Iwakuni

So this refers back to my February 11th post "Some Holiday." If you can recall, I went to Iwakuni with some friends.

I mentioned that Iwakuni was a smart spot to put a Mexican restaurant in. The U.S. Marine Corps Air Station employs over 10,000 employees, about half of them being American, probably with certain dietary needs, such as myself. (Referring to the need to NOT eat Japanese food everyday.)

We all had a great time eating at Mike's Tex Mex.

After finishing our amazing lunch (by the way, I'd never call it amazing back in my hometown Southern Cali....but there was real cheese, so I'm not complaining), we went to walk around Kikko Park which was certainly a beautiful area.

We didn't see any of their famous white snakes, which apparently only be found in Iwakuni, but we did see plenty of ice-cream (soft-serve) shops. It may have been but a cold, and windy day, but they had dozens and dozens of flavors!

I picked up green tea flavor with sprinkles...Wasn't adventurous enough for the pumpkin, or red bean.

The park area was lovely. As you can see the cherry blossoms are starting to arrive in Japan (although I think these are actually Plum Blossoms, and the Sakura or Cherry Blossoms really do come at a more specific time). My friend in the middle there is leaving Japan soon! Oh how I will miss her!

We wanted to make sure that we really made the 2 hour drive to Iwakuni worth it, so we opted to buy tickets into Iwakuni Castle! The castle itself wasn't that amazing, but it was on the top of a mountain, that we got to take a cable car thing up to. I loved the cable car ride, because the little voice on the loudspeaker thanked us to for hard work once we reached the top. (haha, like your car Tom). It is really hard work getting to the top of a mountain inside a swinging tram.

Iwakuni Castle is generally just filled with a lot of Samurai swords and such, but the top level provides a great viewpoint!

Here you can see the city below, and on the bottom left, you can make out the famous bridge...the reason for which everyone knows Iwakuni.

This is that bridge. It is the subject of many pieces of beautiful art. It is called "Kintai-kyo" and is one of the three most famous bridges in Japan. Thats because when it was first built, it was built using no nails. We found nails though. Guess they didn't want it to be washed away again...

But, this bridge is the symbol of Iwakuni. In fact, I learned the Japanese Sign Language for "Iwakuni" in my special needs school. And the sign has nothing to do with the name of the city itself.

The sign is the sign for "bridge"...but you do it 3 times in a row. (for the 3 main arches of the bridge). I even asked my supervisor at that school if a deaf person in Northern Japan would recognize that sign. She said, "certainly yes! Iwakuni's bridge is famous all around!" I'm glad to have visited a place that was so famous "all around!"

Anna, Mike, Gretchen, Satoko and Noriko...having all the fun without me! Awesome picture though. :) Wish it weren't so fuzzy! Bye everyone!