imabari-okunoshima-takehara

From Imabari, it took us about 40 minutes to get to Inokuchi Port by bus.

Before getting on the bus, Satoshi called a taxi company to meet us at Inokuchi Port, so that they could take us to Sakari Port.

When Satoshi had called, he explained that we wanted to catch the ferry to Okunoshima.

To get to Inokuchi Port, you need to cross the Shimanami Kaido, a roadway that links the small islands in the Setouchi area.

On a sunny day, the view is quite spectacular.

I hope you can view this video I shot as we crossed one of the bridges on the Shimanami Kaido

We arrived at Inokuchi Port a little before 9:00 and the taxi was waiting for us.

In fact, as we got off the bus, the taxi driver said, "jump in, we can make the 9:05 ferry"

Sakari Port was 2 kilometers away from Inokuchi Port, so off we sped.

As he drove on the winding coastal road, he radioed the ferry that we wanted to get on the 9:05 ferry.

So, they waited for us! (so nice! thank you!)

We jumped on the ferry and 15 minutes later were at Okunoshima, also known as Rabbit Island.

Okunoshima is part of Hiroshima prefecture and is a tiny island about 3 kilometers around.

During the war, this island had a factory making and testing mustard gas and tear gas.

Apparently, rabbits were used to test the gases and effects.

After the war, when the factory was destroyed, they also killed the rabbits that were on the island.

Then when they decided to turn the island into a park, they released a new set of rabbits into the wild.

Now you can camp and there is also a tiny hotel.

Dogs & cats are prohibited as well as hunting.

Our only regret was not bringing veggies for the rabbits.

They don't sell any food for the rabbits on the island...bummer!

Fortunately, rabbits have bad eye sight, so we picked up some rabbit food that someone had left on the ground, and fed them with it.

This little guy stole my heart!

After walking all the way around the island, we caught the ferry to Tadanoumi.

Since we had about an hour wait for the train, we went to look for lunch.

Choices were quite slim.

Luckily, we were able to have some Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki at Eshimaya.

I enjoyed the shiso and thin noodles in the okonomiyaki.

From Tadanoumi, it was about 30 minutes to Takehara.

After putting our bags down at the hotel, we explored the area.

There are so many preserved homes here.

Like stepping back in time.

It was fun exploring all the tiny alleyways.

Dinner was at our hotel, everything was so tasty.

Dessert was from the cute patisserie nearby, Fraicheur.

I had their cassis chocolat...super rich! but I enjoyed the dark chocolate paired with cassis.

Satoshi had their pumpkin mont blanc...he felt there was too much going on in his dessert with the matcha cake crossing out the pumpkin cream...bummer!

We also went omiyage shopping at the supermarket nearby...furikake, snacks, citrus tea and instant curry.

It was a long day, but the weather was super nice (hot!) and we got to see and do quite a bit.

Eshimaya
2-7-10 Tadanoumi-nakamachi
Takehara, Hiroshima
Phone: 0846.26.2386
Lunch: 11:00-13:00, Dinner: 17:00-22:00
Closed Mondays

Fraicheur
4-7-31 Chuo
Takehara, Hiroshima
Phone: 0846.22.7526
Closed Thursdays
Hours: Monday-Saturday 10:00-19:00, Sunday 10:00-18:30

Green Sky Hotel
4-2-18 Chuo
Takehara, Hiroshima
Phone: 0846.22.1355