We’re so pleased that we stayed the extra night at the parking on Mount Shiube. After watching the boats disappear into the night, and the lights starting to twinkle on the horizon, we went to bed listening to the sound of the insect chatter, which sent us straight off to sleep, a little before 9pm.
We woke with the sunrise this morning and after enjoying a slow start, we packed everything away and set off to make our way along the coast to Imabari, which was our goal for tonight, as we hope to ride the Shimanami Kaido Cycle Route tomorrow.
We didn’t really have any plans for the day, other than we needed to find a good coffee roaster, as our supplies were getting low, and of course an Onsen.
Happily, I had found what appeared to be a good roaster, and an Onsen in Imabari, so all we needed to do was travel the relatively short distance to get there. After a quick look at the route, I found a couple of Castles that looked like they would be worth a visit, as we made our way across. So the day had fallen into place.
At first, we followed the main road to Kawanoe, where there is a small castle, on a hill just back from the coast. I had in my mind’s eye that it would be a pretty fishing port, but it was a huge industrial beachfront, with the castle sitting just above it. It had the ambience of Avonmouth, a huge port and industrial area on the edge of Bristol.
But, high on its hill, the castle looked rather pretty, so we parked the van and walked up the little road, and steps to get to it.
What we found was one of the prettiest castles we’ve seen to date. Yes, the surroundings may not be preposessing, but the building itself was charming.
It is surrounded by cherry trees, which must be spectacular in the spring, when the blossom is out
and well-kept gardens too.
Unfortunately, it was closed when we arrived, and so we coudn’t take a look inside, which was a shame, but it would certainly be worth taking a look, if you are in the area.
We then hopped on the Expressway to drive to our next stop at Imabari, as we had found that the coast road was taking us through a built-up area, and with the traffic lights, every few hundred metres, it would have been slow progress. At least on the Expressway, we would be in Imabari by lunchtime.
The Expressways may carry tolls, but they are superb roads, and it was a quick and easy drive through the mountains (literally – with so many tunnels again today), until it came to an end just on the outskirts of the town, although work is underway to extend it further.
We pottered into the town and managed to park directly outside the Castle, which is just inland from the coast and is surrounded by a moat.
This is the first castle we’ve seen that hasn’t been high on a hill, so seemed rather strange, but the moat and the vast defensive walls would have made it a real fortress.
It was built in the early Edo period and the moat and vast stone walls are original, but the castle keep, and gatehouses are modern reconstructions.
It is quite a sight and it was good to be able to get a sense of the sheer scale of what would have been here, when it was built in the early 1600s.
It has 3 concentric enclosures and the newly recreated gatehouse gives an insight into how the defences worked.
Eventhough, the castle keep is a modern, concrete reconstruction, it has been beautifully done, and certainly looks authentic from the outside.
Inside, it houses a museum, which to our delight housed a good collection of original Samurai armour. The armour is exquisite, with metal protective plates, and some chainmail, held together with beautiful braided silks and delicately patterned fabrics.
To see original pieces, with all the signs of wear is really quite an experience, and it is so different to the heavy ‘coats of armour’ that we have seen in similar displays in the UK.
Each piece is a work of art in its own right, and we were very happy to spend a considerable amount of time admiring the skills of the armourers who would have designed and created the pieces.
Each floor in the museum is dedicated to a different aspect of the castle, and the top floor has an external viewing platform, that gives great views across the enclosure, town, mountains and coast.
It also gave us our first view of the bridge at the start of the Shimanami Kaido Cycle Route, and where we would be heading tonight.
After leaving the castle, we went in search of coffee, finding the roaster that I had sourced and trying a couple of his beans. They were delicious, and as coffee is a big part of our day, we purchased a kilo (hopefully enough to see us through the next 3 weeks).
You can watch today’s Video postcard from Japan here
Then an Onsen, and on to tonight’s parkup, which is just below the Observation Tower overlooking the first bridge and the start of the cycle route.
We took a look, and it is an incredible structure with a purpose-built cycle path all the way across the spans of different bridges, from Shikoku to Honshu.
You can see A little video from the observation deck here
It is 70km long, so we may not go all the way over and back tomorrow, but we are hoping to ride a good distance across, before turning to come back again.
Let’s hope the weather is good tomorrow, so that we can enjoy every turn of the pedal (however far we go)
Vaucluse Dreamer 