Last Stop in Japan: Beppu

We caught an early train to our final destination in Japan, Beppu.

Beppu is on the eastern coast on the island of Kyushu, and is famous for its onsen (hot spring baths).

The light rain we had in Nagasaki turned into a heavy downpour in Beppu. A typhoon was passing through on the other side of the island. And so we couldn’t see the views of the ocean we normally would have had. But we had planned to spend most of the day inside anyway, so the rain didn’t really damper our activities.

While we waited to check into our hotel to change into swimsuits, we bowled. Fun was had by all.

After that, it was time to get wet. Our hotel has two main water areas. One is a water park, while the other is a huge onsen.

In the afternoon, we went to the water park. We started out in the wave pool that was so crowded that we barely had room to wade. The place was loaded with families with small kids. The lazy river was also crowded, and was not so relaxing.

We wanted Kai to try one of the water slides. Though he enjoys the slides once he goes down, he is often scared whenever it comes time to try a new one. This time, like before, it took some persuasion but he loved it once he went down, and then wanted to do it again.

But two runs down the slide were enough. He wanted to get some wifi time before dinner.

While Kai was using the wifi (with his grandfather watching him), my wife went for a massage and I played ping pong with one of my nephews.

And then it was time for dinner. The buffet was the highlight of the day. With steak and sashimi (raw fish) headlining a vast selection of western and Japanese dishes, we had plenty of great choices.

And the enormous dessert selection was exquisite. (Sorry I was too busy eating to take a picture of the dessert.)

After dinner, several of us went to the onsen to watch the nighttime fountain light show. The following photo is from the hotel website:

The show is similar to what you can see at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, with ever changing colors illuminating fountains of water. Kai seemed to really enjoy it. I think the experience was enhanced by being able to view it while relaxing in the open-air swimsuit hot spring.

The next morning, we enjoyed the breakfast buffet that was just as good as the previous night’s dinner.

Here’s my tray with made-to-order omelet, bacon, sausage, onigiri (rice ball), kinoko omochi (sticky rice cake), and ozoni (Japanese soup).

And then it was off to the train station as we would be traveling much of the day, taking three trains to get back to Tokyo.

We had woken up at 5:40AM so that Kai could use the wifi before breakfast, and he was feeling tired. He napped at the train station on his uncle’s lap…

And the whole time on the first train (along with Mom).

He was a tired kid. But who can blame him? He had done a whole lot on this remarkable vacation.

Japan Vacation: Nagasaki

We boarded the train early Thursday morning and headed to Nagasaki. The trains we have taken are all very comfortable. Kai enjoys riding them as he can watch movies on his iPad. And it gives all of us a chance to rest up, which is particularly nice when we have an early start to the day.

Nagasaki is where the first Europeans came to Japan. We visited the Dejima Museum, site of one of the early Dutch trading posts when Japan first opened up to outsiders.

For lunch, most of us had toruko rice which is a Nagasaki specialty. It is an eclectic mix of spaghetti, tonkatsu (fried pork), and curry rice, which probably is a result of the European influence there. Kai especially enjoyed it.

It was a rainy day in Nagasaki, but we carried on. After lunch, we went to Glover Garden.

The Glover House is the oldest western-style house in Japan, dating back to the late 19th century.

Thomas Glover was a Scotsman who came to Japan when he was 21, and had much business success including introducing beer to Japan and forming the company that is now Kirin Beer.

Later in the afternoon, we went to the Nagasaki Peace Park that honors the victims of the second atomic bomb explosion.

Dinner that night was Nagasaki Champon, a Chinese noodle dish mixed with seafood, another specialty of the area.

Most of the others were tired from all of our travels, and Kai just wanted to stay in the hotel to use the iPad, but my wife and I went out after dinner to ride the Nagasaki Ropeway to the top of Mount Inasa for a great night view of the city. They bill it as the “Ten Million Dollar Night View.”

It is kind of hard to believe that our vacation is winding down. We only have one more destination before we return to Tokyo to catch our flight home.

A Range of Emotions in Hiroshima

Hiroshima is most famous, of course, for being the place where the first atomic bomb was dropped. And so our first destination on Wednesday was to visit the Peace Park and Peace Memorial Museum.

I prepped Kai that he needed to be on his best behavior. The museum would be a serious and solemn place and it would be inappropriate to goof around and laugh. He needed to be respectful. He said he understood, but I wasn’t sure if he would be able to follow through.

At 8AM, we walked over to the Peace Park from our hotel. We first saw the display of origami cranes, a symbol for peace, made by the school children that visit. There were literally thousands of them, many formed together into beautiful designs.

We walked through the Peace Park.

And then we entered the museum.

The museum presented a history of the events that lead up to World War II and the subsequent decision to use the atomic bomb on Japan. There were photographs showing the city before and after the bomb was dropped. And there were numerous photos and artifacts that illustrated the devastation, suffering, and after effects.

Here is a photo of a clock that stopped when the bomb exploded:

Kai took his time to look at and read many of the exhibits.

Here is a photo of Hiroshima shortly after the bombed was dropped.

We saw a display of how the city stood before the bomb…

and after.

Here is a display of the burns people suffered and some artifacts of clothing from victims.

Kai took it all in very seriously.

At one point, he got very upset and came up to his mother. “My country did an evil thing!” And “whoever did this should be punished!”

My wife told him that Japan did a lot of bad things, too, especially to China and Korea. But it’s hard to explain to a boy who sees everything in black and white all the nuances and arguments that go into a decision to use a weapon like the atomic bomb.

I was happy, though, that he was very respectful in the museum, and hopeful that he learned a lot there that will stay with him.

After the museum, we walked over to get a closer look at the A-bomb Dome, one of the few buildings in Hiroshima that remained upright after the explosion.

And then we took a 40-minute streetcar ride over toward Miyajima Island. Kai took the opportunity to take a nap.

After catching the ferry, we were on the island. There are many deer on the island that come right up to people. Here’s one with my older nephew.

We coaxed Kai to come up to one, too.

Later, as we were walking, a deer came right up to my wife and started to eat the plastic bag she was carrying. Kai thought that was very funny.

Then it was time for lunch. We found a nice spot that had good seafood. We ordered three dishes just for Kai: grilled oysters on the half shell, shrimp tempura, and octopus tempura.

Yes, all of the food you see in the above photo was just for Kai and he ate nearly all of it up himself.

I had the fried oyster set which came with soup, small pieces of chicken, and rice.

Miyajima is most famous for the torii gate that is in the water.

It was another scorching hot day, so when we came to a shrine, Kai cooled himself off with water you are supposed to purify yourself with.

On hot days like this, we always carry lots of water. Japan is great, though, because there are vending machines selling water and other cold drinks on every corner.

We also try to stay in the shade as much as possible.

Here is a picture of the torii gate taken from the shrine.

Kai loves trying to shake out a good fortune at every shrine we visit.

And then we took the Miyajima Ropeway to the top of Mount Misen.

It was an amazing view as we could see Hiroshima along with many small islands all around.

When we came back down, it was low tide.

We went back to our hotel and had time for only a very quick shower and then we were off to a baseball game.

Before we left home, my father-in-law let us know that he could get tickets to see the Hiroshima Carp if we were interested. My older nephew and I, especially, are big baseball fans so we jumped at the chance to see a game in Japan.

Our big concern, though, was how long Kai would tolerate a baseball game.

We had never taken him to a baseball game before. He’s not much of a sports fan and mostly does not show much interest on the rare occasions when I have a game on tv. Last summer we tried taking him to the horse race track thinking that the short races and all the numbers would hold his attention. But he wanted to leave after only one race.

I soon learned that the experience of going to a baseball game in Japan is nothing like that in America. The atmosphere is much more akin to a major college football game than to an MLB game in the States. There is a band. The vast majority of people were decked out in the red and white colors of the home team. There was organized cheering for every Carp batter. And the crowd was loud. Very loud. The atmosphere on each pitch resembled what you usually only find in a tense moment in an American playoff game.

The noise did not bother Kai at all. In fact, he got into it very much, cheering for the Carp along with everyone else.

We got food. Most of my family got hot dogs. My older nephew got a Philly Cheese Steak that was heavy on cheese and light on Philly. I had the yakitori.

My nephew and I got jerseys of the Carp’s best player.

The game was very exciting, but I was most thrilled that Kai was having such a great time.

We picked a good night to go. It was Peace Night. Everyone was given a green poster upon entering the park, and at a couple points we all held them up while John Lennon’s Imagine played.

I was wondering what the 7th Inning Stretch would be like. Everyone in the stands blew up long, red balloons.

I don’t know where they all got the balloons as we did not receive them but everyone else had one. As Kai got upset that he did not have one, a woman sitting next to us leaned over and handed hers to him.

It was quite a sight when the song stopped playing and everyone released their balloons all together. The photo below was taken a few moments later and doesn’t quite capture the look of all the balloons in the air at once.

The Carp won the game 9-2. It was one of the most fun sporting events I had ever experienced. Kai said he loves baseball now. Well, I think he loves Japanese baseball. I don’t know that I’ll be taking him to a Cubs game anytime soon.

And so this was a quite a day. From the solemn reminder of the atomic bomb devastation to the joyous exhilaration of the baseball game. It may be one of my favorite days on a vacation filled with good ones.

Toei Studio Park

We had one last day in Kyoto before we would depart in the afternoon.

On this day, we decided it would be best for my sister’s family and our family to go our separate ways. We wanted to take Kai to the Toei Kyoto Studio Park, which is primarily geared toward kids, while my sister’s family could tour the former Imperial Palace and other sights that we did not get to the day before.

Toei is a kids’ ninja-version of Universal Studios Park.

The park has a setting of ancient Japan, including streets and buildings of that era.

We saw several shows including one that demonstrated how they film a ninja fight scene.

And went through several attractions including one where you received ninja training.

But Kai’s favorite was the show that featured a ninja water fight that got the audience wet, too.

Early afternoon, we started to head back to the hotel where we had left our luggage. When we got off the local train at Kyoto Station, Kai was antsy to get as much wifi time as he could. So I offered to take him back to the hotel while my wife and father-in-law went to ticket counter to buy the tickets for our train to our next destination, Hiroshima.

It seemed like a good idea at the time. Our hotel was right across the street from the station. How hard could it be to get there?

But when we came out of the station, I realized that something was wrong. Nothing looked familiar. I knew we were on the opposite side but finding my way over to the other side was harder than you would think. Kyoto Station is large, and there’s no direct way to cut across.

Kai started loudly moaning that we were lost and he would not have any wifi time. I tried to ask people how to get to the hotel, but they either were not familiar with our hotel or could not understand my poor Japanese. Kai was getting more upset by the second.

I finally found someone at a small shop who looked up the address of our hotel and gave me directions on how to navigate around the train station. We got there to the relief of my wife who was panicking that we were lost.

Kai just wanted to get on his iPad. But when the wifi connection didn’t work, he got upset all over again. I frantically tried to get it working to no avail. And then it was time to go back to the station to catch our train.

It wasn’t until we were settled on board and started watching a video that he finally calmed down.

The hot weather hasn’t bothered him as much as we thought. He has been remarkably patient as we’ve toured many sights.

But the thought of missing wifi time will bring out the worst.

When it comes to the iPad, we have to take the bad with the good.