Flying To Japan
Thursday 14th or Friday 15th July 2005
A few (completely pointless!) pictures taken on the flight to Japan. mostly over Siberia.

Koyasan
Friday 15th July 2005
A trip to Koyasan, a small town on top of a mountain, famous for its temples. Also my first day back in Japan in July 2005!

Koyasan and Kobe
Saturday 16th July 2005
A morning spent in Koyasan followed by an evening somewhere between Osaka and Kobe, where Chie's cousin lives.

Kobe
Sunday 17th July 2005
My first ever proper visit to Kobe, which turned out to be quite a nice city actually.

Hiroshima
Monday 18th - Friday 22nd July 2005
Assorted pictures from daily life in Hiroshima.

Miyajima
Friday 22nd July 2005
An evening spent on Miyajima for a swim, a few beers on the beach, and a festival that had something to do with boats.

Beach and Fireworks
Saturday 23rd July 2005
Afternoon going to the beach for a swim, followed by watching the Hiroshima fireworks display in the evening.

Bloody Mary
Sunday 24th July 2005
Just a couple of pictures of a Bloody Mary(?!).

Yes
Tuesday 26th July 2005
A day broadly inspired by Danny Wallace's Yes Man. I determined rather than just stay in bored, we should just go into the centre of Hirsohima, and I would say "Yes" to every suggestion offered. So we went out today with the vague plan of doing at least three things that we'd (or I'd) never done before in Japan. I wasn't expecting any of them to be that great or anything, but following the previous hideously bland day, anything would do!

Tempura and Kure
Wednesday 27th - Thursday 28th July 2005
Another couple of days doing not very much in and around Hiroshima.

Trains
Friday 29th July 2005
A day spent largely on trains. I have an embarassing secret that I am in fact a closet train geek, and I particularly love old steam trains. So when Chie suggested we go on the special SL (Steam Locomotive) service from Yamaguchi to Tsuwano, I jumped at the chance. I hadn't quite realised it was a three hour trip from Hiroshima to Yamaguchi, which meant, including the run on the steam train, we spent over nine hours on trains today! Still, I like trains, so that is OK.

Natsu Matsuri
Saturday 30th July 2005
Went for a walk in the afternoon, then had a quick dinner in Diamond City followed by going over to Chie's grandparent's part of town to have a look at the nastsu matsuri - summer festival.

Ice Cream
Sunday 31st July 2005
Went out in the afternoon for ice cream at a place in the centre of Hiroshima - and that's about it!

Assorted
Monday 1st - Wednesday 3rd August 2005
Assorted pictures of nothing in particular taken during the first three days of August.

Gaijin Bars
Friday 5th August 2005
A day spent in Gaijin bars in Hiroshima.

Solar Powered Car
Saturday 6th August 2005
Only in Japan - a solar powered car, for less than ten quid.

Waterfall
Sunday 7th August 2005
An outing in the afternoon to go and see a waterfall North of Hiroshima.

Tokyo
Monday 8th August 2005
A brief stop off in Tokyo, the first leg on our trip to Hokkaido.

Oarai and Ferry
Tuesday 9th August 2005
Spent the day travelling to Oarai from Tokyo, then killing time in Oarai, then getting on the ferry which would take us to Hokkaido.

Ferry
Wednesday 10th August 2005
Spent most of the day on the ferry to Hokkaido, which landed in Tomakomai around 8ish.

Yoichi, Shakotan and Otaru
Thursday 11th August 2005
A busy day - the morning visiting the famous Yoichi distillery, followed an afternoon walk by the coast on the Shakotan peninsula, and then an evening in the port of Otaru.

Sapporo
Friday 12th August 2005
A day spent in Sapporo before moving on to Shizunai in the evening.

Volcanoes
Saturday 13th August 2005
A day out on Hokkaido with Keijisan and Mikikosan. My first time to see a volcano!

Shizunai and Dinner with the Taniguchi Family
Sunday 14th August 2005
Spent the morning and afternoon haveing a look around Shizunai, where Mikikosan and Keijisan live, and then went to the Taniguchi family farm in the evening for dinner.

Shizunai to Hakodate
Monday 15th August 2005
The first leg of our long trip back to Hiroshima - from Shizunai to Hakodate.

Morioka
Wednesday 17th August 2005
The next leg of our journey took us from Hakodate (on Hokkaido) to Morioka on the main island. By an amazing coincidence we managed to meet an old friend of Chie's in Morioka, which made for a very nice evening.

Morioka to Sendai
Wednesday 17th August 2005
Spent the daytime travelling between Morioka and Sendai, with a stop off in Hanamaki around lunchtime. Met up with Junchan in the evening in Sendai and went out for a curry.

Sendai
Thursday 18th August 2005
A visit to Matsushima in the daytime followed by dinner with Junchan's family in the evening. Apparently Matsushima is one of the "scenic trio of Japan" - the three best places in the country for sea views, which also includes Miyajima. We visited on a rather grey day, so unfortunately the pictures don't really look that marvellous.

Mukomachi
Saturday 20th August 2005
After Sendai we got a few more local trains to Tokyo, from where we cheated and got on the Shinkasen to Kyoto. Stayed the night at Dale and Erina's in Mukomachi, not far from Kyoto, and while the girls stayed in chatting Dale and I went out for a few beers at Dale's local.

Ako
Saturday 20th August 2005
A brief stop off in Ako, to look at a castle, on the final leg of our journey back to Hiroshima.

Miyajima in the Rain
Sunday 21st August 2005
A day out doing sightseeing stuff on Miyajima in the pouring rain (!).

Night Out
Wednesday 24th August 2005
A night out for no particular reason following an uneventful day in Hiroshima.

Weekend in Tokyo
Friday 26th - Sunday 28th August 2005
A weekend in Tokyo to go and see some of Chie's friends.

Hiroshima
Monday 29th - Tuesday 30th August 2005
A couple of days in and around Hiroshima - dinner with the family and a walk up a mountain the next morning.

Out by Myself
Wednesday 31st August 2005
I rather randomly went out by myself this evening... Took my camera with me, but only started taking pictures once I was quite drunk - and then (perhaps as a result) they were generally too bad and random to have been worth taking! Still, I feel I have a commitment to recording my life digitally now, so have uploaded them regardless.

Tofu Burgers
Friday 2nd September 2005
Tofu burgers for dinner!

Walk by the Sea
Saturday 3rd September 2005
A brief outing at the end of the afternoon (or early evening) to go to a spot near where Chie's family lives which is by the sea.

Assorted
Sunday 4th - Wednesday 7th September 2005
A few more largely uneventful days.

Hiroshima Day Out
Thursday 8th September 2005
Originally just went out for lunch, but ended up staying out all day.

09 - Onomichi
Friday 9th September 2005
A day out in Onomichi, a town not too far from Hiroshima.

Evening Out in Hiroshima
Saturday 10th September 2005
A night out in Hiroshima with Chie's parents and Kumada-san.

Fake Meat
Sunday 11th September 2005
A spot of shopping in the afternoon, some early evening sunset pictures, and then fake meat for dinner!

Last Night in Hiroshima
Monday 12th September 2005
Dinner at Sushi Tei, followed by a spot of karaoke to mark my last night in Hiroshima.