Found in Okayama-ken and located in the Seto Inland Sea, Shiraishi Island
boasts one of the Okayama
International Villas.
With a couple of Aya's friends, and their friends, we went out to the
Villa for a rest in a rustic seaside village.
Getting to Shiraishi Island requires taking the ferry from Kasaoka,
which normally takes about 40 minutes with two stops. Unwittingly, we actually
caught the express ferry, making it a nice 20 minute jaunt. Here we are,
midstream: (l to r) Athena, Aya, and I - photo taken by Neil.
These are the guestrooms for the Villa, taken from behind the property on the slope overlooking the beach.
The Deck: the site where most of our waking hours were spent lounging on deck chairs, with alcohol and food aplenty.
Looking out over the ocean from the deck...
...and still more as you turn your head
A little island off of the coast of Shiraishi, inhabited by what seems to be a little shrine of some sort. I just really, really like this picture, taken from the beach.
A group picture, taken from behind, of the beach; you can see the island from above on the left side of the picture.
A view from above: looking out over the village from the highest point on the island. It took a sacrifice on my part to get this...
... as you can see. I was really out of shape...
A gathering around the table. I think Neil took this shot. (l to r): Satomi, Aya, Me, Athena, Hide (Athena's husband), Mikiyo, Toshi, Shoji