Ame ga furimasu

We rolled back into Osaka last night. It is raining outside, a vesper drizzle that would not really qualify as rain except everybody is carrying an umbrella. Though, now that I think about it, everyone was carrying an umbrella when it was sunny. Maybe they do not use umbrellas the way that we use umbrellas. This bears investigation.

On Friday morning we left Hiroshima to visit Iwakuni. Since arriving in Japan, I was excited to see the Kintai-kyo bridge and it did not disappoint. It is fashioned entirely from wood and undulates across the wide river like a serpent.

The city on the other side of the river was quaint. The entire city was still rather rural and managed to display the characteristic old town charm we've been hoping to see. We explored the cemetary and gardens, visited historical samurai residences under reconstruction, and hunted for the infamous white snakes of Iwakuni. Sadly, the only snakes we discovered were the ones behind glass, kept on display for the benefit of curious tourists.

We arrived early in the morning, so we had much of the grounds to ourselves. The only other visitors were about a hundred school kids in orange prison jumpers visiting on assignment, and a cohort of American soldiers. The former were much more adorable than the latter.

We took the ropeway up to the castle and explored the park atop the hill. It afforded beautiful views of the surrounding city. Inside was an impressive collection of historical artifacts from various periods of Japan history. This was probably our favorite place to visit so far.

Following Iwakuni, we navigated our way to Kurashiki. It has an old business district, immaculately prserved for sightseerers. We stayed in a traditional ryokan (the Tsurugata ryokan) and explored the canals that evening.

Yesterday morning we woke to rain. We explored the canals some more (damply, this time) and then headed off to Takarakuza, to visit Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum. In other words, we went to see Astro Boy.

The museum was awesome. Couldn't understand a darn thing that was written, but I could see all the pictures. The frosted glass elevator doors with Astro Boy and Kimba and others were a glorious touch. We got our pictures taken with Astro Boy and the professor and stuck on a sticker. It was like being a little kid again.