New Year's Day

So we are in Japan for the First of January. Happy New Year everyone! We started the day by heading to the port area of Kobe where we looked out on the Pacific Ocean, gazed at the container ship cranes in the vast port, and went up Kobe Tower for even better views and a drink in the revolving restaurant near the top.






Close to the tower is a small area deliberately not repaired after the 1995 earthquake, showing how much the earth shifted, and remembering the 1000s who were killed.



Across the bay is a small shopping area with a large Ferris wheel - and of course we had to go on it (fun until it stopped at the top and we had no idea what the loudspeaker announcement in Japanese was telling us!)








New Year is an important day in Japan, and everyone heads to a shrine. This is for 'hatsumode', the first Shinto shrine visit of the year. We decided to go back to the Ikuta shrine where we had been last night (reputedly one of the oldest in Japan, founded in the 3rd century AD). And, boy, was it crowded !!!!!! An absolute sea of people celebrating, praying, eating a lot and joining in the celebrations.








(Lobster on a stick)
Then a quick stop in a video arcade (of which there are many!)....








... and then to Shin-Kobe station to catch to Shinkansen (bullet train) to Hiroshima.




In Hiroshima we checked into the hotel, which reminded us of the opening sequence of Porridge. With the words "Norman Stanley Fletcher, you have been found guilty..." drifting through our heads, we broke out of our cells, I mean rooms, and headed into the centre of Hiroshima by tram. The winter event in Hiroshima is a'Dream-i-nation', a light show using 1.4 million LED lights to create scenes along the street.

Location:Kobe and Hiroshima