The views from the top are well worth the effort:
After this it's time to take the ferry and train to Hiroshima JR station, followed by the Shinkansen to Osaka. At the local station in Miyajima port, I decide it's time to capture on film the glory that is the Japanese vending machine - you are never more than 50m from one of these no matter where you go in Japan.
On arrival in Osaka we catch the subway to our hotel (which this time we find easily), reunited with our cases once again (and for the last time).
Then it's time for a long walk up one of Osaka's big shopping streets (Dotombori) in search of a restaurant. Osaka doesn't strike me as having the same degree of character as the other places we've visited (although admittedly we don't really have much time to explore); perhaps it's the endless parade of (very high-end) shops that you could find in any big, affluent western city.
When we eventually find the restaurant it's perfect - it's in the Hep Navio building and is a deep-fry-it yourself all-you-can-eat establishment where you choose your skewers and cook them in the deep fat fryer in the middle of your table. I'm not sure such a thing would be legal in the UK, but it was a lot of fun!
The other thing I'd been meaning to photograph during our holiday were the many excellent examples of plastic food sculpture displays (サンプル) outside restaurants to let prospective customers know what's on offer. They are amazingly realistic, as these examples from a nearby restaurant in the same shopping complex demonstrate.
We take the subway back to the hotel, researching the best subway entrance for the morning when we will have our bags with us (we find the one with a lift).
Finally we watch a baseball game on the hotel room TV (will anyone ever score a run?). I try the grape and aloe drink from the vending machine (bits of grape in it) - surprisingly good.
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