24 Hours in Iwakuni
We have traveled north from the Japanese island of Kyushu to the central island of Honshu.
Our first stop was the lovely small town of Iwakuni. Why Iwakuni? It is the ancestral home of some of our dearest friends in Honolulu, members of Church of the Crossroads. It is the church we served in the 80’s. Iwakuni is to those friends what Roscommon, Ireland is to me. Although Iwakuni has Roscommon beat for interest and charm.
The principal attraction in Iwakuni is its beautiful arched footbridge, Kintaikyo Bridge. Originally built in 1673 it spans the Nishiki River in three central arches. This wooden bridge was rebuilt in 1950 after the original was destroyed by a typhoon.
So far, everywhere we’ve been in Japan is fairly mountainous, with heavily forested hills of cedar, pine and bamboo looming above rivers and valleys. No one seems to build on the hillsides or hilltops, so they remain pristine. With one exception. If you look closely at this photo you will see the white of Iwakuni Castle atop the hill in the background. It was built in 1608 by Iwakuni’s first feudal lord.
You can walk or take a tram up to the castle. If you are into things samurai, the castle has a fine collection of samurai swords. Looking at the long, slightly curved and razor-sharp steel swords, it is not hard to imagine heads rolling.
Once up on top, there’s an optional side hike from the castle to the Gokanjin Shrine. It is a pretty good walk to this Shinto Shrine, with, of course, a rugged staircase to get to the shrine itself. There were lots of folks going to the castle, but we were the only ones making the trek to the shrine.
Perhaps other were discouraged by the frequent signs in Japanese and English advising, “Beware Pit Vipers.” Not quite sure what those look like. But I was happy to not find out. In other words, no pit viper sightings.
The walk to the Gokanjin Shrine turned out to be well worth it, with the shrine nestled in a striking backdrop of mountain rock. The Shinto sites are “shrines,” denoting a place of past encounter with a deity or spirit. Buddhist sites are “temples,” or places of worship.
Iwakuni is also famous for its own particular type of sushi, which is unlike the usual. Iwakuni sushi does not come wrapped in the roll of tasty dried seaweed. It is more like a cake of sushi rice, served in a square about the size of four large brownies, topped with orange and pink seasonings.
Also on the castle side of the bridge are the White Snake Museum, the Cormorant Training Center as well as a series of gardens along canals. But perhaps the best thing were the many soft ice cream shops, one featuring 50 varieties of soft ice cream cones, with all manner of different flavors and toppings.
Back on the other side of the river we spent some time drifting around Iwakuni’s old town where we watched kindergarten students go through their morning exercises to the accompaniment of songs from “The Sound of Music.”
School children here are decked out in matching hats, as was the group on a field trip in this photo. Cute.
From Iwakuni we traveled on into Hiroshima. More on that later.