Shanainagins!

My lovely friend Shaina came to visit over Golden Week at the beginning of May. It was awesome having a little slice of home with me for 10 wonderful days in Japan! Now that I think about it, maybe one of the reasons I haven’t really been homesick is because every couple months someone from California has been able to visit me. Regardless, it really is nice having a familiar face around!

Since she was here for Golden Week-the busiest travel and holiday time in Japan- I didn’t have to work much and we went on a little mini vacation together. In the end, I got to cross 2 things off my Japan Bucket List!

One of the first things we did was take an overnight bus to Hiroshima. The parks and museums dedicated to peace and nuclear disarmament are beautiful and thought provoking. The energy of Hiroshima is relaxed compared to Tokyo, but it hasn’t completely forgotten the horror that befell it 70 years ago
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The best way to relieve the heaviness of Hiroshima, in my opinion, was going to Bunny Island! During the war, the island functioned as a secret poison gas making factory (in clear violation of the Geneva Convention buuuuut that’s a completely different ranting story). With the Occupation, the factories were destroyed and rabbits soon overran the island. Rumor has it that they are the offspring of released test bunnies, but others say they descend from school rabbits. Either way, the result is smile inducing cuteness!

 Shaina was brave enough to sample all the food I threw in front of her, including Hiroshima’s local specialty: raw oysters!

Miyajima-a UNESCO World Heritage site

The remainder of our time together was spent nosing around Tokyo and enjoying a few relaxing days together. We trekked out to the foothills of Western Saitama for the annual Shibazakura blooms and were stunned by the gorgeous carpet of flowers.

 The super “Japanese” thing we did was kimono rental in Kawagoe with a few other friends! For 2100 yen ($20 USD), we were outfitted in kimono, socks, shoes, hair accessories and bags and allowed to wander the surrounding area for almost 8 hours. Those things are surprisingly difficult to walk in, and the shoes aren’t  helpful either. Still, it was fun, even if we did have to get a bit vocal about not having cameras rudely shoved in our faces. Ah, the allure of being a non-Japanese person in Japan doing something Japanese. It’s so….mythical. To the Japanese, that is.