ISLANDS & SKYSCRAPERS

I thought it was great that we were able to go to the Sky deck (the roof of the tower) as this provided much better pictures than through a glass window. Our guide explained where different attractions were throughout Tokyo city and explained that this tower view point much the same as Tokyo Tower and Sky Tree.

As it was my first taste of authentic Japanese food, we enjoyed a fairly large bento box. The restaurant "Hyoki Kasuitei" was set up very nicely and the service was excellent, it was nice to see the staff dresses in Japanese Kimonos.

I was really excited to try on a traditional Kimono while in Tokyo. We were asked to choose the style of kimono we wanted, and once we had selected our pattern, the staff got to work dressing us. I was really surprised as to how many layers you had to wear as well as a towel being added to padding. I loved how secure the kimono felt, it was such a snug fit. The whole experience included the kimono, hair made up to suit your kimono and then 2-4 hours of hire time to walk around Ginza and get some great photos.

We enjoyed a walk through the Tokyo Station on our way to the Sky Bus and after the Sky bus experience we walked along the outside on the station. Our guide explained to us the history of the Tokyo station and showed us the Emperors entry.

The Sky Bus was a super relaxed way to see Tokyo city. And since it was night, seeing Tokyo sights such as the Tokyo Tower light up was amazing! We were lucky enough to get a seat up the front of the bus which provided with unobstructed views. And the dinner at "Aqua City” was also delicious.

I was really excited to experience proper Japanese Sushi. I ordered 10 pieces of Sushi of Tuna, Salmon and Prawn, they went down so well! When we arrived to Tsukiji Sushiko, all the staff said hello and welcomed us and as we left, everyone said goodbye and thanked us for our patronage.

The Hotel Ryumeikan Tokyo hotel was located just across the road from Tokyo Station. The room was spacious and had a fairly large bathroom. The service was excellent and the staff spoke and understood English. There was a large selection of breakfast options, mostly Japanese foods and also had a western option. The view from the restaurant was beautiful, and watching cars and people going past were very relaxing.

Check in for our flight to Matsuyama was quick and easy, and the plane was almost on time. As well as the international flight, I was happy to be flying with JAL as their economy section was very comfortable. We received a beverage even though our flight was just over 1 hour long.

The Kadoya restaurant was really beautifully set up and we enjoyed lunch in a private room. Our group tried the "Uwajima sea bream and rice", which is a dish of sea bream served in raw egg and soy sauce over rice. Our guides explained that you mix the egg in with the sauce. I was really surprised at how tasty it was. It's definitely a dish I would highly recommend everyone in Australia to try at least once. The sea bream was one of the best fish I have tasted!

Matsuyama Castle was one of my favourite places to visit on this trip. Our guide showed us around the castle and explained the history along the way. Along with the beautiful castle itself, the views of the city below are incredible. Matsuyama castle is one of 12 castles remaining from the Edo period and has been extremely well preserved.

We walked along the Ropeway shopping district on our way to Matsuyama Castle and stopped in to visit the Imabari Towel shop. Here we found a whole store dedicated to towels and making anything and everything from towels, such as dresses, scarves and baby clothes. We also stopped into a local souvenir store and tried some Mikan juice (similar to orange juice).

I loved taking the tram around Matsuyama, some of the trams we rode on were new but my favourite ones were the older trams, they had a bit more character.

At the main building of the Dogo Onsen, we were guided to the rest area that people use before and after taking a bath. We were also allowed to see the private bathroom of the Japanese Imperial family.

The Dogo Onsen Annex Asuka-no-Yusen bathhouse is located just down the road from the Dogo Osen (main building) and is a modern facility, only built and opened in December 2017. This bathhouse is surrounded by different kinds of Japanese art through the building. We were shown to a special bathroom, which is a replica of the emperor’s room in the main building of the Dogo Onsen, and were able to get a taste of royalty for a little while.

We had dinner at the Sushimaru Honten, a local seafood restaurant, where we enjoyed a private room to eat our meal. Our meal was different from the one we had at lunch however this time there was no raw egg and the sea bream (fish) was cooked with the rice.

My room at the Daiwa Roynet Hotel Matsuyama was fairly spacious, goregous views over the city, a delightful rainfall shower and it even had a massage chair to enjoy after a long day of walking around, taking in the sights. The breakfast in the morning had a great selection of western and Japanese foods, so we were satisfied.

The JR Trains ran very effiectively and were rarely late. We received assigned seating which was great and the seats themselves were very comfortable and could recline back for a quick cat nap!

The Shimanami Kaido is a 60km long "sea" road that runs between Japan's Hiroshima and Ehime prefectures and today we are setting out to ride 15km round trip to grab lunch at Yoshiumi Iki-iki-kan. We hired a bike from the Sunrise Itoyama, bright and early and set off for our first 7km leg. It was hard at times to keep my eyes off the scenery around us. There were a few ups and downs (hill wise) on our ride which made it all the more fun. It's definitely not an experience I’m likely to forget anytime soon!

We stopped off at a roadside station to have some lunch after our 7 km long ride. The food was delicious and the staff were super friendly. They kept coming over to talk to us and tell us stories about the local area. After lunch, we stopped by an ingredient market for seafood BBQ, where you can select your own ingredients and cook it outside on your own little BBQ at your table. Our group was introduced to the owner of the market, and he showed us around and even let us try a fresh tiger prawn!

I was pleasantly surprised at our interesting the Towel museum was. It showed different types of towels made and sold, different products such as clothing or teddy bears made out of towels and we even got to have a tour through a "factory" type section of the museum which showed you exactly how a towel was made.

After getting back from our big bike riding and towel tour day, our guide took us to his favourite local restaurant where we tried out another local dish of cooked sea bream, soba type noodles and a soup. We also enjoyed a type of sweetbread with bits of Mikan (similar to orange) in it and we also enjoyed some tempura.

We embarked on the luxury Iyonada Monogatari sightseeing train, first thing in the morning. The trip took 2 hours from Matsuyama to Yawatahama. You can take in the view of the gorgeous coast of Shikoku as well as friendly locals who come out to wave to the train and their riders. We were very lucky to be a part of a celebration of 90,000 passengers and received a few goodies to take home to remember our trip, including a memorial badge. Our breakfast was delicious and made better by the amazing views we enjoyed.

My favourite sight in Ozu City was the Garyu Villa and garden complex, located by the river east. It was built with nature and its surroundings in mind. It was built during the Meiji Era (1868–1912) by Torajiro Kouchi. It's not just a traditional Japanese home but a word of art. Torajiro Kouchi wanted to incorporate art and nature together into a beautiful home.

After a morning of sightseeing we headed to Aburaya restuarent for lunch, we ate in a private of our own room which was fairly large even for just 4 people. We enjoyed a dish of pork, chestnuts and rice, a popular signature dish from the area.

We were lucky to be able to visit the Uchikoza theatre while they had a performance on, which was very captivating, it was so fun to see many people getting involved and clapping along. If there are no performances, you will be able to go under the stage to see some of the mechanics that were once used. Wandering through the streets of Uchiko felt as though we had stepped back in time.

*Uchikoza is closed from Monday, September 2, 2024, for approximately four years for maintenance and repair work, including reinforcement against earthquakes.

The Kamihagatei wax museum encompasss the wax museum, as well as the Kamihaga residence, we took a short tour tround the buildings and we were told how this Uchiko was built on wax production, which was later mover to another city. Here you can see the trees that produce the berries and the machines that were used to extract the wax, it was a very interesting process.

I was amazed and stunned by all the things I got to do during our trip to Tokyo and Ehime, I feel so blessed to be given an opportunity to visit a still not well-known area (Ehime) of Japan and will forever have fond memories of all the experiences, the things I saw, and of course all of the amazing food I got to try! I loved experiencing the different cultures of the two prefectures and learning more about their kind-hearted people and Japan.