Roving Japan

We are ready to leave!

My Alien Registration is finished, I’m in the national healthcare system, and we finally got our cell phone. The only thing left to do is make a reservation at a hostel in Hiroshima.

Ideally, we would probably leave friday, but since Golden Week is starting this weekend, we are going to try to beat the hoards of people by leaving early.

Initially our thought was to spend an entire day in Himeji, then sleep at a hostel or even camp. But after researching the local accommodations and camping options, it seems like Himeji isn’t the best place to stay. They don’t really have cheap hostels or places to camp. So, the new plan is to leave Tokyo around 6am, get to Himeji around 9 or 10, spend the afternoon at the castle, then get back on the train and head to Hiroshima for the night. We are planning on spending at least 1 full day in Hiroshima before leaving for Kagoshima.

Our end goal, is to get to Yakushima island before Saturday. If we can get there on Thursday or Friday, we should be able to get started on the island hike before the Golden Week crowds. *Fingers Crossed*

As promised, here are some shots of our new family stamp (Hanko). I can’t show the mark itself, since the Japanese use these things like signatures and I don’t want someone running around signing me up for credit cards. But basically the stamp uses Katakana to spell out “SA-N-DAA-ZU”

Hanko Workshop

This is the storefront to the little workshop where our family stamp was made.

Hanko Work Area

Here is the little work area that the old man uses when he makes a new stamp.

Example Stamps

We picked the size that you can see in the top left corner.

The Hanko Maker

This is the old man who made our stamp (which is he holding). He was an interesting guy. Very political. He tried to convince me to vote for some politician in the next election. I don’t think he realized that I can’t vote in Japan… oh well. Nice guy. Good stamp maker.