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Nittaiji Temple
When I first visited Japan, I had Nittaiji Temple on my to-visit list. As Nittaiji isn’t a World Heritage site, you may find me strange for having this specific temple on my to-visit list. However, it’s really not all that strange. A place should never be visited just because it holds the title as a World Heritage site. A place should be visited simply because you hold interest in it or happen to stumble upon it. And I had an interest in Nittaiji. Unfortunately, I couldn’t cross Nittaiji Temple off from my to-visit list until after my first time in Japan was already over. Regardless, I made it happen in my second trip and that’s all that matters.
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Daibutsu aka The Great Buddha of Kamakura
Since I was already in Kamakura, I figured it’d do me some good to at least visit the Great Buddha aka Daibutsu of Kotokuin Temple. After all, the Great Buddha was one of the things I had wanted to see in Kamakura. Unfortunately, Kotokuin Temple, like many other temples and shrines in Japan had an admission fee. While I understand how financially helpful it may be for places of worship to collect admission fees, I couldn’t help but to feel bitter about it.
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Okayama Castle
When I was in Okayama, I visited Okayama Castle. The grounds are free which is great for people that just want to take a stroll or view the castle exterior. As a cheapskate, I pondered the idea of paying 300 yen to enter this castle. Considering the fact that I had never gone inside a Japanese castle, I decided to just go for it.
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Okayama City
My first time in Okayama was by chance. I was riding the shinkansen and needed to get off at Okayama station in order to board yet another shinkansen. Since I had thought about visiting Okayama before, I pondered the idea of exiting the station, staying overnight in Okayama and doing a lot of sightseeing the following day.
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Kagoshima Fail
The idea of going to the southernmost part of Japan via shinkansen is thrilling. Of course, ideas and realities are two different things and if it isn’t already obvious from my title, my visit to Kagoshima was a fail.
First of all, I wasn’t supposed to be in Kagoshima; I was supposed to be in Hiroshima. The plan was to visit Hiroshima’s WWII areas. If time was on my side, I figured I’d just visit Miyajima Island again.
So, how in the world did my trip itinerary change from Hiroshima to Kagoshima? (The cities are 550 km apart!)