Blogs from Ehime, Japan, Asia

We joined the Shinkensan - Hikari 465 - at Kyoto, bound for Okayama which took just over one and a half hours following which the local train - Shiokaze - took just over three hours to reach Matsuyama. As we stepped off the train we were welcomed by our lovely Japanese friends Sappi and her mum Masako waving madly; it was lovely to see them both again. The last time we were at Matsuyama was when, together with Ross, we attended the wedding of Sappi and Takaya. Since then their son Kento has joined the family however he was in a Nursery School Child Care at the time so we didn't meet him until a little later. Masako took us to Sappi and Takaya's new house which had been built on the site of ... read more

Haïku du jour Ce monde de rosée est un monde de rosée Pourtant et pourtant (Kobayashi Issa) Hanami et yakuta Au printemps, certains parcs, sanctuaires ou temples s'illuminent jusque tard dans la nuit. De jour comme de nuit, les japonais (es) revêtent un kimono pour pique-niquer en famille, entre amis ou entre collègues de travail, sur des toiles bleues sous les cerisiers (sakura) en fleur. C'est hanami. A Matsuyama, les touristes venus se baigner au Dogo Onsen, la plus ancienne station thermale du Japon où même la famille impériale avait ses habitudes, enfilent leur yakuta pour les rejoindre. Expérience unique, le port du yakuta ne s'improvise pas. Sur des vêtements de ville, enfiler ce genre de kimono en coton imprimé de couleurs claires et à larges manches, en veillant bien à couvrir le côté droit par ... read more

Haïku du jour Le parfum des pruniers monté là-haut le halo de la lune (Buson) De Hiroshima à Matsuyama, en passant par Koré, agréable traversée de la mer intérieure, très calme, en longeant des archipels ourlés de petites plages tranquilles sur le ferry Ishitegawa. 2h30 de pure détente par un temps radieux. Ce soir, spectacle de Kabuki puis c'est Hanami : pic nic sous les cerisiers en fleurs comme des millions de japonais à travers le pays.... read more

Day 10. Shimanto Town to Ashizura 91km. 800m ascent. 21kph. Typical breakfast today of fish, rice, green vegetable of unknown provenance, soup and mashed turnip? Off we went following the Shimanto River again down to the sea. This was a very pleasant ride in 15-20 degrees with the odd patch of sun along mostly very quiet narrow road ads close to the river bank and occasionally going over the low concrete bridges with no side rails. It was good to see a small machine planting rice with is wife watching in her straw hat. The Azaleas are looking good and give some really good colour to the countryside. We also encountered a large quarry and tarmacadam plant with all its crushers and separators rattling away. Further downstream we saw a dog agility competition one one river ... read more

This time, as well as staying with Ross in Tokyo, we've travelled to Matsuyama for a wedding of Saeko Hino; always known to us as Sappy. But more of that later. On Wednesday 7 September we flew from Sydney to Narita, via Cairns, arriving just after 7pm. As on all our travels to Japan we gave Jetstar the job of getting us from A to B as they've always offered such great deals so they're too good to knock back! Because we had a morning flight the following day we spent our first night at the Excel airport hotel which offered a free shuttle bus both there and back. So bright and early on Thursday we were back at Narita's Terminal Three for our flight to Matsuyam, once again with Jetstar. With the tail end of ... read more