Photos

of Day Trips from MCAS Iwakuni

Photo page of

• Index Page of Hiroshima Photos
• AKIYOSHI PLATEAU and CAVE
• Safari Land- page 1
• Safari Land- page 2

  ETAJIMA:
  

• Cadets on the Parade Field
  Home of the JMSDF's First Service School & Officer Candidate School. The Imperial Naval Academy was relocated to Etajima from Tokyo in 1888. It was closed after WWII, but the JMSDF schools moved onto Etajima in 1956. Actually taken for me by someone else, from the window of the bus we were toured around on (I was on the wrong side of the bus!)
  
• Suikokan
  The oldest building here, built in 1888. Now used as visiting VIP quarters. Etajima is on an island near Kure and Hiroshima.
  
  HIROSHIMA:
  
• Burial mound in Peace Memorial Park
  The ashes of the A-bomb dead were gathered together, and buried in this mound. (Veteran's Day, Nov. '96)
  
• Peace Memorial Park
  View through the memorial, past the peace flame, to the a-bombed dome. (Veteran's Day, Nov. '96)
  
  
• Toys R Us
  This is the destination for many $2 trips wtih ITT, especially as it gets close to Christmas! Gotta get your kids stuff! It's really almost exactly the same as an American Toys R Us :-)
  
• Allpark Mall
  This is a really GREAT shopping mall! 6 stories of shopping, eating, and fun right by the train station... very easy to get to. Looks to me like the place to go for Christmas shopping! (10/31/97)
  
• Carrousel at Allpark Mall
  Ashley and her friend Kayla enjoyed the rides at the mall, too. (10/31/97)
  
• Kiddie train ride at Allpark Mall
  Ashley, Kayla and her mom rode the Kiddie Train. It went along the inside and outside wall of the mall- they said it was pretty slow, but had a nice view. (10/31/97)
  
  KUDAMATSU:
  
• Clock tower in The Mall
  This clock tower was neat... kinda reminded me of the Small World at Disneyland. There's a large screen TV at the base, and benches to sit on and watch. The bottom floor of this store sells food items. (Nov. '96)
  
  MIYAJIMA ISLAND:
  
• View from ferry to landing at Miyajima-guchi
  The tower is near where we boarded the ferry, to leave for the island. We were the only car, going out; coming back there were several vehicles, though. (Veteran's Day, '97)
  
• Adorable little Japanese girl in a kimono!
  This little girl was so cute, but very shy :-) I asked her mom, in psuedo-sign language, if I could take her picture; she kept ducking behind her mom, though. (Veteran's Day, '97)
  
• O-Torii (Shrine Gate), Miyajima
  View shows the Torii from the seawall, as we approached the bay. The green stuff on the ground that looks like grass, isn't... it's a form of seaweed! Remember, that's low tide on a tidal flat :-) (Veteran's Day, '97)
  
• Torii and Itsukushima Shrine
  This view was taken from out on the tidal flat... would have been floating in the ocean, if the tide was in! (Veteran's Day, '97)
  
• View of Torii, toward mainland
  There is a white Buddhist temple barely visible through the Torii, on the mainland. (Veteran's Day, '97)
  
• Close-up of the Torii's post
  This shows how the posts are made of entire tree trunks! (Veteran's Day, '97)
  
• Five-storied Buddhist Pagoda
  This sits on a hill beside the bay, overlooking the shrine and Torii. The dark wood building beside it, is also a Buddhist building, a library I believe. (Veteran's Day, '97)
  
• Deer on the beach on Miyajima Island
  The sacred "god-deer" wander freely all over Miyajima Island, but it seemed odd to see deer lounging on the beach; they calmly walked away when they discovered we weren't planning to feed them! (Veteran's Day, '97)
  
• Fall foliage at Isukushima Shrine
  I was very pleased with this photo, showing the colorful autumn leaves of a gingko tree, within the shrine compound.
• The O-Torii, with reflection
  The tide had come in, by this time, and the sun was low. It gave this nice rippled reflection of the shrine gate.
• O-Torii and lantern
  View from the left of center, at the main shrine.
  
  TSUWANO:
  
• Yabusame bows and arrows
  Before the contest, I took a picture of the archery equipment. These are very long bows, over 6 ft. I believe. (April '97)
  
• Preparing one of the horses for the contest
  They wrapped the saddle, presumably to help keep it tightly on the horse. (April '97)
  
• This is the course, before the contest.
  The horses galloped toward the camera, along the dirt path on the right. The three targets were set up in front of the big blue curtains on the hill (there is one visible in the picture). The riders TRIED to hit all three targets. Very few hit the last one, which we we standing by! (April '97)
  
• Shinto ceremony, prior to the Yabusame contest
  The two riders in this ceremony were given special headgear, and their quivers, with arrows, and apparently blessed in some way, though I could not understand what anyone was saying. There was a flute and drum being played. (April '97)
  
• A young participant in the procession.
  We never did figure out what the significance of this young man was (he was not one of the archers), but he was a very colorful addition to the ceremony! (April '97)
  
• Feeding the carp in the Tsuwano River
  Some of these carp are HUGE. This picture doesn't do them justice! (April '97)
  
• Japanese-style toilet
  I'm not kidding... this is a picture (worth a thousand words) of a squatty toilet. If this would offend you, don't look :-) If you're curious, take a peek! I did! This particular facility was at the Chicken Shack, on our way back from Tsuwano. I used the handicapped facility, and took a picture of this to share with ya'll! (April '97)
  
  
• The Yamaguchi SL in Ogori Station Our second trip to Tsuwano was on the Yamaguchi SL, a restored steam locomotive, which runs between Ogori and Tsuwano on selected days from March through November. It was a 2 hour train ride, through some scenic countryside, with rice paddies and apple and mikan orchards. (Sept. '97)
  
• The interior of the car we first rode in Each of the restored cars is decorated to represent a period in Japanese railway history. This first car we were in was a little austere, but apparently preferred by Japanese businessmen, who eventually crowded us out of our reserved seats! That's OK, though, because the second car, which we were herded into, was nicer anyway :-) It had high-backed green velveteen seats, which were also more comfortable! (Sept. '97)
  
• Heron Dance statue This popular photo-spot overlooks the carp-filled river. It depicts the Sagimai (Heron) Dancers, who perform this dance in July, as part of the Gion Festival. (Sept. '97)
  
• Paul and the kids pass through the Torii tunnel! The stairs up to the famous Inari Shrine are almost entirely enclosed by torii after torii! (Sept. '97)
  
• Interior of a small Shinto shrine This small shrine, with several heron motifs, was located on the path up the hill to the Inari Shrine. (Sept. '97)
  
• The Taikodani Inari Jinja Shrine This is said to be one of the five largest Inari shrines in Japan. According to a book I recently bought, Pictorial Encyclopedia of Japanese Life and Events, about 40% of the 80,000 or so Shinto shrines in Japan are Inari shrines. Inari is a guardian deity of agriculture, fishing and commerce.(Sept. '97)
  
• View from the Inari Shrine This view shows the western end of the town of Tsuwano, as seen from the courtyard of the Inari shrine. It really is a lovely little town :-) (Sept. '97)
  
  TOKUYAMA CHRISTMAS TREE FESTIVAL:
  
• Festive Christmas Tree
  The trees along the street in the shopping district of Tokuyama, about an hour-and-a-half from Iwakuni, were decorated for Christmas, with lights and ornaments. There were vendors all along the street, which was closed to vehicular traffic, selling food and souvenirs. Paul was even interviewed for Japanese TV, while waiting in line for some yakisoba! 12/23/97
  
• Japanese Santa
  There were many "Santas" wandering around the streets, mostly in groups. There were even girl Santas, distinguishable mostly because they didn't wear beards. This was probably the most unusual Santa we saw! 12/23/97
  
• Japanese Angels
  These three very cheerful Japanese angels, complete with balloon halos, were parading through the shopping area, closely followed by a group of Santas, all of them singing Christmas Carols!!! 12/23/97
  
• Pounding Mochi for the New Year
  Mochi is a traditional rice dish eaten for New Years celebrations (often in ozoni soup). It is traditionally made by pounding the rice with a mortar and pestle, but these days it is apparently unusual to see it pounded by hand, rather than by machines. Probably akin to watching someone milk a cow, or churn butter by hand, in the states! We enjoyed the demonstration even more, knowing it was getting to be a fairly rare sight :-) 12/23/97
  

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