Takehara: Little Kyoto

The Monday after the sake festival we had the day off. Sunday we were supposed to go to Hagi in Yamaguchi Ken...we did not move most of Sunday! Sunday was spent happily getting Italian food at my favorite place in Kabe, and romping around the Fuji Grand department store. Lisa and i are entertained very easily. Monday we decided to take a day trip to a town in Hiroshima Ken called Takehara. According to our Hiroshima Ken Guide Book, it is the 'little Kyoto' of Hiroshima because of its preserved historic buildings. It once used to be a thriving town through salt mining, but since then I believe it has become pretty poor. They can't even afford to have JETs at their schools (which may not be a bad thing, hiring us is expensive!).
There was not too much to this little port town. Lisa, Mercedez and I wandered the tiny little cobblestone streets lined with old style Japanese houses. My favorite was the red shrine on the hill. There wasn't too much to Takehara except for the little historic strip. In fact, the rest of the town was pretty much dead. Still, it was a great day trip. We took this really cool blue train all the way back to Hiroshima City. It was a perfect end to the debauchery encountered at the Sake Matsuri

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