Beppu & Hiroshima

We spent two night at Emiko's place in Beppu, and unfortunately it was constantly raining. We still managed to see a few sights, and got some much needed rest and relaxation.

Emiko making sauce for our katsu lunch

Beppu is famous for its geothermal activity. There are a lot of hot springs, some of which you can swim in and some of which are just for looking at. We visited Chinoike Jigoku (blood pond hell), which has a murky red color. We also tried some local pudding that is cooked using hot spring water and topped with a bitter caramel sauce.

Rainy day at blood pond hell

Pudding steamed in the geothermal vents.  David hated it.

After relaxing at Emiko's place for a bit with hot cocoa, we joined some of her co-workers for a conveyor belt sushi dinner. You could order from a screen, and a tiny bullet train brought the sushi to your table! After dinner we did a few hours of karaoke and tried a few new drinks, including various flavors of chuhai.

All aboard the sushi express!

Our karaoke room

Obviously we did Livin on a Prayer

The next day we slept in, then drove to Hiroshima. We didn't get to our hostel until it was dark, but we walked around and saw the peace park at night before eating at a four-story okonimoyaki building and seeing Hiroshima Castle.

Leaving Beppu... the rain finally stopped!

We didn't try this...despite being cheese lovers.

Floor futons!  We managed to fit three people in this room.  It was like camping!

Okonimoyaki, our first meal in Hiroshima, is like a mix between an omelet and a pancake.  Different regions of Japan prepare this dish in different, competing ways.  Each region claims it makes the best version!  Hiroshima style is special because it has noodles inside.  At the okonimoyaki complex there are a couple dozen okonimoyaki stalls to choose from.  The one we selected was just based on who had room to seat us.  Most of the places served a similar style of okonimoyaki, with only subtle differences.  The guy that made ours inherited the business from his father and is passing it on to his son who now works there also.

Our master chef starting the batter.  He was impressed with how we ate it like Japanese people.

The finished product...delicious okonimoyaki

Hiroshima Castle

A-Bomb Dome in Hiroshima.  The Hypocenter of the bombing

The next day we woke up early and went to the Hiroshima Peace Museum and the Atomic Bomb Victim Remembrance Hall.  This museum is dedicated to educating the world about the atrocities of nuclear war.  There were numerous exhibits explaining Hiroshima's history, the Japanese aggression in the Pacific, the physics of nuclear weapons, etc.  Overall, the exhibits seemed pretty objective and many of them were quite sad.  The Remembrance Hall had a multimedia testimonial room where you could literally spend days hearing survivors recount the horrors they had seen.  It felt a bit weird being an American at this museum, but time heals all wounds and no one gave us a second glance.

Paper Cranes at the base of the statue of a teacher carrying a dying student at the Peace Museum

A-Bomb Dome

From the museum, we decided to go to Miyajima island, the site of the UNESCO-listed Itsukushima Shrine, one of Japan's many Shinto shrines. Traffic getting to the ferry was horrible, and the island itself was completely packed with tourists.  A beautiful sunny weekend day along with the start of a fall leaf-viewing festival on the island and brought people out in droves. Itsukushima Shrine is well known as one of the three great sites of Japan, and an iconic representation of the island nation.  When the tide is out, you can walk all the way to the shrine's torii (wooden gate that serves as an entrance to a sacred space in Shintoism).  When the tide is in, it completely engulfs the torii and the nearby shrine is surrounded by water.  We came as the tide was moving back in, and it was still between the torii and the shrine.

On Miyajima Island with the torii in the distance

Itsukushima Shrine Torii

Itsukushima Shrine Torii

Itsukushima Shrine

Pagoda on Miyajima Island

On the island, there are herds of roaming deer that, while not domesticated, have no fear of humans and are like large house cats.  They follow people around begging for food and are pretty capable of sneaking up behind you and stealing your ice cream, as Paul nearly learned the hard way!  The island is also known for a snack called momiji manju.  These treats are little cakes filled with different creams, beans, or pastes.  David got a cream cheese filled one that tasted just like cheesecake, a pleasant surprise in the land that dairy forgot.

Friendly!

Trying to steal Paul's Calpis-flavored ice cream! ...still cute.

It was windy and cold on the ferry back to the car!  Poor Emiko!

From Miyajima Island, we began the long drive to Kyoto, where we'll spend two days before visiting Osaka and finally Tokyo.  We arrived at Kyoto after dark and found dinner at an Italian restaurant (don't judge, how many days can you honestly go without looking for something with tomato sauce and cheese!?).  Overall, the food wasn't great, but Paul got an interesting surprise...

They called this a calzone.