Back in England!

Hello and thank you to anyone who is still checking my blog!

I am now back in England so I have finished my blog on my time in Japan.

Thanks to everyone for checking my new posts all the time!

Matane!

The A-bomb blast dome

On an overcast Sunday afternoon we headed first to the famous site of the Atomic bomb detonation. The epicentre monument is actually nothing more than a sign but less than a hundrend metres away is the blast dome which survived due to its proximity to the centre of the blast.

Peace Park statues

The top two images are of a memorial for a girl who died of cancer caused by radiation aged 10. Before she died she attemped to make a thousand origami paper cranes which she believed would grant her wish to live. She only managed near to 700 but her efforts now inspire children to send in origami cranes from the world over.

Museum

The museum near the A-bomb dome contained many sad, touching and inspiring artifacts. This watch was found stopped at the exact time of the blast. Beside the actual watch was this tragic Haiku.

Downpour outside the museum

After visiting the museum near the peace park, the heavens opened.

Cool shopping centre sculpture

A pidgeon crosses the moat to invade Carp Castle

Carp Castle

Hiroshima's Carp Castle was wiped out in the atomic blast but has been rebuilt as a museum. A samurai clothing section lets you play at being samurai in (very heavy) replica armour.

On the ferry to Miyajima Island!

Deer on Miyajima

One of the most appealing things about Miyajima island is the friendly and completley free roaming deer that populate the island and seem to get everywhere, from the beaches to the streets to the top of the highest mountain!

Giant rice spoon!

Miyajima island is famous for its rice serving spoons.

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Itsukushima's 'torri' gate at high tide

Two views from within the Itsukushima Shrine

The Itsukushima Shrine is one of the few remaining structures not devastated when the bomb hit Hiroshima. At high tide the ocean comes in under the shrine.

A close encounter with the Itsukushima Shrine

It was great to get so close to this giant arch. The people in the picture directly above are attempting to throw pebbles onto the lower rung of the arch. Doing this succesfully means your wish will come true (luckily I mangaged it after a few goes).

A return visit to the A-bomb dome

This return visit was somewhat sunnier than the original. What had seemed a slightly depressing monument upon it's first viewing became much more hope inspiring when viewed literally in a different(much sunnier) light.

Two pictures from Shukkeien Garden

Golden Week start - Shin Kiba

These pictures are from my return visit to Shin Kiba and the excellent Tokyo Aquarium. The Karp flags are one of the traditional ways to celebrate Childrens Day which is the 5th of May here.

Rainbow Fountain in Shin Kiba

Nagatoro trip - Golden Week

At the far reaches of my train line lies Nagatoro, a beautiful little spot with a great river and a prehistoric rocky landscape.

Nagatoro river rafting

The biggest draw in Nagatoro is probably the river raft ride, the boats can only travel one way up the route so at the top of the river the boats are collected by a large truck and taken back downstream.

Nagatoro (mini) Natural History Museum

After seeing and riding on the river we took a trip down to the nearby museum which had a variety of stuffed animals and fossils recovered from the nearby area, most impressive was the giant shark model in the entranceway.