Miyajima

After leaving Kyoto, we stopped in Hiroshima on our way to Miyajima Island. We went to the peace park in Hiroshima, where our group left 1000 paper cranes for world peace. After that, we went through the atomic bomb museum.

Miyajima Island was wonderful and relaxing. The Ryokan we stayed in on the island, Ryoso Kawaguchi, was beautiful and the hostess and host were really nice and helpful. We had four people in a room, which was little crowded, but we made it through. We did have our own toilet in the room, but had to go down stairs to take a shower.

The first morning, I was up and out before everyone else, so I walked up the street to the five storied pagoda and the Senjokaku temple. It was very peaceful. I just sat and looked out at the ocean for a while. The sound of the waves and chirping birds was very relaxing. The temple was unfinished, so it was not very elaborate, but it did have several beautiful paintings, mostly of horses.




The first organized outing was to Itsukushima shrine. It was built out in the ocean, so that at high tide it is completely surrounded. The huge red Otorii gate can be seen from the mainland because it is so big. We were lucky enough to see part of a Shinto wedding while we were there. We were trying very hard not to impose on the wedding party and be rude tourist. However, the Japanese tourist at the shrine had no qualms with getting right up in the wedding pary to take pictures!

After we got through the shrine, it started raining. We ducked into a little udon noodle shop for a bite to eat. Miyajima is known for its oysters. There are huge oyster beds all around the island. We had oyster udon and mussel udon. It was all really delicious. The udon shop had pictures and signatures of sumo wrestlers, like we would have autographed pictures of movie stars or musicians who had been in a resturant. It was all pretty cool.

The next day we climed Mt. Mizen. Well, not the entire mountain. You can take a gondola (ropeway) up to within a few hundred feet (vertical) of the summit. You have to hike the rest of the way, about a half hour. At the summit is a buddhist temple and the Reikado, or eternal flame. It is said the flame has been burning continuously for more than 1,200 years.


Our last night we spent at a resort ryokan. It was beautiful. We had a traditional Japanese dinner in a banquet hall that night. As you can see, the goofy students on the trip wore their yukata to dinner. After dinner there was a tyco drum demonstration. Most of the other ryokan guests also had their yukata on, so I guess that is traditional. I personally did not feel comfortable roaming around the inn in my bathrobe!











On the last morning, we were to meet early and catch the ferry back to the mainland. Aunt Angie and I decided to go to the Daishoin Temple before we left. It was quite a sprint to get there and back in time, but I am glad we went. The temple grounds were lovely. The landscaping was beautiful and the grounds were filled with all sorts of stone figures, like this cute round little Buddha figure.

We were very sad to have to leave Miyajima. We are now off to Tokyo!