Henry's Notes

Met up with my dad the day before. So far, we visited Kobe, Arima, Himeji, Hiroshima, and now I am in Osaka. We have been using our rail passes quite a bit. We stayed in Kobe the first night. We visited a very nice waterfall right behind our hotel (pictured on the right).

Yesterday, we first visited Arima near Kobe. Arima is a hot-spring town that was frequented by many famous figures in the past. However, it's not so well known as a tourist destination anymore. Netherless, we spent half a day there walking around and taking a bath at the "Gold Spring". We then traveled to Himeji, a site of a well preserved fort/castle designated as a World Heritage Site. It really is worth a trip to visit (pictured left) not only for the castle's beauty but also for a rare tour inside the castle tower! We spent a night in Himeji so that we can view the castle at night... a sight rarely seen by travlers.

Today, we traveled to Hiroshima, you know, where the first atomic bomb was used. It was a somber trip where we are reminded of the horror of war, specifically an atomic war. It's also great to see that the city has dedicated a park to plea for world peace without atomic weapon. Unfortunately, the reality is that atomic weapons still exists, for better or worse. The park includes a building that withstood the blast of the bomb (pictured right).


If you want to view more pictures, you can do so at my Yahoo's photo site.