Miyajima is full of gorgeous scenery, take-your-breath-away shrines and herds upon herds of fearless wild deer. The fearless deer are pretty much the bee's knees. I mean, the second we walked off the ferry they were they to greet us and all morning and afternoon as we bummed around we never went 2 minutes without seeing a few. They spend their time eating sight-seeing maps (mine included), munching weeds, patiently posing for photos with tourists and roaming the back alleys and surrounding woods. D and I were in a back alley poking around when we heard a bunch of banging noises and discovered the source was a deer trying to get the lid off the trash can...a deer's version of dumpster diving. He stopped long enough to check us out but went right back to his little project.
We visited a few shrines, including Senjokaku. Behind Senjokaku sits the really cool Five-storied Pagoda. D so enjoyed the construction methods of these amazing structures. He notices everything...every joint, every board that happens to be 36 inches wide, every carved notch. He is so fun to see these places with because many of these amazing details that his eyes pick up in a nano-second would completely escape me without his "Hey, look at this!" I hope the photos of these amazing places convey the awesome beauty. I was so looking forward to seeing the O-torii and Five-storied Pagoda in person as I have long admired the photos of them in D's Japan books, but seeing them today was...WOW. Goose bumps.
After our "shrine time", we headed up a small hill to catch a tram to the terminal for the Miyajima Ropeway (gondola). The gondola took us a mile up, almost to the summit of Misen-dake (Mount Misen). Actually, 2 gondolas took us up there. The first was a circulating type that took us the bulk of the way up. Then we transferred to a funicular type that took us the last leg. (You didn't think I'd learn about gondolas on this trip, now did you?) Anyway, the scenery was gorgeous. Once up to the top, we had hoped to see the monkeys that live there. But a monkey status sign told us that the monkeys were apparently out to lunch. Not kidding. The monkeys were lunching in the forest and were not at their sun-bathing spot where people can catch an up-close view of them. I was mad at the monkeys for taking lunch. We did, however, find evidence that monkeys do indeed sit on the rocks...and that's all I'm sayin' about that.
We hiked around in the forest on the mountainside for quite a while. It was lovely, but surprisingly hot. The past couple of days have been 80 or so and, unbelievably to us, the mountain provided little relief. Our hike took us to an area of the forest where we heard very strange noises. Very strange LOUD noises. We looked at each other, eyes all big, and I quietly yell "MONKEYS!!!" The excitement builds as we walk deeper and deeper down into the forest. The noises are getting louder and louder. A deer friend who was walking near us seemed to look at me as if to say, "This is your monkey moment! Seize the day!" But I guess I misread that deer's facial expression, because D soon discovered that the noises were coming from a creek. Frogs. Lame. I mean, I like frogs and these were especially vocal ones at that, but where are the freakin' monkeys?! I mean, if they wanted lunch, I had a backpack full of energy bars. So we headed down the mountain without monkey memories. Sigh. Illusive creatures. (And anyways, why in the world does it take monkeys HOURS to eat lunch?! Puh-leeeeeeeease.)
Once down the mountain we took one last stroll around. Miyajima is fantastic. I mean, really, really, out-of-this-world fantastic. By now it was late afternoon and time to head back to the ferry and then to the train for our next stop at Hiroshima.
We arrived at Hiroshima at around 5pm and caught the city's cable car to the A-Bomb Dome stop. The original site of the atomic bombing is now the entry to Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park. The A-Bomb Dome was once Hiroshima's Industrial Promotion Hall, which was directly below the bomb blast. Amazingly, the building did not collapse. It has barely been touched in the sixty+ years since the blast and remains there all scarred and eerie looking. A Japanese family asked D to take their photo in front of the remains. It was odd to see D, sixty years after this event, here in Japan taking this family's photo there...deep. As we walked away into the park, D said he was surprised at how much this site impacted him. Indeed.
There are several beautiful monuments in the park including the Flame of Peace that will burn until all atomic weapons are eradicated and a huge peace bell that visitors can ring. But our favorite monument by far was the Children's Peace Monument. A statue of a little girl named Sadako stands in the center. Sadako died of leukemia as a result of radiation poisoning from the blast. Before her passing, she believed that if she could fold 1000 paper cranes, her leukemia would be cured. She died before finishing, and the story says that her classmates finished for her. To this day, children from all over the world fold paper cranes that are contained in tall clear boxes surrounding the statue. Apparently new chains of paper cranes arrive daily along with children's wishes for peace. The site of these thousands and thousands of colorful paper cranes and the writings of kids for peace...well, it leaves a mark on you. I'm so glad our friend C suggested we not miss this.
At around 8pm we caught the train back to Kyoto. And now it's 12:30am and I should get some sleep. Early tomorrow morning we're going to Takayama, a small, traditional town in the Japanese Alps. (And a 3 hour train ride.) Takayama has a folk village that sounds a lot like Pioneer Village Japanese-style. Ha!
A few photos from Thursday: The O-Torii "floating"...Self-portrait at Itsukushima Shrine...Five-story Pagoda...Deer at a shrine entrance...Stealthy D and the garbage-stealing deer...Circulating gondola...School girls out shopping...Hello, Kitty!...A-Bomb Dome...Children's Peace Memorial...Strings of cranes.
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