Back to Bunny Island

April 29th was the first holiday in a string of public holidays that make up Golden Week in Japan. We decided to take advantage of the good weather and make a return trip to Ōkunoshima to feed the bunnies, picnic, and play at the beach. 

The Oshimas came along with us to the island. It was their first time to visit, which is interesting considering it is only a little over an hour away from Fukuyama. 

There seemed to be fewer rabbits this year compared with last year, but the weather was warm and gorgeous and the kids had much more fun at the beach than chasing rabbits. We love having fun and interesting getaways like this at our doorstep! 

A Wonderful Day in the Rain...

I have been looking forward to getting out and exploring parts of Japan that aren't Fukuyama. Not that I don't love my city, because I do. However, when another teacher at my school asked if I would like to bike part of the Shimanami Kaido with him I jumped at the chance. The Shimanami Kaido is actually an expressway that connects Onomichi in Hiroshima Prefecture to Imabari City in Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. Alongside the expressway is an incredibly well developed cycling route with rest stops, bike rental places, and intense infrastructure all put in place to enjoy the Seto inland sea by bicycle. The forecast called for rain today but we didn't let that dampen our spirits. At ten o' clock we loaded our bikes into his car and started out for our first stop the Kurushima-kaikyo bridge, which is about 6.4 km, and is the final bridge connecting the island of Oshima to the main part of Shikoku.

Kurushima-kaikyo bridge as seen from Imabari City

We had nice ride across the bridge in which I blew through the toll gate not knowing that cyclists have to pay a small toll of ¥200 and had to sheepishly come back and throw my change into the box when I noticed my teacher no longer behind me. Once we got to the other side he kindly bought me lunch at a wonderful little restaurant with a fantastic view and equally fantastic food. It seems everything on the menu comes in little dutch ovens and served with a side of warm bread and a salad with vinaigrette made from locally produced citrus that is to die for.

Deliciously warm melted cheese, vegetables and meat
all simmered in a Dutch Oven.

 After lunch we headed back to the other side, loaded up our bikes and drove to Hakatajima Island where we unloaded our bikes again and proceeded to ride the entire circumference of the  island. During this portion of our ride it began to rain... a lot! We were soaked to the bone by the time we got all the way around the island, that being said I still had a lot of fun and I think he did too. Once we were completely around the island and the rain had subsided, he headed to the car and I continued by bike through a shipyard where they were christening a new ship and finally over one more bridge to Omishima Island and the Tatara Shimanami Koen (Park). There we packed up our bikes and headed over to the Tatara Shimanami Onsen for a much deserved soak in the those soothing hotwaters. All in all a wonderful day.

Ship building as seen from the Kurushima-kaikyo.

Some of the amazing infrastructure build solely for cyclists.

Hakatajima IC bike parking and tourist center.

The incoming rain on Hakatajima.

My fellow teacher at a little rest stop on Hakatajima where we
enjoyed some delicious snacks that Laura sent along with me...
...just the energy boost we needed to keep cycling in the rain.

Ship christening on Hakatajima.

Approach pathway to Omishima Bashi Bridge.

Omishima Bashi Arch Bridge.

Tatara Onsen where we spent some time relaxing after a hard day cycling in the rain.

Tomonoura

The 19th of September was Respect for the Elderly Day and as this was a national holiday in Japan, Dustin had the day off. We decided to head south to Tomonoura, the port district of Fukuyama. It was about a 15 minute bus ride from downtown, and about as touristy as I have seen Fukuyama get, which is really not that touristy at all. There were no big crowds, only a few little souvenir shops, and only one street food vendor.

The district is pretty small with narrow, winding, stone paved streets and beautiful old Edo period buildings. 

There were old storehouses from the 1800's that you could wander around in, and quite a few little shops selling yomeishu, a sweet herbal liqueur which is supposed to promote a long life. 

Hayao Miyazaki rented a house here in 2005 and based the town in Ponyo off of Tomonoura. Every souvenir shop had a few cute Ponyo themed items for sale which took a lot of self restraint not to buy. 

We went to a quaint udon shop for lunch. The man who owned it told us that Miyazaki had used the goldfish in his courtyard for his original sketches of Ponyo. Theo loved his onigiri. 

William charmed his way into the owner's heart and by the end of our meal he asked us if he could take a picture for his "wall of good customers".  Here was the outcome:

The old stone lighthouse was made to resemble the lanterns used at temples.

Tomonoura is on the Seto Inland Sea with lush little tree covered islands scattered here and there. 

From the harbor you can see tiny Benten Island with its pagoda and torii gate. 

Directly behind Benten Island is Sensuijima, a much larger island, with a little hotel, hot springs, and campground. There is a ferry that takes you from Tomonoura to Sensujima which is made to look like an old sailing ship. Theo was so happy about riding on the "pirate ship".

There was a really nice beach near the campground and Theo was ecstatic to take a dip in the ocean. The water in this area is extremely calm and there were hardly any waves. It was a warmish, over cast day and the water was really pleasant, so Theo spent almost 2 hours enjoying himself in the water. 

Hopefully we can find a free weekend sometime soon to come back and camp. It looked like there were a few trails to wander and beaches to discover on the island and best of all, very few tourists!