Miyajima Island

We started the day with breakfast at our hotel.  While the breakfast was not included in the room rate, it was most convenient to dine there.  They offered a buffet of Japanese- and Western-style breakfast foods, with lots of fresh fruit and salad.  The salad dressing--a creamy miso vinaigrette--was excellent, and I made it a point to get a salad all three mornings in Hiroshima.  On the second morning, my mom and sister tried the dressing, and both realized why I raved about it so much.  I also loved the miniature croissants, which were crisp and flaky on the outside, and warm and soft on the inside.

After breakfast, we were off to Miyajima Island to see the famous floating torii at Itsukushima Shrine.  To get to Miyajima Island, one takes a 10-minute ferry, which departs from a port just two blocks away from the Miyajimaguchi train station in Hiroshima.   A local train runs from the central Hiroshima train station to Miyajimaguchi, but makes a stop at the Nishi-Hiroshima station.  Given our hotel's location, it was most convenient for us to hop a cab to the Nishi-Hiroshima station and pick up the local train there, rather than backtracking to the central Hiroshima train station.

The Nishi-Hiroshima station was small and old.  There were only two platforms, with a bridge over the tracks to access the far platform.  The small local train was full of tourists, all going to Miyajima.  Upon exiting the train at Miyajimaguchi, we crossed the street and walked the two blocks to the ferry port.  There is an underground crosswalk at one of the streets, which we didn't realize, so we just ran across the street.  Stares ensued.

Along the main street to the ferry port are many shops where the famous momiji manju are made and sold.   These maple leaf-shaped manju with pancake-like crust were always my favorite treats when growing up--if a relative went to Japan, they always visited Hiroshima, where our ancestors are from, and brought a box of momiji manju back for us.  Many of the shops have the manju presses in the windows, so visitors can see and photograph.  While most stores want visitors to take photos, I chose the wrong store to photograph, and was chased off by an angry manju maker.

We boarded the ferry to Miyajima, and I was still a bit rattled by the momiji manju man.  However, I did get a couple of pictures before being run off.

The ferry to Miyajima was a comfortable ride.   We sat inside of the enclosed compartment most of the trip, where the seat backs had maps of the Miyajima area.  The floating torii at Itsukushima Shrine came into view as we neared the island.  Then, closer to the dock, we saw a set of stairs along the ocean, where a huge group of school kids had gathered to feed the deer.

After docking at Miyajima Island, we walked through the town square and were greeted by the many agressive deer, who ate everything people held out to them--including brochures and cameras.  According to my parents, the deer population seemed to have thinned out since their visit two years prior.  The deer, while cute, started to be more of a nuisance, as we found ourselves needing to maneuver around people feeding and photographing the deer as we tried to walk down the street.

We headed toward the Itsukushima Shrine along a few-block pedestrian street lined on both sides with tourist souvenir shops, arare shops, momiji manju shops, and a few ryokan.   Even this early in the morning, the street was filled with multiple groups of school children, who were looking in the shops on their way to the shrine.  Deer roamed the streets, even amongst the buildings and masses of tourists.  We bought a few momiji manju in various flavors--custard filled was my favorite.  We also bought some wooden rice paddles, which are said to be the "thing to buy" on Miyajima, and one can see the world's largest rice paddle on display along the street!

For a few minutes, some rain clouds rolled in, which is not an uncommon occurence in Japan.  Fortunately, most of the shops sell cheap umbrellas, so we purchased one for "just in case" for the rest of our trip.

After the rain subsided, we continued through the pedestrian street until we walked under a stone torii, which marked the entrance to Itsukushima Shrine.   The shrine was still another block walk beyond the stone torii, on a sandy gravel pathway that curved around the beach.  Deer continued to mingle and sit along the pathway.  Finally, the floating torii came into view, larger than life, and more impressive than any picture ever depicted it.  Unfortunately, the tide was still out, so the torii stood, starkly, in the sand.

But the low tide was actually a blessing in disguise, for we were able to walk down a set of stone stairs, onto the sand, and out to the torii.  Barnacles encrusted the three-foot-diameter base logs, stopping at the obvious high tide level.  Coins from all countries were lodged among the barnacles as wishes for good luck, and we all got photographed touching the torii--another "good luck" gesture.

We walked back through the sand, which was still a bit damp and full of clusters of washed-up seaweed.  Upon reaching the entrance to Itsukushima Shrine, we paid our entrance fee, then washed our hands with the bamboo ladles.  Stepping into the shrine was uplifting--we wound our way through the lacquered covered walkways, which were set a few feet above the sand.  When the tide comes in, it rushes under the shrine, making the whole shrine appear to float on the water.

Along the walkway to the main part of the shrine, we saw lanterns, barrels of sake, and wishing tablets.  A traditional Japanese wedding party, with the bride in a beautiful white kimono, was being photographed outside of the shrine.  A labyrynth of raised walkways guarded by iron lions and stone lanterns faced the ocean.   The main portion of the shrine was behind this area, and had a simple, elegant interior.

Upon exiting the shrine, we found ourselves in a neighborhood with a row of noodle restaurants and tourist souvenir shops.  A deer was standing on its back two feet, reaching up to eat some leaves off of a tree.  Walking past this hungry, agressive deer, we realized it was time for our lunch as well.  We ate at one of the little noodle restaurants, where I enjoyed a delicious meal of zaru soba (cold buckwheat noodles with dipping sauce).  Of course, it was the best zaru soba I'd ever had.  There was a group of six American college students in the restaurant; they were tourists as well.

After lunch, we looked around the gift shops nearby, then slowly made our way back to the ferry port, meandering through the narrow streets.   We saw a pagoda and worn, wooden temple, where we made a few-minute photo stop.  The temple and pagoda were some of the highest elevation points on Miyajima Island, for we could see the island and Itsukushima Shrine below us.  There was an excellent view of the Itsukushima torii through the trees.

Back at the ferry port, we hopped a ferry back to the Miyajimaguchi station.  I was careful not to photograph that particular momiji manju shop again!  At the Miyajimaguchi station, my sister and I each got a cup of ice cream--strawberry for her and green tea for me.  I was beginning to get addicted to green tea flavored everything!

We took the train back to Nishi-Hiroshima station, then caught a cab back to our hotel.  I was tired from the Miyajima excursion, so I opted to stay back at the hotel when my family went out to another department store.   Not being much for department store shopping anyway, I was also excited to have some time alone to relax, decompress, and reconnect with my work and life back in the USA--this was the first real chance I'd had to get online throughout the trip, so I felt totally disconnected!  Oh, the Internet... what a blessing and a curse!

We had dinner at our hotel, which was an incredible buffet!  They offered fresh, perfectly crisp and lightly-battered tempura--shrimp, asparagus, pumpkin, eggplant.  My favorite!  The okonomiyaki, a Hiroshima favorite, was also on the menu, and was incredible!  They also had fresh tofu with shoyu and shaved bonito, which is another one of my favorites.   I was also sure to help myself to the salad, so that I could get my miso dressing again.  Desserts were amazing, with fruit parfaits, cakes, and mochi.  Oh, that mochi was so soft!  It was like velvet on the tongue!