I took it a little easier on the fourth day of my tour. The only thing on the agenda was the transfer to Yufuin. But since I still had enough time before the train left, I decided to take a quick look at Hiroshima Castle or rather its remains.
Hiroshima Castle
Again, I hadn’t ordered breakfast at the ryokan, but after the previous evening, I wasn’t very hungry yet. I took the Meipuru-pu back to the train station, where I quickly locked up my luggage, and then after a quick breakfast in a cafe, I continued to the castle.
The castle is located in the middle of the city and, like the rest of Hiroshima, was obliterated by the atomic bombing. Only three(!) trees survived the explosion unscathed and can still be visited today.
(For those interested: Radioactivity in Hiroshima has now returned to normal levels. So there is no need to be afraid of radiation exposure.)
A few years after the war, the main keep was “reconstructed”. It is now essentially a concrete building with the original-looking facade, similar to the Osaka Castle. The tower houses a museum about the history of Hiroshima and the castle in particular.
In addition, in the mid-1990s, parts of the Ninomaru, the second defense ring, were faithfully restored.
The view of the city from the tower is would certainly have been great, but I didn’t have enough time. So I just walked around the grounds and had a quick peek at the neighboring Gokoku Shrine, which was moved from its original location near the castle after the war and rebuilt. Then it was already time to return to the train station.
The next time I’m in Hiroshima, I’ll definitely plan more time for the castle and the many other sights. It’s a gorgeous city and you can easily spend several days there.
On the way to Yufuin
In Kyūshū I wanted to spend a day in an onsen. Also I was yearning for good weather. Maybe a bit of hiking in the mountains around Beppu, as well… Beppu itself was too expensive for me and already fully booked. But in Yufuin, a little further inland, there was a small ryokan that advertised a “resident cat”, the Yufuin Assi. Of course I couldn’t say no.
The transfer was as smooth as always: Shinkansen to Fukuoka, then Limited Express to Oita, then a tiny regional train to Yufuin. The last part was a very relaxing. The train seems to be from the 50s, with beautifully decorated, comfortable, very “untechnical” carriages. It crawled up the narrow mountain route at a leisure pace, and seemed to stop at every milk can. Very different from buzzing through the country at breakneck speed.
Yufuin itself is rather unspectacular. The location with the mountains around it is very beautiful, however. The ryokan was easy to find. By the way, you shouldn’t be confused by the fact that there is also a (much smaller) town called Yufu, which is very close by. In Google Maps the places, including the addresses, are mixed up in a slightly confusing way. The street address on booking.com is correct, in any case.
In Yufuin Assi
The last few overnight stays, especially in Matsushima, had already set the bar high. But here it was easily exceeded. The landlady: incredibly friendly. Although she only speaks Japanese, we were able to communicate easily with Google Translate and my few words of Japanese. A small onsen outside, the water a tad cooler than in Sendai (thanks!), which you can basically use as you please, a nice shower (which is not available in winter, however). And a fabulously cozy, comfortable and beautiful room in which I immediately felt at home.
The cat “Assi” also showed up at some point. As described in the “manual” (yes, there is a “cat instruction manual”, how cool is that!), she had a lot of personality, very talkative and not really in the mood for cuddling. Of course, she inspected me and my stuff right away.
I took a long shower and decided to use the onsen straight away, as I was a bit exhausted from the long journey. After that, I went hunting for food again. It was already evening, and the “dinner” project was more difficult than expected. Most of the izakayas were already packed, and of course I hadn’t booked om advance.
Dinner, Teppanyaki Style
Im Endeffekt landete ich im Nenlin. Die Bewertungen waren zwar nur durchschnittlich, aber ich erinnerte mich daran, dassm an in Japan eigentlich nicht mehr vergiftet wird, und dass gerade Bewertungen aisiatische Gäste auch mit Vorsicht zu genießen sind, denn dort regt man sich auch gerne über ein “nicht ausreichendes Maß an Höflichkeit” auf. Was einer Langnase vermutlich völlig verborgen bleibt.
In the end I ended up at Nenlin. The reviews were only average, but I remembered that poisining people has become outmoded in Japan. Also, you should treat reviews from Asian guests in particular with caution, because they tend to get upset about a “lack of politeness”. This is something that a Gaijin like me probably wouldn’t notice at all.
The food was actually very good: I had raw meat and vegetables, plus soup and rice of course. And then I could cook it myself to taste on a small “grill” – kind of “Teppanyaki light”. The meal probably has a special regional name, but I couldn’t figure it out. Apart from me, there was also a Japanese group who were “on their last legs”. It was quite interesting to see how they celebrated.
I went back to the hostel relatively early. The next day I wanted to go to Beppu, but before that I had planned a little trip to Kinrin-ko in the morning. Getting up early again!