Arigatou! Thank you very much, this means a lot to me. I actually enjoy making this longer posts a lot, even though they take hours to finish. But it brings back so many memories and pictures in my head as well.
I would really love to explore some other Japanese islands as well, especially Shikoku but also the smaller remote island. Any recommendation?
Whew... that's a gpood question. I haven't traveled to many islands, actually. Before I had kids my travels were mainly to the more famous places in the 4 main islands, and since then I haven't traveled much at all. I really enjoyed Miyajima island. I had a friend who visited Hashima island and thought it was great (you can see photos he took and read his thoughts here: http://gakuran.com/gunkanjima-ruins-of-a-forbidden-island/)
I have been to Miyajima once but would love to go there again. Gunkanjima seems to be a very interesting place, and kinda unique. Wish I had more time (and money) to travel to all those place which are still on my list, which is actually getting longer and longer.