In the morning I took the short ferry to Miyajimaguchi on the mainland, boarded a local train to go back to Hiroshima, caught a Shinkansen going west to Kokura and finally a local train to Mojiko where I'll be staying for two nights. I've now left Honshu (the biggest of the four main Japanese islands) and entered Kyushu (the most western one). Mojiko is the port area of the former city of Moji, now a ward of Kitakyushu, but more of Mojiko tomorrow.

The reason I picked this area for one of my stops was the Kanmon pedestrian tunnel, built in 1958 and 780m long. Kanmon is the name of the straits that separate Honshu from Kyushu and walking the tunnel from Moji (in Kyushu) takes you to Shimonoseki (in Honshu).

There is a mural at the midway point in the tunnel showing Shimonoseki (下関) on the left and Moji (門司) on the right. Kanmon, by the way, is 関門, taking one character from each city (but with different readings).

So, here I am knocking an item off my bucket list.

As requested by my mum, here is an ordinary street scene. This was taken as I walked from the tunnel towards the Shimonoseki Aquarium.

A diver presenter was giving bubble massages to some friendly groupers.

The highlight for me was the beluga whales; so playful and graceful.

Finally, I took a boat back to Mojiko and crossed between Honshu and Kyushu for the third time in one day (by train, by foot and by boat).