A Trip to the Seaside
After all of our effort booking and rebooking our train tickets so that we would be on the Mt. Fuji side of the train, it was too rainy to see anything. But we dutifully stared at the clouds in the general direction of Fuji-san until it faded behind us. About 20 minutes later, the weather cleared up.
Clear skies once we passed Mt Fuji
On our journey we were sustained and nourished by two bento boxes we purchased in Tokyo Station. These were no ordinary bento boxes, dear reader. We found them in a store that specializes in bento boxes from all over Japan, and so we lunched on the finest delicacies from two random prefectures. We guiltily tried the morsel of shark meat in one of them, shamefully admitting that it's actually very tasty.
Our two bento boxes
In Shin-Kobe, we stopped to change trains. This is notable only for this picture Matt took in honor of Karen's cousin Coby, who shares a name with the birthplace of Japan's most famous beef.
We left our suitcase in the small compartment between train cars (with a train employee's permission!). As the train left the station, an announcement urged passengers to alert staff to any unattended baggage. Huh, I wondered, what happens if someone alerts them to ours? Not 30 seconds later, an employee came down the aisle with a photo of our bag on an iPad, looking for the owner. Once we identified ourselves, everything was ok. It's noteworthy that there were about 3 suitcase "lockers" (large compartments with a combination lock metal bar over them) per car, but these needed to be reserved in advance, which we did not do.
Soon, we were pulling into Onomichi Station. Onomichi is the gateway to the Shimanami Kaido, a road and, more importantly, a bikepath that connects a series of islands in the Seto Inland Sea, connecting Honshu to Shikoku. The most straightforward route traverses 8 islands over about 44 miles, but you could easily spend a full week exploring smaller islands and attractions off the main route. As such, Onomichi has a pretty bustling tourism industry, with guesthouses, bike rentals, restaurants, and a main shopping street. Part of the reason we decided to come here is that they have invested a lot in creating a detailed informational pamphlet in English - we recommend clicking on the link and seeing if you can resist the urge to visit! We were sold when we learned that there is a marked bike lane for the entire main route, there are multiple ferry spots along the trail where you can opt to hop on if you're getting tired, AND several companies offer bike and luggage courier services so you don't have to take everything with you all the time. Plus multiple islands are known for their ice cream.
This soft serve came with salted sweet potato and sesame seeds. Matt thought the combo was a stroke of genius. Karen thought it was ok.
Despite its tourism infrastructure, Onomichi is simultaneously a sleepy seaside town. We checked in to our hotel, took a walk around town, and suddenly realized everything was closing. We grabbed dinner and came home to get ready for bed. It felt like 11PM. It was six o'clock. It was fortunate we happened to get some wandering in before sunset- check out this view we got from a short walk up a hillside at "golden hour." The view was so stunning that we returned on our last evening in Onomichi and rode a cable car up even higher to catch sunset again. This is where Karen gleefully captured her "Sea" panoramic photo, which will be divvied up into 5 panels and printed on cards for her version of the Tokaido board game.
Reminders that Onomichi is not Tokyo abound, not least of which is the size of our room. In photos on the internet, we assumed from the space that it would be shared with other guests. No- we have 1) a bed area, 2) a small entryway, 3) many comfortable seating options to choose from 4) at least 400 square feet of traditional Japanese room with tatami floors, and 5) a little balcony/sitting area. Karen has been literally rolling around on the floor (she calls it "doing PT"), reveling in the size of it all.
Look at all this space!
Our host has been another pleasant surprise- we booked this spot on Booking.com and were expecting more of a hostal vibe, but we're sharing the house with the family that lives there! The mother is Peruvian, and the first person we've really been able to speak with in Japan. She's shared some entertaining stories about her experience coming here with her Japanese husband (the house was passed down along his side of the family). When they're not renting out their extra space to tourists, they host exchange students for a year at a time.
The next day, we had beautiful weather (rain had been a possibility) and rented e-bicycles and hit the road! But then the bike was not very comfortable, so we stopped at another bike rental shop. Karen rented a better bike, and the owner of the shop helped us call the first shop to arrange returning her first bike for a refund. Then Matt hit the road- to return Karen's first bike and walk back to the second bike shop. Then we both sallied forth- for real this time! While Karen was waiting for Matt, she chatted with the store owner- who spoke great English because she had studied in Canada for a couple years. She gave us some very good tips about places to stop along the route. Karen also learned that the bike shop is a family business that has been around for about 50 years. They have focused on sales and repairs historically, but just this year purchased a fleet of e-bikes to try out the rental industry. We hope they do well!
The marked bike route was indeed useful, we barely had to use our phones to navigate and never really got lost! We had been a bit wary of crowds, but the route was not overcrowded! We get the impression weekends and summer-time are busier. We meandered across Mukaishima Island, stopping almost immediately for ice cream (recommended by the bike shop owner). The islands in this region are known for their citrus farms and salt factories, so we indulged in a triple scoop of mandarin citrus sorbet, salted milk (Karen's favorite), and persimmon sorbet (Matt's favorite), which is in season. We then crossed a bridge onto Innoshima Island. We have to admit that it was pretty sweet having an e-bike for the bridge crossings. Each bridge crossing started with about a mile of switch-backs to reach the elevation of the bridge. Neither of us has much e-biking experience but zooming up felt like cheating and was very fun. (The next day our sore legs reminded us that we were in fact pedaling the whole time, we just went way faster the usual.) Once on Innoshima Island we visited Manda Fermentation, an apparently successful "fermentation company" that sells a fermented product. They are oddly vague on what exactly is being fermented, but adamant that it's healthy. Either way, it seems like business is booming.
Persimmon, citrus, and salted milk ice cream
An innovative "puddle fountain" at Manda Fermentation - they must be doing well to have this whole manicured park
What is Manda's "fermented product"? We don't know.
The next bridge brought us to Ikuchi Island. We rolled into town with about an hour before the last ferry would leave for Onomichi, and Matt used his approximately 12 words of Japanese to ask the chef of an okonomiyaki restaurant if it was possible to cook and eat a meal in the time remaining. The verdict: yes! We had tried okonomiyaki in Tokyo, and hadn't thought it was anything special. We were told to try it again, here, since noodles are added to the wheat, egg, and cabbage pancake. Karen liked it a lot! Matt's still not so into it. We're happy to report that we managed to eat our okonomiyaki and reached the ferry with time to spare!
In this region, okonomiyaki is made with noodles, and for this reason we were told we MUST try it.
Maybe we should have rented these odd-looking scooters
Many of our fellow ferry-riders crowded out onto the back to photograph the stunning sunset.
Ikuchi island had a number of interesting-looking attractions so we returned the next day and stopped at the Kosanji Temple and Ikuo Hirayama Museum of Art. To Karen, the Kosanji Temple felt like an artsy Buddhist take on the Holy Land Experience, a Christian amusement park we once visited in Orlando on a whim. The temple had several very distinct takes on what a temple space could be, all of which were executed impeccably, including a long manmade cave-walk filled with 1000 Buddhas and wood carvings depicting Buddhist Hell. The Hill of Hope was quite the opposite- a 5000-square-meter plaza built entirely of imported Italian marble. Other areas were more reminiscent of other Japanese temples we've been to, although these, too, were special. To quote Japan Travel, "The grounds are filled with replicas from some of Japan's most renowned religious sites, including Byodoin Temple's Phoenix Hall and Nikko Toshogu Shrine's Yomeimon Gate." If you're ever in town, we recommend visiting; the stop exceeded expectations!
Every part of the temple is intricately decorated
The Cave of 1000 Buddhas begins with a descending path lined with graphic depictions of Buddhist hell. The rooms with lots and lots of buddhas are much nicer to look at.
The Hill of Hope has a nice cafe with a beautiful view, but the surprise highlight was this blue tea which changes to a deep purple when you add lemon juice.
Unfortunately we liked the taste better without lemon juice, but still wanted to see the color change.
The Hill of Hope is a sometimes haphazard jumble of imported Italian marble. It's surprisingly striking.
The Ikuo Hirayama Museum of Art is across the street and features the works of this local and famous artist. His works focus on his fascination with how Buddhism was transmitted along the Silk Road, ultimately reaching Japan. One of our favorite anecdotes from the museum- when the artist was 5, he was always misbehaving and being scolded for it. One day, he brought home a drawing from school and was thrilled that his parents loved it. The pride he saw in his father encouraged him to continue pursuing art.
A painting by Ikuo Hirayama
The ferry schedule - and early closing times - forced us to be pretty deliberate about our plans. After the Hirayama museum, we caught a ferry which brought us to Onomichi just in time to catch golden hour from a hilltop park.
Then we descended with a few hours to spare for dinner before our train to Kyoto. We decided to try a fancy sushi restaurant. We're not sure how typical this is, but the staff essentially asked for our budget and any preferences we had, and then the chef did the rest. For about $20 each, we had 8 pieces of nigiri. Matt helped another foreigner order water ("O-mizu"), and the staff got excited that he could speak Japanese. He then had the unforgettable experience of disappointing them repeatedly over the rest of the meal. But in spite of our linguistic deficiencies, the staff were incredibly nice. When Karen pointed out a preserved puffed up puffer fish on the shelf behind the bar, the hostess grinned and informed us that we "ate that." We confirmed through pantomime that one of our 8 pieces had, in fact, been Fugu! Our review: kind of chewy, not exactly to die for.
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