last leg of japan
For the second half of our Japan expedition, we wanted to escape the crowds and find some hidden gems. Equal parts wishful thinking and other blog recommendations led us to the more remote parts of Japan. We planned to stay in Okayama for a few nights while passing through to Hiroshima. I booked a hostel in Kurashiki because of its swanky vibes and low prices. Other than the fabulous photos of the hostel, I had little idea what I was getting us into, but I just hoped we would like it. We arrived at Okayama Station from Kyoto and still had about an hour of travel left to get to our hostel. However, due to a few navigational errors, our travels took another two and a half hours. I still blame Google Maps, but somehow, the wrong address was plugged into the app multiple times, taking us all around the city. First, we got on the wrong train at Okayama Station, heading south when we needed to go west. Thank goodness the train didn’t depart for about thirty minutes because I had time to realize this wasn’t the train we needed, but it really was a buzzer-beater. We quickly found the correct local train and made it to Kurashiki. From there, my directions had us take a bus 20 minutes down the road and then walk another 15 minutes, but instead of our hostel, we ended up at town hall. And then the rain started. Tristan began wondering if the hostel even existed. Soaking wet, we backtracked to where we originally got on the bus, and after a 30-minute walk, we finally found Hostel Cuore Kurashiki. It was only up from there on.
The town of Kurashiki was adorable, artsy, and old. There were blocks of little local shops with a temple that towered over the main square. Our hostel had an aesthetically pleasing bar/restaurant, and we had a very nice private room and bath. We ate deliciously warm ramen and had a few drinks at the hostel before going to a jazz show. A small restaurant housed the three-piece jazz band in a cozy atmosphere. We chatted with someone staying at our hostel and a kind Japanese gentleman who was the trumpet player’s biggest fan. After some much-needed sleep, we meandered into town, browsing the shops and eating some good food. Kurashiki was hosting a film festival over the weekend, so our hostel only had availability for one night. Without much space or money to buy stuff, one night was perfect.
Our next location was Kotohira. I wanted to explore the Kagawa Prefecture after reading an article explaining how it is unfrequented and culturally preserved. Takamatsu, the northern city on the island, is known for the Ritsurin Garden and island views, but I found an Airbnb an hour away in Kotohira—a small town with mountainous shrines. A minor mistake led us to stay three nights in this area, but we found plenty to do. The only downside was that most restaurants closed early, leaving us with very few choices for dinner.
On our first full day, we visited the temples in Kotohira, which were tranquil and breathtaking, before heading to Takamatsu for the Ritsurin Garden. You have to climb hundreds of stairs to get to the shrines, so we did a little hike, stopping at museums along the way. Halfway up, we saw an older woman hold her hand out by some trees, and little birds flew to her. We wanted to play Snow White too, so we copied her movements, and sure enough, little birds landed in our hands. It was weirdly frightening, having a little bird perch on my fingertips, but worth every moment. The few restaurants we really wanted to try ended up being closed, so we ventured to Takamatsu for the garden and lunch. We spent hours walking the grounds and staring at the koi fish swimming by. We had lunch by the koi pond and marveled at the apricot trees starting to bloom. We wanted to take a peek at the city to see what the area was like, but ran into the same problem of restaurants being closed. The area was kind of a ghost town. Exhausted, we tracked back to Kotohira and collapsed into bed.
There are many small islands to the north of Takamatsu, and the cape of Nagasaki has expansive lookout points. I wanted to go for sunset, but found no public transportation to take us there. So, during our second day in Kotohira, we decided to ride bikes and trust that there would be a feasible route. A bike rental shop was directly outside the Takamatsu train station and only cost $1 for the whole day. After a very bad translation process with the bike rental lady, we were on our way. Tristan guided us on our city bikes through the town and up the coast on a very windy day. There were quite a few steep hills, and we ended up having to walk our bikes for 10 minutes, but I reminded Tristan that it would be all downhill on our way back. Once we reached the point, it was all worth it. The wind was strong enough to knock me over, but we carefully made our way to the peak of the cliff. We walked along the beaches and rested before our bike ride back. We ended up biking 11 miles that day, and when I asked Tristan if he enjoyed it, he said, “I’m glad we did it, but there’s no chance I would do that again.” And we slept the rest of the day.
We were eager to board the train set for Hiroshima. We rode through rolling landscapes with a brightly shining sun. Back in civilization, we needed some comfort food and had dinner at a burger and Tex-Mex restaurant. We scarfed down some burgers and American beers, basking in the lively atmosphere. The food made us so happy that we decided to enjoy ourselves and splurge on some drinks and a night on the town. A few espresso martinis later, we wound up at a karaoke bar, singing our hearts out for two hours. The next day, we decided a personal day was in order to regroup and hydrate, so we watched The Amazing Race and relaxed. For our TV binge intermission, we went for some ramen that cured us. The day was serene, so we sat by the river to birdwatch and people-watch. Feeling more like ourselves the next day, Tristan booked tickets for the Hiroshima Memorial Museum. The memorial park was tranquil yet evocative, bestrewn with sculptures created by schoolchildren memorializing all their classmates lost in the catastrophe. The museum exhibit left us speechless after we beheld the tragic events of August 6th. Drained, we ate some Chinese food and went to bed.
Next stop: Kanazawa. Through the mountains north of Tokyo, the coastal town is known for its preserved Samurai villages. Like Kyoto, it wasn’t targeted during the war, and its historical infrastructure is intact. It hit us like a brick wall that we only had three days left in Japan, and we wanted to do all of our favorite things. We loaded up on 7-Eleven guilty pleasures, ate ramen, drank matcha, and delighted in the city moving around us. Two nights in Kanazawa and one night in Tokyo was just what we needed before embarking on our journey to the Philippines. We got our fill of traditional Japanese culture and architecture, meandering through the old Samurai neighborhoods. And then we braved the city crowds again to shop in downtown Tokyo. We shipping some goodies home just praying they understood the US addresses we wrote and boarded the train to Narita Airport.
