We travel from Hokkaido onto Honshu, which is where most people think of when, I think, they think of Japan. It’s the main island. Or, at the very least, the most populated. They say there’s around 110 million people that live here, over 80% of the total of Japan’s population.
So, slightly larger than Britain but with almost double the population.
Gulp!
I’m really not big on crowds and, I must say, it does take me a while to acclimatize to it all. Granted, we landed here when we arrived in Japan, but after a night’s sleep we got the train out so I really didn’t have to get my head around it.
The locals, of course, they’re used to it. Ade is used to it too.
We base ourselves in Kyoto, which used to be Japan’s capitol city, back in 794 ad (for 11 centuries, fact fans!). Mary’s with us for a few days and she fills us full to the brim with trivia.
Like....the whole city was designed, feng shui style. That the city has been designated a World Heritage Site. There’s Buddhist Temples and shrines all over the place, likewise palaces and gardens. There’s so many you can easily trip up over them.
It’s a total sensory overload. You feel the history. The tradition. The care.
And...the weather? It hovers around 5 degrees for most of our time.
So, 4 days here just checking out the local area, then there’s trek’s (2 days) in Tokyo , we check out Mount Fuji, then Osaka and then Hiroshima.
Beauty all around, and heartache. Obviously Hiroshima is the site of the first atomic bomb, back on the 6th August 1945, and they have such a...I’m going to say thoughtful and respectful...Memorial Park.
Mount Fuji? All 12,388 feet of her stands prominent in Honshu. It’s a volcano, not a mountain, but has been inactive back in 1707/1708, so it’s been a while.
Osaka? All I knew of Osaka was my dad told me that some of Deep Purple’s ‘Made In Japan’ album was recorded there. Random, I know! Ade was impressed with that knowledge! Lol!
What I do know, having experienced it, was that it’s very multicultural and, apparently, one of the major financial sectors of Japan.
Food has been amazing. Coffee quite cheap, from vending machines, the accommodation has been wonderfully clean and the travel....think we’ve been spoilt forever now!
Onto Shikoku....and beyond! Tokyo? We will be back!
It is good to see an unusual view of Mt. Fuji. I think most of us wouldl ne familiar with the "trade-mark" one of taken from some miles away. I must admit though I am bit surprised by that street being so cluttered with overhead wires. I'd have thought Japan one country that puts its urban electricity supplies and telephone lines underground as much as possible.
That nocturnal scene, in the narrow street of what look as if bars or restaurants, is very atmospheric.
It is always worth seeing all these other countries, even if like me, we have to settle for others' photographs.
Regarding the Hiroshima Memorial Park, may it make no-one ever forget.
Really is like stepping into another world 🌍.. Looks amazing,and sounds an incredible trip Take some adjustment going back to work too I bet..but also nice to get back to reality!!!!
@HotPizza71 It was...it is...it was too much to take in, particularly Osaka and Tokyo, the first time...gave me a bit of a near-on panic attack but...spoiler alert...we do spend some time back there...in Pt 4! Lol!
