Hiroshima and Miyajima - Monday April 20th

Another early rise rise today. 
We chose to walk a little further, on flat ground, to another station so that we could avoid as many stairs as possible.
Japanese train stations, mainly because of their size and the way they were expanded, often require going up and down several flights of stairs to get from one entrance to the platform you need.
Whilst this would be terrific exercise under normal circumstances it becomes a backbreaking chore when you are carrying 20kgs of luggage.
We had also chosen Dobutsuenmae Station over Shinimamiya Station as it was a direct train, therefore no changing trains and no possibility of stairs,  to Shin-Osaka, where the Shinkansen for Hiroshima was leaving. 

It was only 07:30 so the train was not overcrowded, by Japanese standards.
The rest of the trip was uneventful as we were becoming "seasoned" travellers and made sure that we always got to were we needed early, just in case.

When we arrived in Hiroshima it took us a while to figure out which side of the station we were on, but once we had sorted that out it was only a short walk to the Sheraton, where we had booked a room.
We were about 4 hours earlier than the allowable check in time of 15:00 but we knew we could drop off our bags and go and see the Peace Park and catch the ferry to Miyajima as we had planned with the rest of the afternoon.
The staff were very helpful and cheery so checking in was a breeze.
We had intended to take a 40 minute walk across Hiroshima to the Peace Park when were planning this leg, at home, but it was drizzly and the skies were dark with rain clouds.
Thankfully Tiz noticed that one of the tramcars, very similar to our trams in Melbourne, went right past the Peace Park.
We jumped on it like a pair of rabbits on a briar patch.
Catching this sort of transport is a great way top see a city and its people.
We got there in 20 minutes, and dry.
The threat of rain seemed to abate, so off we went to look around the park.
Here are some pictures 

The A-Dome 

 (at this point you should go here to learn a bit about what happened directly above it 

at 8:15 a.m. on 6 August 1945)

 It was a beautifully maintained park 

but its reason for being gave us both an eerie feeling 

It was time to catch the ferry 

.... after crossing the bridge, and taking a picture 

to Itsukushima, which is an island located in the northwest of Hiroshima Bay. It is popularly known as Miyajima, which in Japanese means the Shrine. 

We were going there to see the famous Torii gate

Every picture I had ever seen made it look like it was a long way out to sea, even though you could walk to it at low tide.

See what I mean by looking at these images

These are some of the pictures we took on our 50 minute ferry ride there.

It looks a glummer than it actually was.

Once we got there this is what greeted us.

I've no idea what the writing says but it was likely some sort off welcome 

Lots of school kids on excursions loved playing with them but don't quite grasp the meaning of "Please Do Not Feed Deer", as sign posted every where.

I found the need for sign posts like that quite odd as I saw the animals as something I use use as feed rather than something I might want to feed.  

 Cute little deer to some, e.g. Tiz.

Venison to others, e.g. me.

It was about a one kilometre walk to the Torii gate itself, and it was through a beautifully kept "old town" well geared for tourists.

A little alleyway just off the main tourist walk shows both the modern concession to living but never too far away is a reminder of centuries old history. 

Look high in the background. 

Above are only a couple of monuments you see on the way to the Torii gate

Goju-no-to Shrine

The old fishing village, just in front of the gate, kept as a museum. 

This rice paddle is 7.7 metres long, 2.7 metres wide and weighs 2.5 tonnes.

It is made from 270 year old Zelkova tree. 

The scoop took almost three years to construct and went on display in 1996 to commemorate the designation of Itsukushima Shrine as a World Heritage Site.

It is located in the Omotesando shopping street in Miyajima.

It represents a kind of collective pride by the people of Miyajima in an object that has helped put their island on the map.

As the legend goes, between the 1790s and 1800s a Buddhist monk named Seishin lived and worked in the Tokidera Temple. 

One night he dreamed of a deity known as Benzaiten, the Japanese name for the Indian goddess Saraswati, whose myth arrived in Japan via the Chinese and began being worshiped in the 6th century. 

She held a traditional Japanese lute which the monk saw as a kind of spoon. 

Upon awakening he showed the people of Miyajima how to make this magical rice scoop or "shamoji" he had dreamed of.

We finally got to the Torii gate!

It's not really that far off the shore, maybe 100 metres and it can be walked to on low tide. But we didn't go to it as we were wearing runners and the thought of spending the rest of the day in wet feet was "Yeah .... but nah!"

Plus, it had started raining heavily by this stage and as you can see we bought ourselves a very modern see-through umbrella for the princely sum of  ¥550.

Sites had been seen, so now it was time to fetch us a feed,

Here's me scouting for an appropriate place to eat something Miyajimaian.

.... and we found this place ....

... which served stuff like this 

(Huge tasty oysters)...

... which tasted like this ... 

- The clip above is a tribute to Mark Weins YouTube clip about Tokyo

It annoys the heck out of many who watch it but it makes me laugh.

Go watch it for yourself. -

We also had these ....

The top one was Tiz's, which is obvious as it has a bottle of nihonshun by its side, and was a shrimp okonomiyaki.

 Mine was a scallop one.

Miyajiman okonomiyaki are made with shredded cabbage and noodles.

A bit different from the others we have had in other parts of Japan.

They are made on a sort of production line hotplate.

They start at the right hand end (as seen by those who work on it) and move their way to the left as ingredients are added. The hotplate areas are at different heats depending on what the areas do i.e cook the cabbage, heat the noodles, cook the bottom layer of the okonomiyaki etc. etc.

   

The end results is a little larger than the ones in other areas and even more filling.

Our day at Miyajima was done and we decided to take a different way home.

We caught the ferry back to Miyajimaguchi, on the mainland, and then the train back to Hiroshima.

It was a wise choice as it gave us yet another insight into the Japanese culture.

This time it was with primary school kids and how they travel and interact.

What you see above may look like just another "train with kids on it" scene but how they got on that train was an interesting lesson on how to look after each other.

As we pulled up to their station we saw all these kids chatting and laughing, as kids do in groups.

The elder boys, whom you see in the top picture to the right, were at the front of the queue. They made sure that the group understood the order of things as much to make sure the little ones were safely aware from the edge of the platform, and would get on first.

The little boys and girls came next and played and spoke in a mixed group, guarded at both front and rear.

The elder girls, whom you see in the bottom picture, although not so well, followed to the rear, quietly.

It was so instinctive, orderly and caring.

On the train the boys played "rock, paper, scissors", quietly.

The little kids spoke with each other and giggled, even more quietly.

The older girls chatted, ever so softly, whilst constantly keeping an eye on the whole group.  

From that one scene entire nations could learn how to take care of each other and prosper.

It took us 30 minutes to get to Hiroshima Station

We checked in and settled down in one of the largest and more plush places we had stayed in whilst in Japan

The view from our corner suite on the 11th floor.

It got a lot better as the city lights came on

This picture does not adequately show how big the room was.

Let's just say that it was three times the size of some of the places we had stayed in. 

To make things even better, the bed was as close to our bed, comfort wise, as you could get but it was a King + size.

Thank you Hotel Sheraton Hiroshima!

Dinner, mushroom ramen for Tiz and conga eel on rice for me, was had at a local eatery in the nearby station.

Good delicious local fare.

We were off to bed for a long, comfortable nights sleep.