more photos

Lopsided piccie of the lovely Akashi Park.
Ha ha, the shop selling tourist pap and a vending machine at Mt Shosha, Heather, being as you are a movie nut, you might be interested to know that quite a few scenes of The Last Samurai were filmed here. Very beautiful temples set amongst the trees and mountains around Himeji.
The main temple building at Mt Shosha. When we were there the back section had been opened up for 1 month, for the first time in 800 years for the anniversary of the founder of the temple site.
The lake at Akashi park where you can hire ordinary rowing boats or crazy "friendly-dragon", "royal swan" or "helicopter" boats to splash around in.
Harbourland in Kobe by night, a nice spot to grab a meal and watch the boats and the pretty lights. saw some terrific fireworks here earlier in the month (August). Summer and fireworks go hand in hand here, whether they be of the professional variety or the backyard kinds known to have caused more than one person to lose a finger, hand, or eyebrow.