Our second full day in Hiroshima. We headed out relatively early and booked seats on a ferry that runs from the river outside the A-Bomb Dome out to the island of Miyajima. We had a few minutes before it departed so we dashed to a nearby Tully’s Coffee place (it’s a chain we’ve seen everywhere in Japan but have been too scared to enter) for coffee. It was as you would expect…
You can actually get the train and then a short ferry to Miyajima but we were glad we caught the direct longer ferry. Apart from about a gazillion American college students being American all over the place, the trip was lovely. Cruising under the numerous bridges on the river and then speeding past a series of beautiful little smaller islands on the way to Miyajima.
The main reason most people visit Miyajima is for the famous giant orange Otorii Gate which is partially submerged at high tide. Apparently Miyajima was a sacred island, and common people wishing to visit the island were required to sail through the gates before setting foot on the island. That’s gone by the wayside now, because we disembarked nowhere near any gates and then strolled along the waterfront towards the beautiful Itstukushima Shrine. On the way to the shrine, the first thing we noticed were the wild deer that were wandering everywhere “interacting” with the tourists – which essentially means they would harass you if they thought you had any food. Anyway they were super cute – including a mother and baby deer (I’m sure there are proper words for them) that were lolling casually on the ground completely blocking the entrance to one of the souvenir shops.
Itstukushima Shrine was amazing, at hight tide the water laps away beneath you, there are numerous shrines and halls and an incredible view of the Otorri Gates. We made it just before the tide dropped too low, so the gates were still partially submerged and still (unfortunately) partially scaffolded for maintenance. Still an incredible sight though – supposedly once of Japan’s top three most visited (and photographed) sites. Also incredible was the Senjokaku Pavillion that is perched part the way up a nearby hill – a massive hall with great views and some beautiful timber.
Jules was keen for a bit of hike, so as some light drizzle fell we walked part the way up Mount Misen. It was a beautiful walk, wild deer, maple trees, waterfalls, ponds with carp, the occasional shrine – hiking in this humidity is thirsty work. So eventually we trekked back down and headed straight to Miyajima Brewery for a few craft beers and some lunchy snacks.
After that we only had time for a quick stroll through the “old town.” Ice cream sandwiches that looked exactly like cute teddy bears mau have been consumed, Momiji (the local cakey biscuitey thing in the shape of a maple leaf) definitely were consumed. Then it was on the short ferry back to the main island, and a street car back to our accommodation for a little rest. Beer and ice cream will do that to you.
Dinner that night was more Hiroshima style okonomyaki at Nagata-ya. A little place just across the river. It was popular, a bit touristy due to the location, but hey – we’re tourists and it was delicious (again).
But the day wasn’t over yet – Lou dragged us into a massive Taito gaming arcade – 5 floors of the weirdest gaming shiz I have ever seen. Some of the floor were obviously just straight out gambling – they were full of smoke and Pachinko machines. But other floors had retro arcade games and we also stumbled across a Taiko Drumming Game – kinda like guitar hero but with taiko drums. Lou of course was excellent at this game and I got my arse handed to me several times. Jules refused to play for fear that she would show us up. Afterwards we went up to the next floor to find a whole bunch of those Japanese photo booths which are enormously popular here. Mostly they are used by Japanese women and everyone loves the way you can use the booths to “face tune” (digitally enhance) your image. So when in Japan… we gave it a go. I looked so beautiful surrounded by pink love hearts – not a wrinkle in sight.
flyeelookee 