This morning, we headed left out the front door of our little spot here in Hikari, and the world felt like it had hit the mute button. No cars, no honking, no rush just spotless streets and a quiet stillness that made the whole town feel like it was gently waking up. No shops, no hustle just us and the calm and the sea 10 yards away.

We wandered aimlessly, saw temples beautiful houses harbour arms as you do, and somehow ended up outside a hot tub and sauna shop where the saunas are 40deg and sit on the beach edge, Random, but kind of perfect. Grabbed a coffee from the shop there we made our way down to the beach with some sarnies we’d made earlier.

Now, here’s where it gets weird.

We’re sitting there, sand between our toes, munching away, and these hawk looking birds start doing loops above us. This sparks Georgia to start telling us about that school trip back home, the one where a seagull nicked her sandwich. Not two seconds after she finishes the story BAM one of these Japanese hawk things swoops down and steals her actual sarnie.

I swear, it was like the Matrix was listening. We all burst out laughing, except Georgia. She just glared at the bird like it had personally read her mind and plotted revenge, grumpy as.

After we wiped the tears of laughter away (except Georgia, still fuming), we wandered further down the road and came across a little playground tucked away by the trees. Spent a good half hour there climbing, spinning, chasing Dotty around until we’d all had our fill.

We made it most of the way back home but got sidetracked by the beach again it’s yards from our stay. Couldn’t resist. Another barefoot stroll on the sand before finally heading back to our Hikari home for dinner and bed.

And here’s the thing it’s oddly quiet here. There’s barely a business in sight. We haven’t seen any shops apart from that hot tub place, and even that felt like it was in sleep mode. No cafes, no corner stores, not even a convenience shop close by. It makes you wonder what people do for work. Maybe they commute out to bigger towns, or maybe there’s some hidden industry ticking away out of sight. Or maybe it’s just one of those places where life slows down and the pace doesn’t revolve around money and movement. Either way, it adds to the mystery and we kind of love it.