Japan-Grace, John, Ruth: Miyajima

Once considered a sacred island, Mijajima maintains its special place in Japanese culture. The island is one of the top three most beautiful spots in Japan. As you can see from my pictures of the O-torii gate, just a fraction of the ones I took—Miyajima is a jewel. The gate is constructed of massive cypress trunks, still in their natural form, and rest on their own weight on the tidal sands.
As we did in Takayama and Shirakawa-go, we stayed in a ryokan, a Japanese-style inn, where we slept on mats on the floor. It’s actually not as difficult as I thought it would be. Gene, you would love it! Miyajima is a popular day-trip from Hiroshima, just across the strait, but after the tourists leave, the place is relaxed and tranquil, a perfect sleeping spot.
Our guide was eager to show us the important temples and shrines on the island, but of all the shrines we visited in Japan, the Shrine on Miyajima was certainly the most impressive. As it was a Monday the crowds weren’t too bad. Our guide was very surprised to see a wedding taking place at the shrine. Yes, our holiday pictures include someone else’s wedding photos. At first we were a little shy to be gawking at the whole affair, but our guide assured us that it brought good luck to the couple to have others take pictures of the bridal party. I think I took as many pictures of the happy couple as I did of temples and shrines. They were thrilled to have our picture taken with them by their professional photographer. Had I known, I’d have worn a hat.
Much of Japan is covered in mountains, and Miyajima gave us a great view from up top. We rode a cable car up to the top of the mountain, where we could see the spectacular coast, which gave me a better appreciation for how difficult guerrilla-fighting would be. From our vantage point, you could see dozens of little islands, each a little mountain.
Speaking of guerrillas, the monkeys on top of the mountain put on a show for us. They were quite aggressive creatures, but I suppose were just protecting their own turf. The monkeys weren’t the only unusual animals, as you will see. The local deer, about the size of a large dog, hung out on the beach, waiting for tourists to drop their ice cream cones. I twice witnessed them grabbing people’s maps and brochures to munch on, but mostly they seemed to prefer the fallen cherry blossoms. Then, they reminded me of cats licking up tasty morsels.
After leaving Miyajima, we stopped at the Hiroshima Peace Park, the site of the WW II atomic-bomb drop. The place didn’t really invite us to take many pictures; the crowd passing through the museum was eerily silent, of its own accord. Rather than rebuilding ‘ground zero’, a part was left as a memorial to those who died, and as anti-nuclear war reminder. I’m not sure exactly what I expected, but it was a far more depressing place than I’d expected. Sounds dumb, I know. But I was reminded again of the fears that plagued so much of my generation as children. The atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima, which claimed 200,000 from the blast and related illness was just a tiny fraction of the potential devastation from a mega-hydrogen bomb. The degree of difference is mind-blowing: 17 times greater than all the weapons used during the entire Second World War. We continue to live in insane times. I’m looking forward to seeing a zen-Buddhist Temple in Kyoto...