I don't think people realize how big Japan is, I really didn't before I got here. From where I live in Iwakuni to Tokyo is about a 12 hour drive or a 4 1/2 hr (EXPENSIVE) train ride. My friends suggested a small town called Kurashiki. Well I never heard of this little town and it was 3 hours by car or 2 1/2 hours by train (and about $190 roundtrip each) so in the beginning I was not very excited about this town. However, after I passed my written portion of the drivers license test and talked to Hiroe I came around to the idea. I asked Hiroe (remember, she is our Information Referral Specialist who rocks)bluntly if it was worth the effort and she said Yes! Now I have to agree with her it was; the drive was super easy, the town is a little quaint village, and the weather was nice.
Kurashiki is a historic city located in Okayama Prefecture; so we had to drive from Yamaguchi Prefecture through Hiroshima Prefecture to Okayama Prefecture. Kurashiki sits on the Takahashi River, on the coast of the Inland Sea. (Thanks to wikipedia here is some info on Kurashiki) The modern city of Kurashiki was founded on April 1, 1928. Previously, it was the site of clashes between the Heike and Genji clans during the Heian period. It gradually developed as a riverport; during the Edo period, it became an area directly controlled by the Shogunate. Distinctive white-walled, black-tiled warehouses were built to store goods. During the Meiji Restoration (Japan's Industrial Revolution period), factories were built, including the Ohara Spinning Mill which still stands as the nostalgic tourist attraction Ivy Square.
In Kurashiki we went to cute little stores, an art museum (yes Mom I went to an art museum and actually enjoyed it), and took a boat tour in this little canal. The boat tour was awesome, we had the cutest little boy behind us that was "fishing" with these long branches and seriously would have jumped in if his dad didn't have a hold on him. We also met this cute old Japanese man, Gunki Yoshimura. He was hysterical and wanted to practice his (excellent) English. When I told him I lived in Iwakuni he told me he went there every May 5th; May 5th is Friendship Day when the base opens up to the Japanese people and hosts about 250,000 Japanese visitors. Gunki was also our paparazzi and wanted to take pictures of us and when we were on the boat tour every time we turned around he was taking pictures of us. He was way too cute so I ofcourse had to get pictures of him and the girls.
The tolls in Japan are very expensive;I recently found out that if you have an ETC pass (Japanese equivalent of Ezpass) there are discount days but only Japanese can have those because you need a Japanese bank account. When I drove up to Hiroshima Airport the toll one way was 2,500 yen (roughly $30)and the toll to Kurashiki was 4,000 yen (roughly $47). That is absolutely crazy, could you imagine if that cost that much to get to Dulles or JFK! However, on base we can rent cars for about $55 a day and when you do that you get toll passes so it doesn't cost a dime at the toll booths. This is fantastic and totally makes renting the car completely worth it. If we didn't rent that car it would have cost us $180 each to get there on the train, I am so glad I rented it.
Before I went to Kurashiki I was excited to spend time with my friends but wasn't so sure about the town but after our visit I am so glad we went there! It was a really enjoyable day.
We debated going to visit this shrine but we were soooo tired and hot. We finally decided to walk over there and when we got there we saw these steps that we had to walk up. I think a 90 year old could have made it up the steps faster than me but I am glad we did it!
Alison discovered a Japanese favorite, the shaved ice with food coloring (like snow cones). I think they are now an Alison favorite too!
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