Final day

Amanda and Hannah left on Wednesday for their big adventure to Hiroshima, Mt. Fuji, Tokyo and Kyoto. This morning's report from Hannah was very positive and here's hoping that the phone call from the hotel tonight saying that they hadn't yet arrived was a sign that they were enjoying Hiroshima so much that they left late in the day rather than that they got completely lost!
Before they left we showed them a couple of Japan's greatest inventions - the massage chair (I don't know if it was actually invented here, but they seem to have enough to supply the whole nation....) and revolving sushi.
The massage chairs are supposed to be very good - and for the amount of money they cost you would hope so! The one Amanda is sitting in was on special for about 430,000 yen (approx. NZ$5,200). However, judging by the look on her face as the rollers went up her back she wasn't overly impressed and hence passed on trying to pack one into her suitcase....
After a short massage at the electronics shop it was on to revolving sushi for lunch. For anyone who hasn't been it works like this.... the sushi just keeps going around and around on a conveyer belt and if you see anything you fancy you just take it off, piling up the empty plates for them to count when you have finished. Of course most of the time you have absolutely no idea what it is that you are eating, but as long as it is not moving it can't be too bad.....
My husband even taught Hannah some more Japanese - just to complicate her learning the things in sushi restaurants are called different things than in other shops.... for example the vinegared ginger which is found in all sushi restaurants is called "shoga" in general, but in a sushi restaurant it miraculously changes to "gari". Soy Sauce, water, "I've finished" etc. all have different words in a sushi restaurant too. I guess the question you are all asking yourselves is "why" - the answer.... I have no idea, but it gives you something to talk about while you are waiting for your favorite sushi to make its way around the room to you!
By the way, I just heard that there were about 360,000 people who visited Usa Shrine between January 1st and 3rd. I knew it felt a little crowded!