Today we are going to Itsukushima Island - which is better known as Miyajima (The Shrine Island). One of the most famous attractions of this island is the Itsukushima Shrine and floating Torii Gate which gives the illusion it is floating in the water at high tide.
Anyway - to get there we needed to get a train from Hiroshima to Miyajimaguchi. We had checked out of the Hotel, so we needed somewhere to put our suitcase . . . the perfect solution - lockers at the train station! Once the suitcase was locked away - off we went.
We got on nice little train to Miyajimaguchi . . . . oh and did I mention . . . it's still bloody raining! However, nothing was going to stop me going to the island - bouncing rain included! Scott even bought an umbrella - that's how bad it is (that and the fact he discovered that his waterproof isn't waterproof after all!!!)
Next came a new mode of public transport . . . . the ferry! After spending most of the last week or so queuing for transport, it came as a relief to find that we were first in the queue for the ferry and that only about 6 other people got on! The ferry runs ever 10 minutes . . . . .
It only takes about 10 minutes to get to Miyajima and on the way, the ferry goes past the Itsukushima Shrine
We had read a few things about this island:
- As the island is seen to be sacred - trees aren't allowed to be cut down for lumber
- Deer and monkey's roam free (Deer are seen as sacred in the Shinto religion and are considred to be messengers of the gods)
- A style of wooden spoon used to serve cooked rice, without impairing the taste, is said to have been invented by a monk who lived on the island
- The island is only 12 square miles and has a population of 2000.
- There are no traffic lights on the island
- In the past women were not allowed on the island and old people were shipped off elsewhere to die so as not to spoil the purity of the island!!!!
However, today women are allowed on the island - which is just as well 'cos I'm on my way!
The first thing we notice, is that it has finally stopped raining - yippeee!!!!
The next thing we notice is the Deer. They're not kidding, the deer are just . . well they are just there! We thought they would be up in the mountains, but no, they are in the street, lying on the grass right outside the ferry terminal! Most of them don't even bother looking at you as they have seen it all before. However, there are signs all over saying we are not allowed to feed the deer anymore, 'cos the food has given them poorly tummies.
However, we were warned to be aware that the deer will attempt to eat anything you have in your hands if they get close enough and that includes paper, handbags and clothes!!!!!!
They looked quite bored actually haha
As we walked round the island, we saw a couple of deer following two girls and they (the deer) were trying to eat the girls bags!
We made our way to the Shrine, but it was 'mid' tide, so the water hadn't reached the Shrine and the Torii Gate didn't look like it was floating but there was too much water around it to walk to it. It's still spectacular . . . . . . I have a picture of this Gate at home and I love it.
We made it to the Shrine and the famous Torii Gate and looking back, I may have overdone it with the photo's . . . . . but here are a couple of them:
The Shrine is surrounded by water at high tide and looks like it is floating
Mount Misen is the islands highest peak at around 500m above sea level and apparently on a clear day you can see some spectacular views of Hiroshima . . . however, today we can't see the top of Mount Misen as it is a very hazy day (spotting a pattern here with us and mountains!!) so we decided not to climb the mountain . . . well when I say climb, we would have used the ropeway to the top, but it was expensive and as we wouldn't see anything from the top, we gave it a miss.
We did carry on round the island and checked out a few of the shops in Omotesando Shopping Street. Something we have noticed over the past week or so, is that although there are 'tat' shops selling the usual souvenirs, they are still very expensive. The ever popular phone charms (ALL Japanese have charms attached to their phones and some of them are bigger than the phone!!) start from Y500.
I had been told before we left, that if we were going to Miyajima, then we had to try the local traditional dessert - Momiji Manju. This is a sweet cake with various filling and in a lot of the shops you can see them being made. The cake has a maple leaf on the front as Miyajima is well known for it's maple trees.
I persuaded Scott to trust me for once and have one. Scott is very wary of buying food from stalls where he can't understand the menu - he's convinced that if he can't understand what the food item is, it'll be horrible!! So, even though it looks like chicken and smells like chicken, he won't believe it and think it'll be covered in tofu or have bean curd in the middle!!!!
Anyway - we found a stall that sold the cakes and had an English translation .. . . I had a green tea cake and he had a custard one. Personally I thought they were delicious, but Scott - well, even though he ate it, he wasn't too keen!!! Well, you can't please all of the people all of the time - can you???
We went into one souvenir shop and they had this fantastic garden in the back . . . . just how I imagined a small Japanese garden to be
Now, 'Hello Kitty' is big here - especially as she is sooo kawaii!!! Outside this shop was a Kitty Shrine . .
As I mentioned earlier, a monk invented a rice spoon on this island and there is a HUGE spoon on display . . .
Although this is an absolutely beautiful island and we could have stayed longer, we are now going to have to move on - we have a l-o-n-g journey back to Tokyo and the Bunker.
However, Scott and I have decided that when we come back to Japan, we are coming back here and going to spend a night on the island in a typical Japanese Ryokan, as we have heard the island is even more beautiful at night when the Shrine and Gate are lit up.
But today, it would take about 6 hours to get home from here, so we decided to make a break for the ferry. Plus it was starting to rain again (of course)!!
So, the journey home consisted of:
- a ferry ride back to the mainland
- a train back to Hiroshima (to get the suitcase)
- the Bullet from Hiroshima to Osaka (no direct train from Hiroshima to Tokyo)
- another Bullet from Osaka to Tokyo
- a local train from Tokyo to Okachimachi
- a 10 minute walk
and finally we were back at the Bucker. Phew . . . completely shattered! Though I don't know what I'm complaining about, Scott had to lugg the suitcase on and off all these trains . . . . . and he did a marvellous job!
Oh - and I think having the cake earlier sparked something in Scott. During the stop at Osaka, he bought a Bento Box! He did buy the most inoffensive looking one on the shelf (absolutely no sense of adventure hahaha!) but he ate it on the train . . . well impressed!!!!!
It's nice being back at the Bunker . . . I have missed the place.
Wow, what a long day for you guys. We agree- we only spend an afternoon on Miyajima, but next time we would like to spend the night at a ryokan as well.
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