Camping - Matsue Castle

The Matsue Castle is one of the remaining military castles. For a few dollars you can get a 45 min boat ride around the moat. Yes, you have to take your shoes off for that too.







The ceremonial drums were very large and a very low frequency. The kid enjoyed playing them.

Camping - lighthouse

We toured a light house in Matsue. It was very similar to those we've seen in the U.S. We had to take our shoes off before we toured it. That doesn't happen in the U.S.

Nate and Karie doing a little rock climbing.

Lauren and Hailey exploring the cave areas.




Enjoying the beautiful view of the land scape from a top of the lighthouse.






Nathan is ready to go work in the rice feild


Look at those rows of teeth

Camping

We spent four days camping with the Cornels. The next few posts are all from that trip. I can’t wait to do some more camping this fall.


Camping in Japan is very similar to back home. It felt great to get out of the city for a while. It is a bit more expensive, like most things in Japan.



The kids called this 5 seat swing “The Lava Maker”??? Not sure why.








Check out the wind farm. These things were all over the coast.

Camping - dunes

The dunes in Tottori on the north western side of Japan are very similar to the Sleeping Bear Dunes back home.

The kids had a blast running up and down.

Camping - beach

We went swimming at a beach in Tottori. The water is the Sea of Japan. We really enjoyed traveling with the Cornels.

The Glass Factory

Last week Amy and the kids got to go to a glass factory with the Cornells. They had a good time.

Peace Festival

Today was the Peace Festival in Hiroshima. It was the 61st anniversary of the bombing. It is amazing how accepting the people are of our attendance. I think they are actually glad we are there to witness it. The goal here is not to blame but to remember and make sure it doesn’t happen again.


The A Bomb dome was surrounded by wax lanterns.











We made our lantern and sent it up the river with the thousands of others. The tide was coming in so the river actually flows backwards.





This local Japanese lady was very happy to talk to us with her grand daughter (We really have to learn more Japanese).

Hiroshima City Forest Park 1

It is very Hot in Hiroshima. Most of the parks (and zoo) have rivers for the kids to cool down in.


Nathan met some local kids at the park. It is funny how universal the idea “help me go splash my sister” is.