Shikoku
05 Jan 2007
Because we have to say goodbye to the south of Japan, we use our last vacation week to visit Shikoku. The trip was initially planned for Emmie's visit, but unfortunately something went wrong with the reservation of her trip, and she cannot come. Yuko liked the idea to join us. She cannot leave on the same day as we do, so we will meet her on Saturday, when she arrives, by train, in Matsuyama.
We are on a tight schedule. Friday 29-Dec, the movers come to pack our stuff that needs to be shipped to Aizu-Wakamatsu. In the afternoon we go to Isahaya, to celebrate the year's end with a rice cake making party. After that we leave for Fukuoka. Saturday, 6-Jan, we come back to Nagasaki and that evening we will have a goodbye dinner with friends. On Sunday 7-Jan, we fly to Tokyo, the official end of our Nagasaki adventure.
It's hard work again, pounding the rice so we can make cookies.
Oysters on the barbeque...
But first the rice cake making party. We are lucky with the weather. A bit cool, but sunny and dry. There were a lot of rice cake cookies and also this year we had a oyster bbq. With a full belly we drove to Fukuoka.
Kawachi-san and Ide-san, always helpfull when something needed to be arranged or translated for us.
Part of the Isahaya team
The next day we drove to Shikoku. Shikoku is a big island south of Hiroshima. Via a long bridg and various islands, we reach Shikoku. On one of the islands you can find Hill of Hope, a marble sculpture garden.
Kurushima bridge, leading to Shikoku.
Hill of Hope
In Matsuyama we stay two nights. We have to wait one day for Yuko to arrive. We decide to visit the castle.
Shikoku is famous for the longest pilgrimage in Japan. It is 1400 km long and visits 88 shrines and temples. We will only visit a few of them...
But first it is time to celebrate the new year. The evening doesn't start very promising, it is not easy to find a restaurant open for business. But after that, things picked up. Yuko and Lenette dance on the bar, while they show a bloody K1 match on the big screen!
Our first stop with Yuko is Uchiko. A historic village, supposingly very popular with tourists. Unfortunately it is deserted when we arrive, the museum and most shops are closed. Maybe because it is 1, January....
One of the highlights of our trip is the bull sumo in Uwajima. The bulls are brought into the ring and put opposite eachother. With full speed the lock horns and the pushing and shoving starts. Whoever first runs away from its opponent, lost the fight. The are cheered on by the public, but also by the animal caretakers. They are also in the ring and by yelling, they try to make their bull win.
The next day we go to Kochi. We visit the castle and the Sakamoto Ryoma Museum. Everything is in Japanese, so we are happy Yuko is there to give us an explanation.
When we arrive in the Oboke Gorge the weather has changed, it got really cold. We stroll through the village and take a boat trip over the Yoshino-gawa rivier. On the boat is a low table. A heater is mounted to the bottom of the table. Of course we have to take our shoes off. We fold our legs under the table and withe the thick blanket over our legs, we actually stay a bit warm.
The bridge crossing the gorge, was originally made of bamboo. Nowadays it is fortified with steel cables, and the bamboo serves as decoration. It is quite solid, but also quite wobbly...
Next stop is Kotohira. We sleep in a traditional ryokan and get a splendid dinner...
We selected a special shrine to visit in Kotohira: Konpira-san. We have to climb more than 1400 steps to get there, but it is worth it.
The first step.....
.... finally we are at the top. Now we have to return the same way...
Then it is time to go back to Nagasaki. On our way we visit Kurashiki. That village has a historic center, filled with shops where we can do our last shopping.
Viewpoint at the Seto-Ohashi bridge
shops, shops, shops.....
In Hiroshima we spend the night and the next day we drive back to Nagasaki. The end of another great vacation!
We are on a tight schedule. Friday 29-Dec, the movers come to pack our stuff that needs to be shipped to Aizu-Wakamatsu. In the afternoon we go to Isahaya, to celebrate the year's end with a rice cake making party. After that we leave for Fukuoka. Saturday, 6-Jan, we come back to Nagasaki and that evening we will have a goodbye dinner with friends. On Sunday 7-Jan, we fly to Tokyo, the official end of our Nagasaki adventure.
It's hard work again, pounding the rice so we can make cookies.
Oysters on the barbeque...
But first the rice cake making party. We are lucky with the weather. A bit cool, but sunny and dry. There were a lot of rice cake cookies and also this year we had a oyster bbq. With a full belly we drove to Fukuoka.
Kawachi-san and Ide-san, always helpfull when something needed to be arranged or translated for us.
Part of the Isahaya team
The next day we drove to Shikoku. Shikoku is a big island south of Hiroshima. Via a long bridg and various islands, we reach Shikoku. On one of the islands you can find Hill of Hope, a marble sculpture garden.
Kurushima bridge, leading to Shikoku.
Hill of Hope
In Matsuyama we stay two nights. We have to wait one day for Yuko to arrive. We decide to visit the castle.
Shikoku is famous for the longest pilgrimage in Japan. It is 1400 km long and visits 88 shrines and temples. We will only visit a few of them...
But first it is time to celebrate the new year. The evening doesn't start very promising, it is not easy to find a restaurant open for business. But after that, things picked up. Yuko and Lenette dance on the bar, while they show a bloody K1 match on the big screen!
Our first stop with Yuko is Uchiko. A historic village, supposingly very popular with tourists. Unfortunately it is deserted when we arrive, the museum and most shops are closed. Maybe because it is 1, January....
One of the highlights of our trip is the bull sumo in Uwajima. The bulls are brought into the ring and put opposite eachother. With full speed the lock horns and the pushing and shoving starts. Whoever first runs away from its opponent, lost the fight. The are cheered on by the public, but also by the animal caretakers. They are also in the ring and by yelling, they try to make their bull win.
The next day we go to Kochi. We visit the castle and the Sakamoto Ryoma Museum. Everything is in Japanese, so we are happy Yuko is there to give us an explanation.
When we arrive in the Oboke Gorge the weather has changed, it got really cold. We stroll through the village and take a boat trip over the Yoshino-gawa rivier. On the boat is a low table. A heater is mounted to the bottom of the table. Of course we have to take our shoes off. We fold our legs under the table and withe the thick blanket over our legs, we actually stay a bit warm.
The bridge crossing the gorge, was originally made of bamboo. Nowadays it is fortified with steel cables, and the bamboo serves as decoration. It is quite solid, but also quite wobbly...
Next stop is Kotohira. We sleep in a traditional ryokan and get a splendid dinner...
We selected a special shrine to visit in Kotohira: Konpira-san. We have to climb more than 1400 steps to get there, but it is worth it.
The first step.....
.... finally we are at the top. Now we have to return the same way...
Then it is time to go back to Nagasaki. On our way we visit Kurashiki. That village has a historic center, filled with shops where we can do our last shopping.
Viewpoint at the Seto-Ohashi bridge
shops, shops, shops.....
In Hiroshima we spend the night and the next day we drive back to Nagasaki. The end of another great vacation!