Tuesday 2nd January 2007

Hideo took us for a drive to Shirahama today. Shirahama is a huge tourist destination and it looks a little like Noosa Heads. It took ages to get there and we had to drive along really windy roads. When we got there, Hideo showed us a popular suicide point. Many people in Japan tend to commit suicide due to work pressures, school pressures and financial pressures. The percentage of suicides per year is much higher in Japan than in any other country.

The cliff in Shirahama that faces the sea below is about a one hundred metre drop with a really rocky bottom so people would probably die on impact. There is actually a sign in this section that says “don’t jump” in Japanese and has the number of the suicide hotline. Thousands of people jump off this cliff, but it is unknown of the exact number as many lives that are lost go unnoticed. Aside from the tragic suicide factor, it is a really beautiful cliff and has a great view of the ocean.

We then went to this new restaurant that is a foot spa restaurant. All the tables are lined up in a row with really hot water underneath them and you take your shoes and socks off and put your feet in the water, whilst sipping drinks and eating noodles with chopsticks. The water is so hot that it warms your entire body. I was stripping off layers upon layers of clothes while my feet were in the water. When I took my feet out, they were all red from the heat!



After that, Hideo and his family took us to these pretty lights that sit on the sand of the beach. The sand on this beach in Shirahama was actually imported from the Gold Coast which was why it was so soft and nice!

We took a few photos of the lights and then on our way back to Wakayama, we stopped by a restaurant called Mos Burger which is a Japanese version of MacDonald’s. I had a rice burger with pork and ginger. It was really nice, but it was about as greasy as the MacDonald’s burgers are! All in all, it was a really fun day today!