Raining and raining...
that was our welcome in Japan. June is the raining season in Japan…but luckily it is warm and in between some days are sunny. Due to the rain we slow down our journey speed in Fukuoka and relaxed.
On a sunny day we visited the old fort at the Maizuru Park and a Japanese garden which is also located at same area. We also activated our Japan rail pass and I had to translate my driving licence into Japanese at a local branch of the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF). Those who plan to drive a car in Japan and has a German or Swiss driving licence, you might need to let it translated into Japanese at a state approved organisation, although you already have an international driving licence.
And what to do on a rainy day in Fukuoka? Well, we went to downtown Tenjin, there is an underground shopping street where you can have a walk, somehow all the shopping malls are connected via the underground passage.
And on a rainy day one can go to an owl café, yep, an owl café… They have around 20 owls of different species. You book a whole hour and get a drink during the education before you have contact with the owls. The amount of visitors are limited to max. 8 persons. The owls were all born in captivity and get their flying exercise every day, at least that’s the information I get from the keeper. Their wings are not cut, there are boxes where the owls have their rest period and won´t be disturbed. During your visit you can hold the owls in your hand and can gently stroke them at the back or head. Well, of course it´s not their natural behaviour, but somehow I didn´t have the feeling that they are stressed or felt uncomfortable, they looked really healthy and vigorous. Somehow crazy what you can find in Japan…I´ve never been so close to an owl, they are really a beautiful and fascinating.
After the 3 nights in Fukuoka we continued our journey to Hiroshima. There we stayed only 1 night and luckily the weather was nice. After we arrived, we went to see 2 UNESCO world cultural heritages. The first stop was at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome). It is really difficult to imagine that an Atomic bomb exploded directly above the dome approximately 70 years ago and killed 200000 humans within seconds...a really sinking feeling creeps over you…
After we visited the Peace Memorial we went to the island Miyajima with the ferry to see the Itsukushima shrine and the temple area. I recommend to visit the island in the later hour to avoid the huge tourist run. Immediately when you get out of the harbour building, some deer already welcoming you, they are get used to humans. The lovely house alleys and small water courses at the island are really idyllic. The temples and pagoda, surrounded by the small mountains and forest make this place really special.
The next day we took the train to Osaka. The train was the unique Japanese fast train called Shinkansen, ours was the type Sakura. For a distance of 342km this train needs only 1.5hrs. including some stops at some stations. Very punctual and fast, it was unbelievably smooth inside the train, what a cool experience ;-)
Culinary Japan has at least as many to offer as Korea, if not even more, delicious food in all variants, the Mecca for Mery J Details under Merys food corner.
Enjoy watching the pictures and we will keep you up to date, then from Osaka.