#gamagori

I had decided to head down originally because I wanted to take a dip in the sea. That... didn't happen. However, it didn't happen because I found more interesting things to do!

Gamagori has both an aquarium and a shinto shrine literally on an island connected by a bridge / causeway to the mainland. These are basically next to each other. So of course I went to both!

The aquarium was amazing. They specialize in deep-sea critters, but I was honestly completely unprepared for the wide variety of fish they had. There was no huge walk-through tank, but honestly it was not missed.

I got to see a tank full of morays, deep sea crabs, sea horses, mudskippers, axo-fukken-lotls, and so very much more. And it ended with the ability to pet an isopod. They're basically like wood lice, only much bigger. They can even roll up in defense! If you ever get the chance to go, do it! It's well worth the less-than-$5 admission.

After that, I went to the Takeshima Shrine, the island shrine I had mentioned earlier. It was... nice. Calm and chill, in a sea of way too much sunlight. There were no miko to be seen, but there were a bunch of little crabs in a tide pool, so that was fun. I had no money for talismans or gifts as I had spent the last of my cash on the donation box at the beginning, but no matter. I'm curious to know the story behind the horse.

On the way back, I considered taking a dip but decided against it, as it was hot and I had no sunscreen with me (not to mention swimwear, nor a place to change). Instead, I got a Pocari Sweat from a konbini and headed back to Okazaki.