Hiroshima and Yamaguchi

Marty had visited Miyajima Island on a p-day just before coming home. 

We were excited to visit this World Heritage Site and got an early morning start.

We haven't appreciated enough origami on this trip!

Courtney, Nicholas and Marty tried potato and bacon on a stick at the ferry station.

Unfortunately it was also potato, bacon and fish on a stick, a flavor they weren't expecting.

Marty is part Japanese now, though, and he liked it fine.

Deer are everywhere on the island and very tame.

A cute American family was willing to take our photo. They had a clean-cut son with them and I was sure they were visiting his mission too. I dropped a few hints, but they didn't bite. 

We got to talking and no, they were just traveling over Spring Break.

Lots of shops along the Arcade were making maple leaf cookies. 

Marty said to avoid the ones filled with bean paste. But the other fillings were good!

After Miyajima, we visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.

We don't have photos, but it was interesting to learn more details about the events leading up to the bombing and the horrific year after. I thought it was a pretty unbiased account.

Below is the Atomic Bomb Dome -- the only building in the area left standing after the bomb.

Then back to our hotel to catch the Shinkansen to Yamaguchi to meet the Sorensens for dinner.

Marty baptized their son, Tony. It was so fun to meet them! Ariel served is from Idaho but served his mission in Fukuoka and is currently a professor there. He recently married Jennifer, Tony's mom, who is from Korea, but is an English translator. So we were able to have a nice conversation.

We had Shabu Shabu for dinner.

At Yokiniku and Shabu Shabu which were both all-you-can-eat, you ordered your food on an iPad.

At many other restaurants, you ordered on a machine similar to an ATM when you entered the restaurant and the server brought you your food.

Ice cream with cornflakes at the bottom is so good!

View from our Yamaguchi hotel.

It reminded us of Pagosa with camper doors on the bathroom! Vintage but clean.

Cute man hole cover design!

(Also note the ever present yellow lines for the seeing impaired.)

On our walk home after dinner, Marty wanted to stop in a bookstore and look for a particular anime series. Surrounded by Japanese, Courtney saw this and picked it up,

"Finally, a book in a language I understand!"

MATH.

More descriptions for using all the options for the toilet.