Japan Again 6

YANAI

Our claim to fame here is that we are the first foreign yacht to visit, according to Coastguard, who once they got over their surprise at our appearance in their office, were extremely helpful. They gave us maps marking shopping areas, KFC etc. Tourist Information were also surprised to see us. They gave us great information all in English. We wandered through the Street Of White Walls and an open house. The English speaking guide gave us a very informative tour. Yanai is a clean and friendly city. We had a steady stream of curious visitors who have enjoyed our conducted tour of Charioteer. We had a very enjoyable evening with our new friends, dining from Bento boxes, talking and laughing.

IWAKUNI

Another wonderful place. Officials are extremely helpful as is the local ferry owner. Being tied to a commercial wharf means we have had very few visitors and this has enabled us to catch up on housework. Everyone we do meet is warning us to expect snow...and YES we have awoken to find snow on Charioteers deck.
Iwakuni has the most amazing bridge, opriginally built centuries ago. After a typhoon semi destroyed it, it was rebuilt in 1953, to original plans. There is also a Castle and an Art museum.Our bycycles have been in daily use which ios just as well as we are eating heavy winter food. Our diesel heater is a godsend.

HIROSHIMA

Here we spent Christmas. Our present to us was ....a marina stay, a new outdoor table, two deck chairs and about 20 second hands books,
Here we were to meet our fishermen friends from Ya Shima. When we were collected in a chaffuer driven Lexus we began to think there was more to these fisherman than we had realised. We were driven on a tour of Hiroshima city and one of the places we visited was our hosts business which has 75 employees........we had a lovely afternoon tea at his house that had the most incredible views over Hiroshima. That evening we had a delighful meal complete with Christmas cake at a beautiful restaurant.
By now we were sure that Kozi and Tochi were not your average fisherman. Kozi invited us to join them at the Rotary Christmas party the following evening. Once again we were collected in the Lexus and upon arrival meet the President of the oldest Rotary Club in Hiroshima....guess what it was Kozi !!!!!!!!
To return their hospitality we invited them to Charioteer in the afternoon of the 25th December for Christmas pudding, cake, pavalova . We had also meet a lovely American who we had invited to join us for Christmas Day.
And so a day that can often be sad when one is away from home became a joyous occasion. Plus we had the added bonus of actually being able to talk to our family.

Hiroshima is one of the Japanese citys that had an atomic bomb dropped on it during World War Two. We visited the Peace Park and viewed the sad remains of buildings that had survived and are now preserved, the museum thats hold the memories of survivors. We thought we may have felt guilty....we certainly felt sad...but not guilty. We will only feel guilty if we do not help the world to stay safe from this type of weapon.
The people we met were once again friendly and giving...Charioteer is over flowing with oranges...I maybe able to start up a roadside stall!!!!!!!!!
Today we leave Hiroshima and continue our crusing. To any yachties planning a trip here the Kanon Marina is clean and friendly. The management were happy to negoiate a good price and the showers were fabulous.