04.02.05
Hiroshima Day 2: Yep, it’s a foreign country
OK, I was obviously jet lagged (and still am, a bit), but I think only being in cities contributed. Today I went to Miyajima, an island near Hiroshima. City buildings can look alike, but in the countryside, the flavor of the country pushes through.
By tram and ferry, I arrived at Miyajima, which is known for its beautiful views and “floating” Torii, or temple gate. Tame (but still wild) deer roam around, looking for handouts like pigeons, or goats at a petting zoo. The landscape was beautiful, and there was an interesting mix of culture and tourist trap.
“Miya” 宮 is shrine and “jima” 島 is island. So Miyajima is “Shrine Island” (which is why I haven’t called it Miyajima Island, which is redundant). The ferry was quick, but the day was hazy, which is why my long shots aren’t the greatest. The deer approached tourists on the steps of the ferry station. I avoided them, lest they decide to munch on my clothing or fish for food in my pockets.
I took the lunchtime opportunity to try Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki. It’s often called Japanese pizza, but that’s not really true. It’s more like an open-faced crepe with vegetables, noodles, meat and egg cooked in it with a dusting of seaweed. There’s an okonomiyaki restaurant named “Hiroshima” in San Jose, but I didn’t really enjoy it there, and I hoped the real thing would be better. And it was! I look forward to tomorrow in Osaka, so I can try Osaka-style okonomiyaki, which is the main style of okonomiyaki in Japan. It’s made without noodles, and there are some other differences.
I wandered through the shopping avenue that they funnel tourists toward (there’s a “secret” way to avoid this, but I used it on the way back). In there I discovered that Miyajima is supposedly the birth place of the rice paddle. It was developed by a monk there. In its honor, they host the largest rice paddle/spoon in the world. It’s really big! A lot of the stores sold normal sized paddles with aspects of Miyashima on them for souvenirs. Also a lot of deer statues.
I visited the History and Folklore Museum, and the State Treasure Museum. Neither allowed photographs, and both required removing my shoes to don slippers that were too small for my wide feet. I also visited the aquarium, which had a display of tiny creatures locally known as “water fairies” and they had a nice display of jellyfish. The Monterey Aquarium is nicer, but this aquarium had many varieties of fish I’ve never seen before.
1. Eels half buried in the sand. 2. Finless dolphins from Asian waters. 3. Horseshoe crab pacing the ledge. 4. Beautiful seahorses. 5. Tiny water fairies (the pink speck on the right).
I was definitely getting tired, too tired to backtrack to the entrance of the big Itsukushima shrine, back near where I started. I had thought there were two entrances, and I could travel through it on the way back. I did stop at the smaller (but still impressive) Daiganji temple, where I bought a good luck charm for studying. There was also a five-storied pagoda, but it was being refurbished, and thus not worth the walk up all those steps.
I did see a wedding party come out of the temple. Very traditional. The bride and groom were conveyed to their hotel by rickshaw. A nice woman on the “secret” way back offered to take my picture when I stopped for a rest. It turns out she went to the University of the Sacred Heart in Hiroshima, so we had something in common. My Japanese is too bad to converse very much with her, but she was very nice.
I had hoped to be back in the city before dark to take another tour of Peace Park, but it was not to be. I washed laundry, packed, and went to bed. Tomorrow, Osaka!