The trip to Hiroshima took all of 40 minutes on the Shinkansen - meaning it was only around 10:30am by the time we arrived. We managed to locate a couple of large storage lockers at the train station (they were going like hotcakes) and jumped onto the Green Tram line, from the stations entrance. Our destination was to what was known as the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall - now sadly known as Genbaku Dome, or the Atomic Dome at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.
With the leaves turning brilliant shades of orange and red, and hedges of lush green - it is a picturesque place, the Genbaku Dome all the more stark a reminder of the 80,000 people wiped out in seconds in 1945.
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| Genbaku Dome (Atomic Dome) |
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| The Promotions Hall was known for its attractive green dome. |
It was an unsurprisingly respectful and sombre affair, punctuated by school kids running through the Park to catch up with classmates.
We left some paper cranes at the Children's Peace Monument - commemorating Sadako Sasaki and other child victims of the war. Sadako developed leukaemia from the effects of radiation, and attempted to fold 1000 paper cranes - which was meant to allow a wish to be then granted. While she did not live long enough to complete this number, thousands of others have since left wreaths of paper cranes at the monument.
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| Leaving our teeny donation of cranes. |
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| Children's Peace Monument |
Leaving the Peace Memorial Park in a reflective mood, we boarded a local train to Miyajimaguchi, and from there to Itsukushima - otherwise known as Miyajima Island. On the ferry over, a chatty and not entirely decipherable gent (resplendent in various purple baseball / grid-iron regalia) gave me tips on where to stand for the best photos of the exceedingly famous torii at Itsukushima Shrine.
Due to the trip to Itsukushima taking far less time than expected (and us turning up prior to check-in time), we again stored our bags, and took an afternoon tour of the place.
To by-pass the river of day-trippers streaming back from the Shrine (and the many wild deer roaming the shoreline), we wandered up one of the lane-ways lined with food stalls and souvenir shops. We came across what is apparently the biggest rice scoop in the world (celebrating the invention of the popular design right here on Miyajima Island). Suitably impressed/confused, we moved on to the floating torii (currently jutting rather than floating, due to low-tide).
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| I bet this caused a bit of a stir locally. |
The torii is spectacular. We had a great time tip-toeing around pools of seaweed-strewn water on the sandy estuary. The kids even found expanses of reasonably people-free 'beach' to run around on.
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| Giant vermilion torii - really makes an entrance... |
There is a custom with torii for visitors to place either stones or coins on the structure for good luck. So it was with the giant torii of Miyajima - coins poking out from the barnacled bases of the massive columns.
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| We got lucky again with the weather - it was meant to be raining at this point. |
We managed to stumble by some local camera crew filming visitors to the area - Lily is now scanning television channels in the expectation that we (ie she) will become local media celebrities.
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| Handy tip: Young couples with cameras are always keen to assist you with a group shot (so they can get theirs taken in turn) |
Having spent a lovely afternoon exploring the village, we indulgently took a taxi to our Ryokan. Weaving around some very narrow mountain roads (making us glad we didn't walk), our driver eventually stopped and pointed to a lovely red bridge being photographed by a bus-load of tourists. Apparently our accommodation was 'that way'. We wandered through a grove littered in tiny red maple leaves and came upon Momijiso, our Ryokan for the next two nights. The parents room (turns out we booked two rooms) overlooks a Koi pond, Japanese lanterns, and the grove itself.
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| The path to Momijiso |
We were served a traditional Japanese meal in the dining room, where we make up the majority of the guests (another group of 3 and that was it). Josh was in a reasonably grumpy mood - which the tiny old lady from the kitchen misinterpreted as not enjoying his meal. She kept coming back with increasingly child-friendly options - the poor thing.
The Einstein that I am, was unable to locate the glass shutters that would effectively close the shower area from the increasingly chill environs outside. We instead shut the shower door and then bathroom door and hoped for the best. More alarming than the chance of a frosted over shower in the morning was the lowish internet reception, the first we've encountered to date. Being nestled high in a forested valley on a stunning Japanese island has some draw-backs after all.
