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If that's your thing, you might like the concrete tetrapods that encrust the Japanese Coast.

There's an article here
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-b...0070722x1.html
entitled "DON'T YOU JUST LOVE 'EM . . . TETRAPODS"
(but admittedly, I can't get the page to open right now)

My favorite tetrapod pics:

http://jpatokal.iki.fi/photo/travel/...t_ShakeHip.JPG
http://jpatokal.iki.fi/photo/travel/..._Port_Jump.JPG

Incidentally, if you follow the instructions, it's about 70 km to Taipei.

...and, to bring this vaguely back on topic, Miyajima doesn't seem to have any of the spiky things. Another worthwhile excursion from/on the way to Hiroshima is Okayama, which has a rather striking castle and famous but rather bland garden right next to it. To get even more off the beaten path, drop into Onomichi, where you can take the "Path of Literature" past dozens of temples scattered about a hillside.

I know. But my trip was to Fukuoka and Nagasaki. Hiroshima was the last stop on the way back to Tokyo. The trip's main point was "Southern Japan."

Back on topic, Miyajima is very pretty, but not an entire day's worth of activities, I think. Since you're going in Mid-Feb, you're not going to be able to sit on the beach and sun yourself. That leaves visiting Itsukushima Shrine (where the big orange gate is), Mt. Misen (which may still be inaccessible BY FOOT - the ropeway is running - because of landslides, the Miyajima website has not been updated since November), and shopping. Oh, and the aquarium.

If you were not interested in seeing the aquarium or the mountain (or the mountain is still inaccessible), and you're not going to be there for the Oyster Festival (2/9 - 2/10), you may want to have plans for the later part of the day.

Sure. I made the comment because I've seen a number of posts on FT where Osaka or Hiroshima are referred to as "Southern" Japan. I don't want to appear pedantic, but I think its worth trying to stem potential confusion. If one tells a Japanese person that one is planning to go to Southern Japan, he will probably start giving advice on Kyushu or Okinawa.

I didn't get to spend all that much time there, but the Hakata folk museum was cool, with nice examples of the portable shrines, and I visited the temple with the first green tea in Japan. Plus you get to have spent some time in wonderful Kyushu.

Probably more helpful in that situation to talk about West Japan even if it does seem a little odd to us Western/English speakers.

I am thinking of doing a four day trip to Hiroshima area during Golden Week. I have one limitation; I cannot get a JR rail pass. I was thinking of going down on Saturday, spending Sunday at Miyajima and Monday and Tuesday (until early afternoon) seeing the sights in Hiroshima. However, Himeji looks very interesting. Unfortunately, taking the train up from Hiroshima and back again is around 16,000 Yen each.

Is it possible to spend a night at Himeji on the way down without increasing the cost (substantially) of our Shinkansen tickets? Would this have to be done through a tour company?

Are there any western style hotels in Himeji that you could recommend with easy access to both station and Himeji Castle?

For Hiroshima, what western style hotel would you recommend? The Rhinga seems decent but expensive; are there cheaper accomodations that would still be clean and comfortable?

This will probably be our last chance to head down to Western Japan. Would we really be upset if we returned home to US without having spent at least a day in Fukuoka or a day in Shikoku before we left?

Should I use one of the local travel agencies to arrange this trip (shinkansen and hotels), purchase each separately, or use the discount tour office at Shinagawa station?

thanks,

Marc

I would think Laplap or Pickles would be more qualified to answer most of these questions, since I've only been to Hiroshima once, 7 years ago, and my other trip (3 years ago) was strictly shinkansen. However, on both my trips I booked stays exclusively through the Welcome Inn network at a Japanese travel agent (I think it was JTB). They have a stand in Narita right before you exit arrivals to the street. I was very happy with the results, but they are not high-class accommodations- they are something between hostels and 2-3 star places, but generally good values.

I've never been to Shikoku, and plan to on my next trip, but I've never heard it referred to as a "must do." As for Fukuoka, its nice, but its probably better served as part of a larger Kyushu trip. I wouldn't fret about missing it, I would just choose it over staying more than a day or two in Hiroshima.

Also, I assume you can take some sort of slower, non-shinkansen rail between Hiroshima and Himeji. Sorry I can't be of more help!

I've only been to Shikoku a few times. One time we stayed at the Funaya Ryokan at Dogo Onsen near Matsuyama. This is a modern ryokan but there are traditional style places to stay near by. Many Japanese tried to do the Shikoku temple tour by foot but I think it must take at least a month.

I've only managed to get my hands on a JR pass once and have extremely little first hand experience of Japan outside of Tokyo.

I researched the possibility of saying in Himeji once, but the castle closes at around 5pm (6pm in the summer - last admissions one hour earlier) and opens at 10am, and with Kyoto, Hiroshima and Miyajima on the itinerary, it didn't seem worth doing.

Hopefully someone like railroadtycoon can confirm this, but my impression was that for journeys over 100kms long, stopovers were allowed, and for long journeys, those stopovers could be longer than a day
http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/...50/ticket.html

So if I wanted to do this trip I'd look into leaving Tokyo very early (say at 7:33am) arriving at Himeji (in this case at 10:28am I don't see why arriving 2 hours later would make a big difference), touring the castle and continuing on to Hiroshima early that evening and staying there the first night. I'd just need to ensure that a stopover at Himeji was fine. I would assume that the easiest way to do this would be to reserve seats on the Tokyo-Himeji portion and seats on the later Himeji-Hiroshima portion at the same time I was booking the Tokyo-Hiroshima ticket.

! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
Apparently, stopovers might be a bit more complicated than I assumed - but still might be more or less doable if you're creative. I found this information
"Tips for Saving Money -- If your ticket is for travel covering more than 100km (62 miles), you can make as many stopovers en route as you wish as long as you complete your trip within the period of the ticket's validity. Tickets up to 200km (124 miles) are valid for 2 days, with 1 day added for each additional 200km. Note, too, that stopovers are granted only if your trip does not originate or end in Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya, Kyoto, Kobe, Hiroshima, Kitakyushyu, Fukuoka, Sendai, or Sapporo. You can, however, purchase a ticket, say, in Takayama bound for Nagasaki (a total of about 1,860km/1,155 miles), stopping in Kyoto and Hiroshima along the way. In short, you can save money by purchasing tickets for long distances even though you plan to break up your journey."
http://www.sidestep.com/travel-info-...by_train_japan