**While I was writing that last post Gordon called to see if we wanted to go kayaking. Wakana was not feeling well, her shoulders are giving her trouble, so I agreed to go. I am back now and amazed at what we saw. More later. I have to get this bit on the thread.**

Our next stop was Kurashiki. That one is much lighter than Hiroshima. I need Wakana for that one because many of the names of places have departed from my memory.

We had another reason for visiting Hiroshima. In Nishinasuno, Wakana's home town, we had eaten okanomiaki, Japanese pancakes. In Hiroshima they have a different recipe for the same food and we were determined to find and try their version.

We inquired at the hotel after we arrived and wandered through the darkened streets. Walking down one narrow street we saw an elegant restaurant with candlelit tables spilling out on to the street. We passed that and turned into a narrow entrance and passed parts of motorbikes, tools, gas bottles, and other unidentified clutter. In at the screen door we found a little restaurant with large wooden tables scarred from years of abuse, benches instead of chairs, magazines in wooden buckets, and toys in cases on the wall. The right side of this establishment was taken up with a huge grill with the cooks working across the grill from the customers.

We seated ourselves at a table and studied the menu. Rather, Wakana studied the menu. I amused myself by trying to pick out the few words I can read in Japanese. Wakana ordered and we watched the cooks go to work.

In Nishinasuno the okanomiaki is served as a bowl of ingredients and each table has a grill. Your waitress will cook it for you if you wish but most people cook it themselves. The ingredients sit on the batter and include cabbage, red ginger, other herbs and spices, and the main meat or fish. Generally there are two or three kinds of meats or fish in one serving. Wakana and I are fond of the shrimp, octopus, and squid dish.

In Hiroshima the base of the dish is soba noodles. The batter seems to be the same but there is a slight difference in the taste. There is also a fried egg mixed up in it. It쳌fs altogether different and not any better than the version served in eastern Japan.

It might be worthwhile to note that there are significant differences between east and west Japan. Considering that Japan is long and narrow and largely runs north and south this may be hard to fathom but it is true. If you look at a map of Japan you will see that it is curved. The southern part runs east and then curves up to go almost due north. In terms of land area the east-west portion may account for one third of the main island. However, it is in this area that most of Japan쳌fs history was written. So it is taken as read that western Japan is somehow different from eastern Japan. In the west they tend to eat pork as their primary meat. In the east they eat beef. And they each have their own version of okanomiaki.