My Japanese Adventures – The Sensational Sakura Safari (Part VII – Takayama contd.)

For any of you who are joining the story a little late – don’t worry. You can find all the catchup you need right here.

When embracing a different culture, it is important to open yourself up to everything it has to offer. Of course, while I believe that it’s good to step outside your comfort zone on occasion, it’s also important not to stretch yourself too far as you risk losing the appreciation through fear or obligation rather than willing surrender. Some cultural aspects can be intimidating; luckily, Takayama offers one that is almost too kawaii (cute) to bear!

My Japanese Adventures – The Sensational Sakura Safari (Part VI – Takayama)

Having bid a fond farewell to Kanazawa, Dad and I hopped another shinkansen to Takayama and we were both a little excited. Our accommodation in Takayama would be a ryokan (Japanese Inn) called Honjin Hiranoya, a place I had booked in order to experience the more traditional Japanese side of accommodation. The train eased into the station and we disembarked, heading out the front to meet our transfer and after a short wait, a car arrived  and the friendly driver had us promptly comfortable and on our way. As we entered the ryokan, we were welcomed by our hosts as though we were old friends.

My Japanese Adventures – The Sensational Sakura Safari (Part V – Goodbye Kanazawa)

If I had to identify an ultimate favourite city or part of this trip I’d have to say that it was Kanazawa. The whole fortnight spent in Japan was amazing (and of course, I fervently urge you to visit Japan at some point in your life!) for numerous reasons. The varied sights and experiences of the country have found comfortable seats in my memory and I hope to be telling tales of my travels for many years to come. Our last day in Kanazawa was not special because of any particular occurrence, but I’ll fill you in on how it went anyway.

A sign in front of this room clearly stated “No Entry”, but when the elderly attendant checked to see that no-one was watching, she ushered Dad in for a quick, cheeky photo op! We may never be allowed entry into Japan again for this…

My Japanese Adventures – The Sensational Sakura Safari (Part IV – Kanazawa contd.)

When you’re the Japanese city that produces 99% of your country’s gold leaf, is security fairly important to you? I imagine it would be and it seems that the residents of Kanazawa felt the same way. I have no hard facts to back me up on this, but I do have first-hand imaginary evidence. When I say first hand I mean I was there and when I say imaginary I mean that while I’m not necessarily making the following stuff up; I may be letting my mind construe connections that might be more coincidental than actually factual…

I’d want to protect things like this.

My Japanese Adventures – The Sensational Sakura Safari (Part III – Kanazawa)

Generally I like to celebrate my birthdays with friends and family when I can. This year, having a gathering of familiar faces was a little difficult due to the fact that on the date of my birth, my Dad and I were excitedly exploring Kanazawa, an extremely interesting town on the Sea of Japan. After a four and a half hour shinkansen ride from Hiroshima we dropped our bags off at our hotel and wandered the city, finding our bearings and simply orienting ourselves to our surroundings. After an afternoon of scouting it was decided that dinner was needed to fuel our bellies and combat the cold that was beginning to embrace us.

Of course – when you’re in Japan it’s compulsory to enjoy the country’s famously simple delicacy; guaranteed to fill you up and fight off the chill. We found a place easily enough and made our way inside. It was still reasonably early so my Dad and I were the only customers for the moment. We were greeted by an elderly woman who welcomed us in and bade us to sit, handing us menus and telling us to relax. I already knew what I wanted and soon enough, my birthday feast was placed before me:

My Japanese Adventures – The Sensational Sakura Safari (Part II – Hiroshima contd.)

Welcome back! If you are just joining me now, the beginning of the story outlining my recent trip to Japan with my Dad can be found here.

The first leg of our Japanese adventure had us heading to Hiroshima, where we would pack two days with all the sightseeing and atmosphere we could before moving on to our next destination. We checked into our backpacker accommodation and after a quick refresh, hit the pavement and headed straight towards our primary point of interest – the Hiroshima Peace Park. We made our way along the streets at a leisurely pace, taking in the new surroundings with curiosity and, at least for me, a slightly heavy heart given the city’s history.

My Japanese Adventures – The Sensational Sakura Safari (Part I – Hiroshima)

The good thing about writing random posts about topics that all sorts of crazies people like to read and using images that are popular with all sorts of crowds is that when you stop writing for a while, you can come back and still be happy with your readership stats. If you’re all about stats, that’s a real plus. If you’re more about the small, wonderful group of readers you’ve found yourself amongst then it’s not so good. While I find myself paying keen attention to my site stats, I’m more interested in those few people that I have either known for a while or have become closer to through the kinship of writing because we must.

You know I haven’t written for a while now, I won’t linger on that. What I will do instead is tell you now about my visit to Hiroshima. If you’ve followed my blog for a long while, you’ll know that I’ve been there once already and had quite the experience on my last trip. This time, however, my experience was just as memorable – but for completely wonderful reasons. My father and I flew over to Japan for a two-week adventure back in April (just in time for my birthday). Our itinerary had four stops on the map and Hiroshima was the first. We had planned our trip so that it coincided with the Cherry Blossom season and this made our experience absolutely unforgettable!