Japan 3.7: A cool island on a crappy tour, China, a bridge, and a shrine

We left for a morning reservation to visit Hashima Island, an abandoned coal mining island.  The island interested me just because of its state of decay.  It isn't something you get to see outside of a movie.  As with most tours, it was slow going to get people boarded onto the boat, and the trip back and forth took quite a while.  The view from the boat was very cool, but the area we could walk on when we landed on the island was pitifully minuscule.  I was embarrassed for the tour organizers to have to pretend like there was something to see.  We walked about 15 seconds from one area to the next, and then to a final spot, stopping at each for them to give information.  Why even bother landing us on the island if we can't go anywhere?  I understand restrictions because of the instability of the buildings, but this was taking it to a whole new level.  Very disappointing.



We arrived back in the Nagasaki port at around 1:00 and began walking toward Chinatown, which was Japan's first Chinatown.  We stopped at one of the restaurants and had an incredible meal.



Next, we made our way to the Megane Bridge, a nearly 400 year old bridge.  We were able to walk along the canal, which was beautiful. 



We continued following the canal towards the Suwa Shrine. 



There wasn't much going on at the Shrine, but it was a nice walk up to the top.



Around the corner, and towards our hotel was the Nagasaki Museum of History and Culture.  We ended up using an English audio guide, something I rarely use.  It was larger than expected.  We also saw an advertisement for a miniature figures exhibit, the same one, in fact, that Stephanie and I saw in Taiwan!



While walking back to our hotel, I spotted a vending machine with a Pokemon drink.  I've been watching the endless stream of vending machines that we've seen this trip, in order to find one for Miles.  The vending machine shows a Pikachu drink, but apparently, it is a random Pokemon, because Miles got another.



We found a playground with a very cool slide.  It had rollers, so kids with going down the slide in all sorts of positions including crouching on their feet.



We saw a store that was trying to do something with words to sound cute, but also sounds quite creepy with other interpretations.



When arriving at our hotel, we decided to head next door to look around the mall and grab some dinner.   We went into a Tokyu Hands, which is a chain store that sells a little bit of everything.



Then, we stopped to grab weird snacks at a local convenience store.



Tomorrow we fly to the southern island of Yakushima.