Beautiful children and loving parents
There are both Western style and squat toilets in Japan with instructional signs
To go food Japanese style packaged in Bento Boxes or cellophane
Restaurants advertise their menus this way
Reminder:There are so many people you have to be aware of space
Japanese Moon. Last night in Japan
Hard to think about leaving this place. It has been an adventure. Incredible to explore the land and its culture and learn about its history and its people. We have seen so much yet we have only caught a glimpse. It makes me want to know more. If I’m lucky, I will come this way again.
We have been busy traveling to different parts of Japan and having many adventures. After leaving Hiroshima we went by ferry to the island of Miyajima a beautiful place that has many shrines and temples and a Tori gate that stands in the ocean
We took a tram to the top of Mt MIsen and saw amazing panoramic views
We hiked down and did some shopping and had lunch trying to keep it away from the deer which roam the streets of the island
We visited castles
Beautiful Gardens
And today the biggest bronze buddha in Japan housed inside one of the largest wooden buildings in the world
Today we went to Hiroshima. Kyoto station is gorgeous, everything is clean and elegant. We took the bullet train to Hiroshima. It is a sleek,quiet,beautiful train and is a tribute to Japanese engineering and efficiency.
Hiroshima is a vibrant bustling city. After checking into our motel, we walked to Memorial Park and the Peace Museum. The first thing you see is the skeleton of the one building that remained after the bombing. It was left standing surrounded by rubble-a reminder of the day.
We went on toward the Peace Museum past a memorial garden
The mall was full of school children waiting to go into the museum
Walking through the museum was a moving experience. You enter through a corridor lined with rubble and on the left is a life-size diorama depicting burned victims trying to leave the scene of the blast. On the right is a 3D map showing the site of the blast. Videos of actual footage play overhead showing the plane being loaded, the actual blast, and the aftermath. 
As you move along, there are glass cases with clothing from blast victims along with their stories. Who they were. Where they were when the blast happened and how they died.
Another room is devoted to describing the bomb and its effects. Another room describes the effects of radiation on the body and the environment. Another case shows items recovered from the wreckage.
The walls are lined with pictures of burn victims and a ruined city
Despite all the people going through, the museum is quiet as people pass through absorbing all the details.
As you leave the main hall, there are benches and video displays with interviews from survivors playing describing the blast and the aftermath. You continue on and you find hope as you read about the museums purpose.
As we leave the museum, many of our crew are emotional including our leader who came to Japan as an exchange student. She was invited by a Japanese man who went through the museum and vowed to devote himself to promoting world peace. His family hosted her to teach and learn about our two cultures. For her it started a lifelong connection with Japan and its people. On the way out, we stop at a statue dedicated to all those lost that day and pay our respects
We walk down to the river and I look around with new eyes at the beautiful, vibrant city that stands there today. It was rebuilt from the ashes and is a testament to human resiliency. I only hope that we will never see that kind of devastation again.
We spent the day visiting gardens. We walked and traveled by bus. There is excellent transportation here and the beauty is amazing.
The streets almost always have vending machines that sell drinks, coffee and cigarettes
Japanese Grocery stores are beautiful. Food is abundant and they serve a lot of prepackaged meals as kitchens here are small and people are on the go
There are lots of small shops. Here a woman buys tofu directly from a factory
There is so much to learn. Here we are taught the proper way to drink tea
Went to a Shinto Festival and a Zen Monastery
We visited our first gardens and started to explore the culture.
Fun interesting observations The Japanese hang out their laundry
People wear masks if they have a cold.
The Japanese have started celebrating Halloween their way
This is our day to recover from jet lag. We all took our time getting up then broke into small groups to explore the city. My group went to the Mt.Inari and climbing up through thousands of Tori gates to the top to get a real view of Kyoto. The pathway is lined with shrines to the Goddess of Rice and it is a popular site for Japanese and foreign travelers. Although these look like Japanese people they are really Chinese and American tourist dressed up in traditional Japanese kimonos a popular thing to do.
Part of the Crew Leaving Maine for the Airport
We left Maine on October 4th at 3:30 PM. We traveled to Boston Logan Airport where we checked in three hours early for our flight which left at 1 AM on October 5th. The first flight was 15 hours. I have never been on such a long flight. It was very hard to sit for that long. We arrived in Hong Kong at 5:30 AM their time. I am sitting in the Hong Kong Airport now drinking Starbucks coffee to stay awake and waiting for out flight to Japan.
Waiting for a connecting Flight in Hong Kong
Finally after the flight to Osaka and a connecting train and subway trip we made it to Kyoto.
Beds have never felt so good!
Japan has similar weather to Maine. Any guesses as to why?
Here is a weather site so you can see what the weather is like.
http://www.jma.go.jp/en/week/333.html
Temperatures are in Celsius. So if you don’t know how to convert it to Fahrenheit you can ask your teachers.
Japan Trip 