Mazda Assembly Line- Japan

We visited a Mazda assembly line and selected the cars we would choose!

Miyashima Island, Japan

On ferry to Miyashima Island in Hiroshima Prefecture

Itsukushima Shinto Temple floating Torii gate

Wedding party

Guests at the wedding

We took a ferry to Miyashima Island which is near Hiroshima and walked along the water to a big Shinto Temple. Outside the Temple was a wedding party taking pictures and we took some too. Lovely kimonos!!

Kurashiki Bikan, Japan

During the Edo period (1603-1867), Kurashiki was an important point along the distribution route of Japan's most important commodity, rice. Large quantities of rice from the surrounding area were brought into Kurashiki and intermediately stored there in storehouses before being shipped to Osaka and Edo. Because of the city's importance in the rice trade, Kurashiki was put under direct control of the shogun, and the city was even named after its many storehouses (kura).

Canals were built to allow boats and barges to navigate between the city's storehouses and the nearby port. A central section of the city's former canal system has been preserved in the Bikan Historical Quarter. The weeping willow trees that line the canal and the stone bridges that cross over the water make for a picturesque scene.

Along the canal, there are many of the original storehouses that were so central to the city's identity. Recognizable by their white walls and black tiles, the former storehouses have been converted into cafes, boutiques, souvenir shops and a number of museums:

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, Japan

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum is a museum located in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, in central Hiroshima, Japan, dedicated to documenting the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in World War II.

The museum was established in August 1955 with the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Hall (now the International Conference Center Hiroshima). It is the most popular of Hiroshima's destinations for school field-trips from all over Japan and for international visitors. 53 million people had visited the museum from its opening in 1955 through 2005, averaging over one million visitors per year.

The Peace Memorial Museum collects and displays belongings left by the victims, photos, and other materials that convey the horror of that event, supplemented by exhibits that describe Hiroshima before and after the bombings and others that present the current status of the nuclear age. Each of the items displayed embodies the grief, anger, or pain of real people. Having now recovered from the A-bomb calamity, Hiroshima's deepest wish is the elimination of all nuclear weapons and the realization of a genuinely peaceful international community.

It is a moving and well-done museum collection.

Hiroshima, Japan

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture and the largest city in the  region of western Honshu - the largest island of Japan. The city's name means "Broad Island" in Japanese. Hiroshima gained city status on April 1, 1889. On April 1, 1980, Hiroshima became a designated city. As of August 2016, the city had an estimated population of 1,196,274.

Hiroshima is best known as the first city in history to be targeted by a nuclear weapon when the US Air Force dropped a nuclear bomb on the city (and later on Nagasaki) at 8:15 a.m. on August 6, 1945, near the end of World War 2.

Pictured above is the only building that survived the bomb which is now the Hiroshima Peace Memorial. There is a very moving museum about the effects of the bomb on the population. Let's hope no one ever drops a nuclear weapon anywhere.

Korakeun Gardens- Japan

The Koishikawa  Korakuen Garden was designed in 1626, by Tokudaiji Sahyoe, for Yorifusa, a member of the Tokugawa family. The garden has a large lake with a planned stroll along which one can see representations of famous landscape scenes from China and Japan. An island in the lake has a temple dedicated to Benzaiten, an Indian goddess associated with good luck. A Full-Moon Bridge has half its circle from the stonework and the other half from its reflection in the water. A green hill represents Mount Atago. The garden reached its modern form in 1863.

Hemeiji Castle- Japan

Hemeiji Castle

Hemeiji Castle is a hilltop Japanese castle complex located in the city of Himeiji, Japan. The castle is regarded as the finest surviving example of prototypical Japanese castle architecture, comprising a network of 83 buildings with advanced defensive systems from the feudal The castle is frequently known as "White Egret Castle" or "White Heron Castle"  because of its brilliant white exterior and supposed resemblance to a bird taking flight.

Himeiji Castle dates to 1333. It is the largest and most visited castle in Japan, and it was registered in 1993 as one of the first UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the country.The area within the middle moat of the castle complex is a designated Special Historic Site and five structures of the castle are also designated National Treasures. Hemeiji Castle is considered one of Japan's three premier castles. In order to preserve the castle buildings, it underwent restoration work for several years and reopened to the public on March 27, 2015.The works also removed decades of dirt and grime, restoring the formerly grey roof to its original brilliant white color.