around him was ruins.  He searched and searched, but his family was gone.  I am not sure how he survived the radiation, he must not have stayed long enough for it to affect him that badly.  His point to the story was, it is never right to drop a bomb on an entire city.  How true that is . . .

 

Monument to the children.  There is a little girl on top with an origami swan.

Flowers from the memorial celebration they had on August 6th and 9th.

This man is 85 years old and survived the Hiroshima bombing. 

He was telling Alec his story.  How cool is that? 

 

 

 

 

Day 10 - Botanical Garden and outdoor mall

Today we got a late start and couldn't fit in what we wanted to.   But we made it to the Kyoto Botanical Gardens one hour before closing. It was a bit of a bus trip there and then walking a few blocks.  Cody was the premier guide and navigator, always able to figure out which route to take and asking for help with his Japanese phrase book when necessary.

Although the weather was hot and extremely humid, we pushed through the discomfort to be outside all day.  We made it to the gardens at 3:00 and only had an hour as they closed at 4:00 p.m.  But it was worth it.  They have amazing lilly pads that have leaves at least a foot wide and flowers and leaves that grow about 5 ft out of the water. 

After leaving, we headed back toward the hotel by way of an outdoor mall. We saw these in other towns.  They seem to be down an alley but with a see through arched roof over them; they are open-ended.  They have different kinds of shops including normal clothing, etc, and eateries along with traditional things.  It was packed with people.  If you want to see a little more about it, take this link:  http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3958.html

Outdoor alley malls.

At a stand in the mall they serve the famous octopus balls (takoyaki).

Mae and Cody had them twice!

Day 9 - Old Town

On Wednesday, we left about noon and took a bus to an area not too far away that had traditional shopping.  There was a shrine at the top of the hill, and the two streets that lead to it have shopping and restaurants.  One of the streets resembles older traditional homes of Japan.  It was very quaint and interesting and fun for us to see their colorful goods.

Day 8 - Kyoto, grandpa, and beyond

On Tuesday, the 8th day of our journey, we traveled to Kyoto by bullet train to stay for the last week of our trip.  Before leaving Yokohama, however, we made last minute plans through Mae's father to meet her grandfather in a town over one hour away - not in the direction of Kyoto.  They picked a good public restaurant he could easily walk or ride his bike to and that we could find close to the train station.  Her grandfather is 85 years old and moved faster than we did. 

We got off at the station no problem and didn't even have to look for the restaurant as Mae's grandfather was waiting for us on the train platform.  He kindly bought us lunch and train tokens back to Kyoto. He spoke very good English.  Years ago he was an interpreter.  We really enjoyed talking to him and are so glad Mae could meet him for her very first time in person!

We arrived in Kyoto that evening by bullet train.  The train took us to Kyoto Station where there is shopping, bus and taxi depot, and the Hotel Granvia.  Across the common courtyard was an amazing 11-story mall with an outdoor stairway to the top.  At night, the face of the stairs lit up with words to welcome foreigners.  Here we could find shopping and restaurants and eateries.  Lynne finally found a hamburger......

View out our hotel window.  The observation needle is atop another hotel.

Walking out the hotel entrance and looking into the courtyard and then across to the mall.

Escalator and stairs up to the 11th floor of the shopping.

 

Day 4-6: Convention

Each morning, a chartered bus picked us up at 7:30.  We all had a bus assignment and a bus captain.  After about 30 minutes, we arrived at the Yokohama Arena.  We were dropped off on one side and had to walk up a flight of stairs, round a corner, then back down a flight of stairs to the front entrance. Each morning there was a line of brothers the whole way saying 'good morning', 'welcome', 'thank you for coming'.  It was quite overwhelming.  The view of the front entrance walkway and the lobby was a delight to see.  Many colorful kimonos and Korean sisters in their native dress, friends taking pictures - it was very hard to even enter the building as everyone was so anxious to meet and greet you.

Each day we met new friends.  Young ones would come up to us with gifts along with older ones.  We ended up with a garbage bag full at the end of 3 days: Chopsticks, fans, candy, crackers, origami, handkerchiefs, pretty paper and cards.  The friends were so loving and excited.  We have never felt this much enthusiasm in one place at one time.

We listened to translation on a radio.  Having already been to the convention really helped as we knew what was going on and recognized all the demonstrations.  We had the privilege of having brother Herd of the governing body as guest speaker.  When talks are translated, one sentence is said at a time, and then translated.  This, obviously, makes for less time available to the brother.  So what was unique about brother Herd's talks were that they were direct and to the point.  We loved it!

View from the landing coming from the buses.

In front of the Yokohama arean.

Sam Herd was the guest speaker.

Korean sisters.

Day 3 - Traditional Tour of Tokyo

Our tour guides today are Shota and Noa (= Now)  and Ko and Sati (abbreviated names to help us Americans out).  Both are pioneer couples.  Ko and Sati have been pioneering for over 20 years and Shota and Noa have not been married long.  We had a few other friends join our group as we toured a more historic area.

The first place we visited was fish market.  It's called Tsukiji (they pronounce the t an s together).  Here is a short article on it if you would like to learn more: 
http://www.tofugu.com/2012/12/17/the-largest-japanese-fish-market-is-closing-down/

After walking through the fish market, we stopped for lunch at one of several small sushi bars.  The sushi chefs stood in the middle of an oval bar where they would put small plates on a rotating conveyor belt. You would grab what you want and pay at the end.  They had a hand-held wand that could scan your plates and add up what you had.  Alec was in sashimi heaven!  Lynne stuck with the nigiri (cooked shrimp and rice).  No raw fish for her.....


We then went to the Welcome Center to their upper floor where there was an outside courtyard to view the city.  From there we walked across the street to a shopping area that lead to a temple.  The last thing we did was take a ferry ride down the river.  It was a nice break from walking and the heat, and a pretty view of the city.  This took us to a famous garden called Hama Rikyu.  If you would like to see a couple of pretty pictures with a little bit of info about, go here: 
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3025.html


At the garden we drank macha - green tea!  Their green tea, especially macha which is made from powder, is bitter.  We found it refreshing though.  A sister from Shota's congregation had already paid for us.  It cost $5 to have the tea and little dessert - and there were several in our group.  That was so kind!!!!  If you would like to get a glimpse of inside the tea house and the pretty confection they serve with it, watch this short Youtube video:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBlrKq8gw_Q

The weather was very hot on our whole trip - more humid than Georgia - if you can imagine that....
So we were wet and sticky all day.  The hand fans they sell and pretty handkerchiefs are not really just pretty things to sell to tourists - they really use these because of the heat.

Temple entrance at the end of the shopping path.

Waiting for our ferry.

Hama Rikyu