Feb 21 - Florence + The Machine

Day 2 in Japan was much more relaxed than Day 1. No mountains were climbed today. One was scaled, but by ropeway, so much easier.

Kintaikyo, with Iwakuni Castle up on the hill in the background

We started our day out in Iwakuni, a town about an hour from Hiroshima. It's famous for the Kintaikyo Bridge, a really unique bridge built back in the early 1600s. It's made up of five arcs crossing the river, and was supposedly built that way to try and avoid being swept away when the river flooded. Apparently it didn't work, because it kept getting swept away and the one you can see now was rebuilt in like 2001. But it's super cool and is made without any nails.

View of Iwakuni (Kintaikyo included) and the ocean from up in the castle

Kintaikyo marks the separation between the actual town of Iwakuni and the old part, where all the tourists go. It really isn't much as far as touristy stuff goes, but the bridge is apparently among the top 3 bridges in Japan. And then you get into the town proper and there's all these gardens, which I'm sure are beautiful in spring/summer/fall, but sadly not in winter. There is, however, ice cream. Lots of it. Iwakuni has made a name for itself as a modern purveyor of all the ice cream flavors you could want (and some you probably don't want). We of course stopped at the most famous shop with 100 flavors and ate green tea + tiramisu ice cream. It was great.

Rei trying to choose from the 100 flavors

Hiroshima Castle

Then it was up the cable car to visit the castle. We could have walked, but we did that yesterday so felt perfectly fine with not doing it again today. The castle is quite small, but it's got great views of the city and out to the ocean and surrounding islands. And they have a bunch of old swords and stuff on display (more armour, too!). All in all, not a very impressive, or old, castle, but still a nice trip and some great views. Then it was back down to town to get on our train back to Hiroshima.

Amazing armour in Hiroshima Castle

Once back here, we headed up to castle number 2 for the day, Hiroshima castle. Iwakuni castle was built in the early 1600s by a feudal lord that was banished out to western Japan after choosing the wrong side in a war, so it actually was only around for 7 years before being torn down by imperial edict (and rebuilt in the 1950s for tourism purposes. In a new location that looked better). Hiroshima castle, on the other hand, has a much longer history. It was also rebuilt in the 1950s, cause you know, Hiroshima, but it's historical importance is much higher. This one looks quite impressive from the outside, but inside it was a bit Disneyfied. Not the best castle, and actually no great views from the top, but they had super awesome armour inside with these crazy headpieces, and they also let you try on armour! So that made it all worthwhile.

Fearsome Samurai Minsky-san

Now it's time to relax before heading to dinner. We had a big lunch today, and we'll have an even bigger dinner. Iwakuni is famous for this sushi that's looks kind of like a pizza. I don't know how else to describe it. It's basically a thick base of rice, with veggies and stuff on top. There's actually no fish involved. They make it in huge slabs, then cut it into squares and you get served one or two squares. It's delicious, despite not having any actual fish, and not like any sushi you'll see anywhere else. The town is also famous for taro, which is delicious, so there was a lot of that, included taro cooked into croquettes. So good. But tonight there will be sushi. And much, much more. Because tonight we're doing tabenomihoudai. Here's Japanese lesson 101 for you: "Tabe" = to eat, "Nomi" = to drink, "houdai" = as much as possible. So that will be fun.

Today's lunch. That square on the bottom left is the Iwakuni Sushi

But before that, I gotta get my song for the day in. I don't know why I didn't share today's song as soon as it was released, but I should have. It's actually not the best song, but it's Florence + The Machine and she has a new single, What Kind of Man. I love Florence. Like, a lot. A lot, a lot. I think she is exactly what pop music needs more of, and she is incredible. This song is the first single off her upcoming 3rd album, How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful. The song is very good, but by Florence standards it's just average. I can't wait for everything else though, and hate the fact that she's making us wait until June to release her album. But this is definitely up at the top of my list of most anticipated albums for 2015, and I would not be surprised if it makes it into my top 10, like her last 2 did. For now, enjoy, and try to be patient until there is more.