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See Japan!
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Sightseeing in Japan can be a rewarding and frustrating experience. Hopefully, the sections below will help you figure out some of the more troublesome concepts and enable you to have a much more enjoyable experience. Get out and explore Japan!
You can use diddlefinger.com to plan your outings. The service also offers a handy way to look up English addresses on Japanese maps, and provides names in English for many areas. Just load the page and zoom in on an area of interest. Take note of the check boxes along the top of the map to turn on mapping of trains and other points of interest. If you click the Panoramio button, it will load pictures from their site that other people have taken for the area of the map you are viewing. Click the Satellite button for an overlay of satellite images!
Choose a topic below to jump directly to its section on the page.
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Japan In Motion
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You can visit many places in Japan right from the comfort of your own home! Simply visit Japan In Motion and choose your destination! You can see places near to Iwakuni, such as Hiroshima, Kintaikyo ("Kintai Bridge"), Miyajima, as well as places farther away, such as Kyoto and Tokyo. You can learn about some Japanese festivals, such as the Fire Walking festival (one is held right here in Iwakuni every year) and laugh as you read about other people's experiences trying to speak Japanese or learning how to use a Japanese style toilet! This site has it all, and it's a great way to gain some insight into what you will be experiencing once you arrive in Japan.
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4-Corners, 3-Corners, Double Bridges?
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You may be wondering what on earth people are talking about when they mention "4-Corners", "3-Corners", and "Double Bridge", so I am going to explain the concepts.
Here is a map of 3- and 4-Corners in relation to the Main Gate.
4-Corners is the second intersection that you come to that has a traffic light when you leave the Main Gate. It is the intersection of Routes 188 and 189 (the road that goes to the Main Gate), hence, there are 4 corners.
- If you are coming from the base, turning right at 4-Corners will take you downtown (Fuji Grand, Local JR Iwakuni Train Station, the big 100-Yen store, etc.).
- Turning left at 4-Corners will take you through town, and across the bridge over the Nishiki River to You Me Town, Gyoza House, Nafco (if you turn by the sign that says Library), and eventually to Yanai.
- If you turn left at 4-Corners and make an immediate Left once you cross the bridge over the river, you will end up at Monzen Gate.
- If you turn left at 4-Corners and make an immediate Right once you cross the bridge over the river, you will be going toward the Double Bridges.
If you proceed straight through 4-Corners, the next intersection you will come to is 3-Corners. It is where Hwy 189 dead-ends into Hwy 113 (hence, 3 corners).
- If you are coming from the Main Gate, turning right at 3-Corners will take you to Route 2 (turning left onto Route 2 at this point will take you to McDonald's and one of Iwakuni's two Tokai Craft stores).
- Turning left at 3-Corners will take you on a road basically parallel to Rt. 188, and once you cross the bridge over the river, if you turn left, you will end up at Monzen Gate, and if you turn right, you will go toward Double Bridges.
The Double Bridges are two bridges right next to each other; one is much higher up than the other smaller one.
- If you turn right and go across the first of the two bridges (it is smaller, and very narrow), then turn left immediately at the end of the bridge, this will take you to Kintai Bridge.
- If you go straight off the bridge to the first intersection and turn left, this will take you to Dr. Soji's (the small Hospital where you will deliver your baby if you opt to have a baby here in Iwakuni instead of traveling to Naval Base Yokosuka). This is a one-way street, so to get back from Dr. Soji's, exit the parking lot and turn left, go to the first intersection and make another left, and then go to the next intersection and make yet another left, and this will put you back on the road that will take you back to the bridge.
- If you proceed to the traffic light at the Double Bridges and turn Left, this will take you to Campagne and further up the road and through 3 tunnels, Sanzoku (Chicken Shack).
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Hiroshima Streetcars
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Hiroshima has an excellent inexpensive mode of travel, the streetcar. The fare for inner city travel each way is 150 yen for adults/80 yen for children. You can go as short as from one stop to the next, or you can ride the entire length of the inner city line, and the price doesn't change. There are two exceptions to the rule; travel on the Hakushima line is 100 yen per person, and travel beyond the innner city line (from Hiroden-nishi-hiroshima to Hiroden-miyjima-guchi) varies by distance traveled from 120 yen at the closest stops, to 190 yen for the entire distance.
Downloads (right-click, save as):
*I have edited the ITT version of the Streetcar Map to include some points of interest and to clarify some of the information on the map. I thought others might benefit from my notes, so that's why I'm providing my copy here. You can obtain the most recent copy of this map by visiting ITT.
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GPS
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In spite of what some may tell you, you actually can use some American GPS units in Japan. All you need is a compatible GPS unit and the maps (in English!) from UUD. You can sometimes find GPS coordinates online for places you want to visit, such as Japan In Your Palm; for example, the
Garlic Restaurants page lists the GPS coordinates for the Garlic House.
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