Peace Memorial Park

On our first day in Hiroshima we went, naturally, to the Peace Memorial Park. The Atomic Dome is the focal point of the park but there are so many other discreet little memorials to all the many people affected by the bomb. As soon as people enter the park, they seem to go quiet so we were part of a silent, thoughtful group wandering around the park.

The Atomic Dome is what is left of the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotions Hall. The building partially survived the bomb because it exploded right over the top of it. The effects of the bomb spread out from that spot. It is really freaky to think that the building was surrounded by a whole city and, in the blink of a eye, it was all gone. After we left the park, we went to the Peace Memorial Museum where you can see an computer generated impression of the city as it was followed by the devastation when the bomb was dropped. It is easy to see why everyone is quiet. You are too shocked by what you are looking at to say anything.

Clare's favourite part of the visit was the statue of Sadako Sasaki. She had learned the story of Sadako and the one thousand paper cranes at school and she had no idea that this was the place it happened. Check out the photos below of her at the statue.

After our morning at the Park and Museum we looked at the city in a new light. It is weird to walk around a city and know that there isn't a single old building anywhere because it was all wiped out at the same time. Everything is new.

In the afternoon, we went to Hiroshima Castle, or, strictly speaking, the 1958 recreation of Hiroshima Castle (see above comment about 'wiped out'). It was really interesting. Ronan and Clare got to dress up as samurai. I had the hysterical experience of having a very old Japanese lady (with zero English) practically order me to try on a kimono and be photographed in it. She took a real interest in us once she established that we were Australian and not American. She may not have been able to speak English but she made herself understood and I did what I was told.

On the way home, Clare and I made a stop at the Hiroshima Museum of Art. They have an amazing collections of French impressionists there. We were really surprised at the extent of their collection.

It was a great day in a 'not so run of the mill' city.

Last day in Kyoto

On our last afternoon in Kyoto (having woken to see snow on nearby hills!) we went to Arashiyama ,a scenic spot on the western outskirts of Kyoto. We hired bikes and rode around the area. It was overcast and cold but beautifully quiet. All we could hear was the rushing sound of the Oi River. It was a gentle end to our time in Kyoto. We feel like we have gotten a really good handle on this city. It is reminiscent of Melbourne, albeit a little posher. It has style, culture and a definite cool factor. It is busy but it doesn't have the overwhelming crowds of Tokyo. I could definitely live here except for the fact that I would starve!

Gluten free bread in Kyoto!

Big news on Sunday morning. We found gluten free bread in Kyoto. Seiji Ishii is a small gourmet supermarket with a few locations in Kyoto. The one we found was buried 2 floors down below the subway. It took some determined searching to find it but they had a loaf of the only gluten free bread we have been able to find in  Japan. We felt like we had found the holy grail. For any coeliac travellers to Japan, remember the name: Seiji Ishii.

Manga and a temple in the sky

On Saturday morning, Ciaran and I took a walk up Karamasu dori  to find the Kyoto International Manga Museum. The museum is housed in an old school building. Tatsuike Primary School was opened in 1869. It was a thriving school until the 1980s when people in Kyoto started to move out of the city into the suburbs. By the mid 1990s the school was down to 110 students and the decision was made to merge Tatsuike with a few other inner city schools.

I absolutely loved the story of the building and the way they have preserved the school by putting the manga museum into the old building. The walls of the classrooms are lined with thousands and thousands of volumes of manga dating back to the post WW2 period. All of the books are available to read. Young people come into the museum, grab a book and sit around reading for hours. Some of the rooms have been preserved as a memorial to the primary school. I loved seeing pictures of the students over a hundred years and the pictures of every principal the school has every had. The principal's office has perfectly preserved. It gives you a really strong sense of the school and the energy of hundreds of young Japanese children.

Ciaran, of course, was more interested in the manga. He was in heaven finding books he has only read about on the Internet. The funniest bit was when he found the huge phoenix statue suspended from the ceiling. He dropped to his knees to honour it. He had to explain to me that the phoenix is the main character and symbol of the 'father of manga', Tezuka Osamu.

In the afternoon, Ian, Ronan, Clare and I crossed the Kamo River and headed into the Higashiyama district of Kyoto. Almost accidentally, we found ourselves heading up the steep, paved street towards Kiyomizudera. This is one of the best known temples in Japan. At the top of the hill, it is 13 metres above the ground. Clare called it the temple in the sky. The walk to the temple is part of the appeal because the streets are lined with beautiful quaint shops and the whole area feels like old Japan.

After the kilometres and kilometres we had walked, we decided we didn't want to cook. This was where my day fell apart. While Ian and Ronan got really nice take away pizzas, Clare, Ciaran and I ate chips! That was the only gluten free take away food we could find. Being a coeliac in Japan sucks. A few glasses of wine helped to ease the pain :-)

A spot of shopping in Kyoto

Under the beautiful blue sunshine, today we headed to Fushimi Inari Shrine, one of the big ticket items of any visit to Kyoto. The shrine is dedicated to Inari (the Shinto god of rice) and, like so many tourists, we headed up the mountain through the 10,000 torii gates. Having researched this shrine on the Internet, I was looking forward to a bit of a spiritual experience. That was dented a bit by the crowds of people taking selfies or 'arty' photos (no doubt bound for some social media site) at various spots along the way. Things got better as we headed further up the mountain and the numbers thinned out (the social media pack don't have a lot of stamina!) but it was a shame to see such a meaningful place overtaken by narcissists. Nevertheless, it is an amazing spot with numerous small shrines in little alcoves as you head up the mountain. The views of Kyoto from the top of the mountain were spectacular.

In the afternoon, we decided to do some shopping in the fabulous covered arcades near our apartment. The Nishiki Market is a food market which stretches through a huge area. I didn't realise that there were so many foods in the world that I have never actually seen or eaten. Despite my reluctance to try some of the delicacies, the market was a visual treat. The other two arcades, Teramachi and Shinkyogoku, have some fantastic shops. Ronan and I had a lovely time checking (and buying) them out.

Today I felt a bit defeated by the food issues I am facing in Japan. We walk through shop after shop of beautiful food and I can't eat any of it. Wheat is in everything in Japan. When they haven't used wheat, they have used soy sauce full of wheat. Travelling through Japan is the first time I have felt it is really hard to be a coeliac. Just when I was feeling down in the dumps, we discovered a little café called Papa Jon's Café. It is run by an American and he has a small range of gluten free cakes and biscuits. We paid the equivalent of $15 dollars for a gluten free banana and walnut cake I could eat in two bites, but I didn't care. I just wanted to feel that I could eat a treat in Japan.

Getting to know Kyoto

Our first full day in Kyoto. We had beautiful weather. Blue skies, sunny and very, very cold. The temperature was 3 degrees but the breeze took the apparent temperature to around -2 degrees Celsius. Fantastic weather for sightseeing. I have decided that I am going to do all my travel in winter. It is great to rug up and get outside and walk around a new city.

Kyoto is a terrific city. In the middle of the city, there are wide open streets and gorgeous high end shops. It is a little reminiscent of the Paris end of Collins street in Melbourne. Off the major streets are a huge number of tiny laneways full of quirky shops, amazing Japanese architecture and cool restaurants, cafes and bars. Our apartment is in one of these laneways. It is small but modern and swish. The downside of living in this super cool neighbourhood is that the supermarkets have inner city (rather than suburban) prices. Oh well. Ce la vie.

Buses are the way to get around Kyoto. We got one day passes for only 500 yen. We started by heading to the best known district of Kyoto - Gion. I am a little ashamed to say my entire knowledge of Kyoto all comes from Memoirs of a Geisha but, there it is. It is a beautiful district with a great feel of old Japan. The only problem was that without an English speaking guide, we weren't able to get any information on the particular buildings. I really wanted to know which buildings were actual ochayas (teahouses) and which ones weren't. 

We then walked to nearby Yasaka Shrine and Maruyama Park. It was a lovely way to spend the morning and, even though there aren't any cherry blossoms at this time of year, the lack of crowds is a pretty fair tradeoff.

Like many trips, mistakes can be very valuable. That was the case for us today. We wanted to head to the Kyoto National Museum but we jumped on the bus headed north instead of south. Our subsequent loop around central Kyoto didn't get us to the museum, but it did give us a good understanding of how the buses work. Not a wasted trip after all.

After lunch, Ian and I headed out without the kids. We went to Nijo Castle next to the Kyoto Imperial Palace and Gardens. The Nijo Castle was where the shogun ruler of Japan agreed to hand back control of the country to the Emperor. The was the end of the shogunate and the Edo period of Japan. The castle is beautifully preserved and the English language explanations of the subtleties in architectural design explained a lot about the power structures that applied in the 17th - 19th centuries.

We didn't get home until after dark but it felt like a great day sightseeing in a new city.