Japan 2014 Summer Holiday

Day 27 Tokyo

Off to Tokyo for a couple of days to see sumo training and catch some of the sights, tried to get up to The Tokyo Sky Tree which is 450 metres high, got all the way there by train taking 35 minutes and only to be told there's a 2 hour wait. So we then decided to try Tokyo Tower, not as high but will get the idea of how big Tokyo is-30 million population, for dinner we're going to a horse restaurant, don't turn your nose up before trying it.

Only in Japan- a face toner

Tokyo Sky Tree

Zojyoji and Tokyo Tower

Tokyo Tower

Tokyo

Greater Tokyo population 30 million

Tokyo

Tokyo population 14 million

Tokyo

Tokyo Tower shadow

Glass platform looking down

Kit Kat Shop

Horse restaurant

Horse mince & lotus root kushikatsu

Horse sashimi

Day 24 Osaka Aquarium

Wow this was really cool to see, I've been to a few aquarium but this is right up there with the best as it's huge, the sea creatures were plentiful and really big view areas from all different angles, afterwards takoyaki for lunch and dinner was at a seafood restaurant and finally as we have developed a habit that on the way home we stop at a dept store and buy desserts as they are so good.

Osaka Aquarium

Osaka Aquarium

Osaka Aquarium

Large cod

Big turtle

Crab about 6 feet from leg tip to tip

Jellyfish about 60cm's in diameter

Rock Hoppers

Takoyaki

Dinner at Tonsya Restaurant

Obayake

Crab cream croquets

Assorted sashimi

Desserts from Daimaru Dept Store

Desserts from Daimaru Dept Store

Desserts from Daimaru Dept Store

Day 23 Leaving Hiroshima

Sad to leave as this city has so much history, I've felt that I've only seen a minuscule amount, as I've discovered on my journeys that the same type of food served in different cities have their own unique styles, I would definitely visit Hiroshima again.

Breakfast at Dormy Inn Hiroshima

Hiroshima Hondori

Edamame, squid & tofu and sashimi

Fried Hiroshima Oysters

Day 22 Hiroshima

Caught the Shinkansen this morning for a couple of days in Hiroshima, once there well had to go to the Bomb Dome and other exhibits nearby that were the result of that terrible day in Hiroshima's history. The Peace Memorial was really sobering with very graphic displays and photos but then they are only displaying what really happened, I found out that whenever there's a nuclear test of any kind the Mayor of Hiroshima sends a letter to the government in mention and ask for them to stop in the name of peace and humanity, needless to say he has sent a lot of letters and all seem to fall upon deaf ears but these governments have to know that there are people that do not agree with their testing. After which we then took in some lunch, a visit to Hiroshima Castle which the locals call Carp Castle as Hiroshima is known for it's carps and their baseball team is called Hiroshima Carps, we then paid a visit to Shukkei-en Garden, for dinner we went to Shintenchi Okonmimura building where there's 4 floors and each floor housing about 9 to 10 okonomiyaki food stalls. This was an absolute treat and part of the stage show was watching the ladies preparing the okonomiyaki-please note that Hiroshima has a different style to making okonomiyaki than Osaka.

Shinkansen

Atomic Bomb Dome