Author: Ella

In guidebooks and tourist brochures, this haven of natural beauty is labeled Miyajima. On maps, it’s more commonly named Itsukushima which means “island dedicated to the gods”.  Whichever name you settle on, this island was considered a god and 800 years ago, the large Itsukushima shrine was erected on wooden poles over the water. It…

We took a ferry from Hiroshima to the island of Miyajima (also called Itsukushima) known for its temples and shrines and a large torii gate that appears to float just off shore. The island is also known for its oysters.

On the island of Miyajima, the deer are part of the crowd.

For today, I had booked a walking tour / cooking class with Kozo, a native of Hiroshima. He’d spent some time in the U.S. so his English was fluent. Google translate was not necessary. We were the only two people on the tour. We started at the Peace Memorial, moved on to Hiroshima castle and…

Imagine being in a land of frequent earthquakes, cyclones, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions and hearing air raid sirens.  The first time I heard them in Osaka, might felt a few heart palpitations. Then we heard them in Kagoshima and thought maybe Mt Sakurajima was going to finally belch lava instead of grey clouds of gas. Now in…

Not like back home. 7/11s in Japan offer all kinds of cheap, prepared food of pretty good quality. Originally owned by the same company as the US brand, 7/11 here is now fully Japanese owned.

Meant to post these earlier. We have left the island of Kyushu and are now back on the “mainland”.

We spent the afternoon wandering the Peace Memorial Park and Museum in Hiroshima.  Full of somber people. The place had that feel.  The unimaginable had happened here. I was asked to sign a petition against nuclear weapons. Perfect place to gather signatures. Though who they are petitioning is unclear. The museum was claustrophobically crowded and dimly lit…

We both somehow got our timing off this morning and checked out of our Fukuoka apartment an hour earlier than planned. What to do? Oh look…as we rolled our luggage by a big Starbucks next to the station. Let’s set a spell, have some free WiFi with coffee. I branched out and ordered a matcha…

We’ve moved on to Hiroshima. Here are some last photos of Fukuoka.

The Fukuoka Prefecture Art Museum advertised itself as a place where local artists could show their stuff. From the exhibition on the first level, it seemed like a place where community art classes could exhibit their progress. Couldn’t resist taking a photo of this photo. How cute is this feathered creature? Moving to a room…

some signs we encountered today in Fukuoka

Dazaifu. Japan’s most famous Starbucks

I lost my sunglasses a few days ago (cheap ones) and have been trying to find sunglasses to buy ever since. In the US, seems every corner Walgreens and CVS has a rack of them. Not here. In Fukuoka on the island of Kyushu, in Japan. Sunglasses = yakuza (the evil Japanese crime syndicate so…

Lunch 2 days ago. Total = $14.00 Lunch yesterday. Total is $43.00 Lunch today. Total is $25.00