Shodoshima part one: Himeji and the Olive Ferry

Today's post is about our trip to Shodoshima. 

Shodoshima is an island in the inland sea between Honshu (Japan's largest island) and Shikoku. 

The name actually means "small bean island", because it's kind of bean shaped. I think it's a really cute name! 

Firstly, how cute is the drawing on my coffee? Very cute. This is the first and only time I have had something cute drawn on my coffee cup so I was excited. And no I don't know why I thought that was relevant...

Anyway, we had 10 minutes or so in Himeji. I'm actually going there next month on a class trip #spoliers. 

So yeah, for now, here is the castle from afar:

Don't worry, castle lovers, I promise I'll take some better pictures next time. 

I'm sure most of you know that Japan has a mascot for everything, right?

Well here is the Himeji Castle mascot. It is like a real life tamagotchi:

We also passed a Hello Kitty themed cafe, which my mean friends didn't want to eat at.

Another sneaky castle view

We next went to Himeji port and took the 'Olive Ferry' to Shodoshima.

The weather was pretty intense, and the sun kind of looks like a space laser. I'm sorry ^^;;

I really liked this sculpture:

Shodoshima grows olives, so they decided to make the bus and the ferry olive themed. I'm not complaining because the mascot was adorable!

We went and sat outside, and the view was great! Although the wind was pretty strong. I'd recommend a ponytail if you have long hair, haha.

So beautiful! It actually made me nostalgic for my holiday to Norway last year.

We found a life sized olive-kun plushie... So Japan.

That's it for now, next post is of beautiful Shodoshima itself!

Thanks for reading! 

-Amy xoxo