Page 45 - Explore Magazine Summer 2018

The picturesque Gion district of Kyoto Hiroshima is a comfortable day trip from Osaka by Shinkansen. The 43
rail trip allowed us plenty of time to visit the Atomic Bomb Dome
is filled with shops and teahouses and the Peace Memorial Museum, have lunch and visit the Hiroshima
where you will spot geisha hostesses in Castle grounds. Reading the brief descriptions beside the Atomic
Bomb Dome instantly provides an impression of the catastrophic
colourful kimonos. event that happened here on August 6, 1945. A short walk away is the
National Peace Memorial Hall for the atomic bomb victims. Here you
After a few days in Tokyo we based ourselves in Osaka. We travelled will find the names and photos of the A-bomb victims and memoirs
by Shinkansen (bullet trains) and their speed – up to 320km/hour – is to convey the experiences of the bombing to others. The Peace
incredible. We went from Tokyo to Osaka, a distance of 503km, in 2.5 Memorial is situated near the bomb’s blast centre.
hours. From Osaka, Hiroshima is 1.5 hours away and Kyoto a mere 15
minutes. Osaka Castle is worth a visit and we thoroughly enjoyed the Back in Tokyo, we enjoyed a few days of shopping and sightseeing.
great selection of authentic Japanese restaurants in its vicinity. The The Meiji Jingu Shinto shrine in the Shibuya district is dedicated to
Universal Studios Japan theme park is also located in Osaka and is a the Emperor Meiji and his wife Empress Shoken and is surrounded by
very popular tourist attraction, so invest in an Express Pass ticket to serene gardens. More immaculate Japanese gardens can be found
speed you up past the queuing crowds. outside the Imperial Palace and are free to the public to visit. The
highlight of the visit was the displays of irises with beautiful variants
We only spent a day in Kyoto, but felt we could have stayed two of purple. In the Sumida district of Tokyo we enjoyed a delicious
or three days because there is so much to see and experience. It dinner and an entertaining display of sumo wrestling at a restaurant
was busy with tourists wandering through the traditional Japanese called Hananomai. The meal was a delicious mix of cook-your-own
streets and visiting the numerous temples. Having only a short time, sharing dishes and part-way through the dinner a narrated, and very
we limited ourselves to a walk through the Imperial Palace Gardens entertaining, sumo wrestling display took place.
and visited a few temples and walked around the picturesque Gion
district which is filled with shops and teahouses where you will spot We also spent one and half days at Tokyo Disney Resort. There
geisha hostesses in colourful kimonos. are two parks, Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea, which is
smaller than Disneyland. Get there early, well before opening time,
We visited the impressive Yasaka Shinto Shrine, the intimate Kodaiji because the queues start before the park opens. Being first on the
Temple and its famous Zen garden, the Ryozen Kannon war memorial rides allows you to get through three or four main rides in the first
with its giant seated Buddha statue, and the picturesque five-storey one-and-a-half to two hours (using the Fastpass ticket system).
Hokanji Temple. One of my favourite memories of visiting Kyoto is We stayed at the Disneyland Resort Hotel and were given an early
watching the Japanese women dressed in their kimonos. The fabrics entry ticket which allowed us to enter the park 15 minutes before the
are so beautiful and their hair and make-up are styled to perfection. regular park opening time.
In the Sumida district of Tokyo we enjoyed And then it was time to return home, but not before planning a
return trip. Japan is so unique and fascinating that I want to see more
a delicious dinner and an entertaining if it and with direct flights from New Zealand it’s easy to visit this
display of sumo wrestling at a restaurant increasingly popular travel destination.
called Hananomai.

HELLOWORLD : EXPLORE : SUMMER EDITION