I’m back in Tokyo after spending the day in Onomichi. I’ve never been to a town quite like this one in Japan. Besides the department store near the station, I don’t think there were any buildings less than 30 years old. But I wouldn’t call Onomichi rundown, rather it appeared untouched by commercialism. There’s a really warm energy about the place like you get when you enter an antique shop. Although it was mainly a port and ship building city, Onomichi is also famous for the “arts”. Many well-known writers, painters, craftsmen lived and thrived here. More recently, Onomichi was used as a location for a bunch of different movies in the late ’80s and early ’90s. I’d love to spend a few months here if I could.
Besides sightseeing, the thing at the top of my to-do-list was to find the Q-Taro ride I had read about on many websites. It was the main motivation for me to make the trip, call me crazy. It didn’t take me long to find it as there was only one shopping street in the whole town. I found it in front of the Denki-ya just as others had described. It sure is rusted and beat up.
More than the average number of visitors were coming to Onomichi because of the “Otoko-tachi no Yamato” movie set tour. Even in Hiroshima they had posters, books, toys, vending machines and all kinds of omiyage related to the Battleship Yamato and the movie. The movie set which you can see across the harbor is open to the public until the end of March when they will tear it down. The ferry we took to the island was empty but to our surprise there were tons of people who drove there. A shuttle bus took us to the ship where we had to line up for a few minutes before we could climb aboard.
The set was the same size as the original Battleship Yamato although it was only half the ship. It looked like steel but was constructed of wood and plastic. The big cannons and deck guns were real though.
You can’t come to Onomichi without eating Onomichi Ramen. Unfortunately this was the oiliest ramen I’ve ever eaten. There were literally big chunks of melted lard in the soup and a huge oil slick floating on top of the soup. The view was good though. You can see the Otokotachi no Yamato movie set from the window.
I was taking a picture of this bright orange chai shop when the owner called us in. It turned out to be a cool little chai cafe run by Onomichi’s own hipster Hiro who invented Chaider, a mix of chai and cider. We hung around the place for about an hour talking about art and macs and living in Onomichi. He said we could rent an apartment for as little as ¥10,000. Incredible. I’m moving there. Anyway, if you are ever in Onomichi check out his cafe for some good tasting chai and fun conversation.
Finally, in the early afternoon we set off to do the walking tour. There are many different kinds. There’s the literary writer’s walking tour, the old temple tour, the famous movie spots tour. We did the popular old temple walking tour. While there were many nice temples to look at, I couldn’t help noticing how many graveyards there were. And there were LOTS!!!
The walking tour goes thru a maze of narrow cobblestone paths and up and down hundreds of steep steps. These pictures don’t do the place justice at all. I kept trying to find a nice angle for a photo but realized that I could not capture the fun of the walk in a still photo.
It took about 2.5 hours to finish the path at a leisurely pace, including hiking up to the top of the mountain. It would make for an interesting morning jog.
More photos of Onomichi from the observation deck at the top of the mountain. Can you spot the movie set?
I was inspired by this panoramic image on mediatinker so I created my own panorama of Onomichi.
It was pretty cold in Hiroshima, light snow every day, and I think I got some food poisoning from the oysters I ate in Miyajima. Beside that this trip was perfect. I saw and did everything that I had planned without any problems.
Here’s a recap of all the “touristy” blogs posts:
Hiroshima
Mazda Museum
Battleship Yamato
Okonomimura
Miyajima
Kintaikyo
Irori Sanzoku
At Hiroshima airport they had a Galaxy Gray Mazda Roadster on display.
A perfect ending to a perfect trip.
Here’s the big question. And be honest cause I know the thought crossed your mind. Did you ride the Q-taro?
I did not for two reasons.
1.It looked so old that I was worried I would break it 2.The owner of the shop was inside looking at me taking the photos.
Later on, when we came back in the afternoon. I decided I would ride it anyways but the shop had already closed and the ride was put inside :(
The next big question: did you consider buying the ride and preserve it for future generations?
Thank you for your travel blog. You visited very interesting places I had not heard of before.
J. That’s actually not a bad idea, but where would I put it?
Does your car have to sleep outside? If not, can’t you squeeze it next to your car? Otherwise you just have to buy a bigger house. Don’t they say: “it is OK to spend money on a hobby”?笑
My car sleeps inside, but there’s no space to put a Q-Taro ride.
http://blog.q-taro.com/archives/000948.php
It’s OK to spend money on a hobby, but I have too many already.
BTW, J. I see you comment on a variety of blogs but you don’t seem to have one yourself. I’m curious where are you from? Something tells me you are English.
Roy,
thank you for the compliment, but English is not my mother tongue. I am Dutch (オランダ人). I do not have my own website, but am very interested in the things that other foreigners in Japan consider noteworthy. Which is why I read their blogs.
chaider. I love it! What a fun portmanteau!
Travis, unfortunately I didn’t have a chance to try chaider but maybe that will be the incentive to go back there again.
wonderful post! loved the pics and descriptions… i would guess onomichi is in the southern part of japan - but not sure exactly where. being an artist myself it a very attractive place - espesially the 100$ rent!