Japan 2019 - Tobishima Kaido

Tobishima Kaido is another cycling route, which is less popular than the Shimanami Kaido and not a separated cycling trail. It crosses another seven small islands connected by bridges or car ferries.

Drying of seaweed and oyster farming.

Our first stay at a traditional Japanese hotel! The host family was so lovely! What an effort they went through for our dinner and breakfast! The food was mostly home grown and cooked just for us. The fish below was caught the same afternoon and served raw. Between Google translate, their English and my few Japanese words we managed to have great conversations and lots of laughter! I hope we didn’t make too many mistakes with the bathing rituals, slippers on/off rules and sleeping/eating arrangements.

 This was breakfast- fish, seaweed, natto, miso, tofu and tea.

We made a small detour to Kure to visit the history museum of the JMSDF (Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force). Kure is a major shipbuilding city with steelworks, dockyards and a naval base. Some of the world’s largest cargo and battle ships have been built here, including the Yamato, the lead ship of the Imperial Japanese Navy during WWII.

 A 1:10 model of the Yamato.

To avoid the busy roads and tunnels between Kure and Hiroshima, we did some more island hopping. We have now had two weeks of fantastic cycling weather: not too hot and mostly sunny!